Press
Kids Need Truly Interactive Experiences published at Joan Ganz Cooney Center
“‘Interactive’ is one of the most overused words in the 21st Century, a label attached to thousands of digital devices, apps and TV shows for kids. Interactive tablet apps will read a book to your kid and interactive cartoon characters will invite your kid to dance during a TV show.The word “interactive” can make anything sound more educational. But what does it mean, really? Digital devices generally provide solitary experiences for kids, but these tools are marketed to parents as ‘interactive.'”
Applying Interactive Reading in Everyday Life published at PBS Parents
“Reading books is one of the most important activities you can do with your child. But in this hectic world filled with carefully calibrated family activity calendars, it is really difficult to give your child the enriched reading experience they deserve. However, interactive reading techniques work ANYWHERE, and you don’t even need a physical book. I discovered that I could use these interactive reading tricks during grocery store trips, TV time, car rides, long lines, the park and many other places. These little tricks can work magic, easing long waiting experiences and soothing temper tantrums.”
Reading Rainbow Blog
“The amazing thing about this project was that I was able to ask all the questions I had as a parent as I had them, in realtime. I was raising my daughter while writing this book, and the format came very organically.”
Ex-GalleyCat Editor Jason Boog on Raising Bookworms by Leanne Italie for the AP’s The Big Story:
“Jason Boog was immersed in publishing for five years as editor of the MediaBistro blog GalleyCat. When he became a dad, he was curious how best to foster a love of books in his newborn daughter. His solution was — what else? — writing a book about raising bookworms, “Born Reading.” Boog’s book coincides with a policy issued Tuesday from the American Academy of Pediatrics asking doctors to stress that parents should read to kids every day, beginning in infancy.”
Craig Fahle Show
“How do parents create a love of reading in their children in this digital age. Craig speaks with Author Jason Boog about his new book Bringing Up Bookworms In A Digital Age. Reading today can take many forms, from print books and audiobooks to eBooks and apps, and parents must make informed decisions about how early—and how often—children will be exposed to digital devices. ‘Unplugged play’ remains key to a child’s development, but bringing interactive reading techniques from the page to the screen and seeking out great learning apps will help (rather than hinder) intellectual growth.”
Word of Mouth: New Hampshire Public Radio
“When Jason Boog became a dad, he wanted his daughter to grow up loving books. So, he talked to doctors and authorities on child development, education and literature to get the latest advice on encouraging today’s kids to read. The result is Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age.”
Notebook on Cities and Culture: Baby with an iPad with Jason Boog
“Colin Marshall sits down in Santa Monica with Jason Boog, former publishing editor a Mediabistro and author of Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age. They discuss what freaks us out about the idea of a baby with an iPad; his project’s venerable predecessor The Read-Aloud Handbook; the importance of the very act of reading aloud, and especially what he calls “interactive reading”; the fallacy equating amount of books read with intelligence or even knowledge that plagues children and adults alike; how reading became a proxy for well-being; his new appreciation of Los Angeles libraries developed while taking his daughter around to them; how he introduced Mark Twain to the baby; how our generation seems to have proved that kids don’t get wrecked by unlimited access to content; when, exactly, digital reading became acceptable”
Los Angeles Public Library Foundation: Toddling Through Books with Jason Boog
“How do you pick the best books for the baby or toddler in your life? After three years of research with my daughter, I think you should take them to the library and let them find books themselves. When my daughter was born, I hadn’t read a kid’s book in many, many years. I learned almost everything I know about children’s literature by exploring the Pacific Palisades branch of the Los Angeles Public Library with my daughter. I now follow the upcoming book lists from the major publishers with the same enthusiasm I used to follow the adult bestseller list. There are a few books I’m very excited about this year, and all of them come with Olive’s stamp of approval.”
Defending Books in Al Jazeera America
“I feel strongly that my daughter’s generation will be facing this tough transition,” says Jason Boog, whose 3-year-old daughter’s love of books inspired his upcoming “Born Reading,” a guide to “Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age.” Our kids, he says, “could be the first generation to abandon print.”
Around the time Boog moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, his neighborhood’s Village Books shut down. “It’s very easy for my daughter to have no connection with books whatsoever,” he says. “Bookstores are closing; libraries are having budget problems. If you aren’t passing on the beauty of reading to kids, there are way too many things in the world that will overwhelm that urge. It will take some effort.”