Lucky Arlo recently received a package of books from a friend who works in publishing. It’s a Book was one of said books.
I’m sure it was written wth a jokey type sentiment in mind. Something adults would smile at, recognising the ways in which technology has expanded since they were a child, whilst also laughing at the absurdity of the thought that a child might not know the purpose of a book and the enjoyment to be gained from reading.
Except it almost doesn’t feel like a joke when I’m reading it to a boy who had learned to scroll my iPhone and ‘play’ computer (moving the mouse and bashing the keys) by eleven months old.. A boy who understands that YouTube can be watched on the computer, the phone and the TV, and calls to watch his favourite clips all the time.
A boy who has regularly had an iPhone wafted above his head during feeds since he was a few days old.
A boy whose mother writes a blog.
Books are going to be around for a long time, and I hope for Arlo to be reading them throughout the rest of his life. But alongside his love of books, the internet, smart phones and social media are already well ingrained in Arlo’s world.
It will be interesting to see whether he ‘gets’ the joke.
