On Monday, I finally got around to reading the article in the latest Horn Book magazine about Kindle and other electronic reading devices.  The article saddened me, since I am such a huge lover of actual books, and I worry that paper books will be gone the way of the dinosaur within my lifetime.

But then yesterday the 6th grade book group met to discuss City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (a great discussion, and hopefully I’ll find time to summarize it in the next couple of days).  After our discussion, I handed out the next book we’ll be reading, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.  One of the kids in the group commented on the rough-cut edges of the paper in Skulduggery, and I mentioned that I love books that have those rough, imperfect page edges.  Then Sue piped up and said, “Whenever I get a new book to read, I like to feel it and open it up and smell it.  I just like the feel and smell of books.”  Several of the other kids in the group enthusiastically agreed, and began talking all at once about how much they love Books.

So I asked them how they feel about electronic reading devices.  None of the kids had ever seen or used one, but they all immediately and completely dismissed the idea of an electronic reading device.  “How would I show my friends which book I’m reading now?  They couldn’t see the cover!”  “But I like to hold a book, and sit with it in my lap.”  “But I like the smell of books!!”  “It just wouldn’t be the same.”

A very encouraging sign.  Hopefully their generation will love books as much as I do, and hopefully we’ll always have books.