Around the Table: Book Formats

AROUND THE TABLE: We love to get together as a team and discuss all manner of book related subjects.  On the 3rd Sunday of the month we take a transcript of one of these discussions or copy and paste a Facebook thread (which has been corrected for spelling and typos) and post it on our site. This month we are looking at different book formats.

Caroline: I’ve been thinking about my The Very Hungry Caterpillar review (here) about preferring the board book where preschoolers are concerned. Given the choice would always choose the board books for their sturdiness alone, although I also love how the thickness of the pages promotes independence in little ones.

Lesley: I love board books. We have The Very Hungry Caterpillar in ‘board book’ format and the boys love poking their fingers through the holes and I love that they can really get to grips (literally!) with the book without fear of ripping it. We’ve had to say goodbye to a couple of books recently, because they’ve been damaged purely by enthusiasm!

Jane: We also have the Very Hungry Caterpillar board book which is a great format for a book that encourages lots of touching and handling! Some of our paperback pop up books are starting to look a little worse for wear whereas the board books seem to go on and on!

Karen: Board books are synonymous with ‘baby’ though. I do remember that first glow of pleasure when you see a child pick up a PB or HB and has the patience and dexterity to turn each page at a time. Because of the fragility of PB and HB books you’re more likely to try and instill greater care and respect with them than you do with board books.

Helen: I go with you on the board books, they travel well too. We take them in the car and everything! Thinking of travelling, that’s one of the things I love most about the Kindle. Taking dozens of books on holiday and only having to pack one small device is fantastic! It fits into a small bag really well too, just in case I ever get a spare five minutes…..!

Lesley:  I agree with you Helen – it’s great to take as many books as I like on holiday without having to lug a bagful around with me. Mind you…having just returned from our hol’s I have to say I seemed to have less time than ever to get into a good read! But that aside… I really love the Kindle format
. There will always be something very lovely about opening a new book for the first time – I love the smell and feel of a new book but there are just so many pluses to the Kindle that it’s my preferred format for reading for sure.

Jane: I have to say though that for me nothing beats a good old paperback… that feeling of opening the first page of a brand new book, the smell of the fresh type on new pages, not to mention trying to hold out on having a sneaky peek at the last page! Not having a Kindle I can’t make a comparison, although I can see obvious advantages to not lugging 3 or 4 books on holiday!

Caroline: Only 3 or 4 Jane?! I just LOVE books. The kindle is by far my favorite gadget. So much better than trying to read eBooks on your phone or computer, the electronic ink is amazing; when I first got it I was so absorbed that I kept trying to turn the page at the corner! I agree that for me there will always be a place for paper books. The major disadvantage of the kindle is that (in the UK) there isn’t a facility for book sharing.

Helen: Yeah, I agree, I could never give up books! Kindle is just sooo practical sometimes.

Caroline: I love owning books, part of that is the look of them on the shelf, although I confess that if I really love a book I will buy it in Hardback to keep. At one point I owned Twilight in paperback, hardback and audio book!
Presently I will look for a book I’m interested in and then buy it in its cheapest form whether that is paper, audio or kindle.

Karen: I am slowly bending towards the joys of a kindle but not quite there yet! Although I have not researched thoroughly, I just can’t see how they can ask the same RRP as paper books. I’m the same with movies and music and like you Caroline, will only purchase an electronic copy if cheaper than other formats and not something I’m likely to want to ‘treasure’ in a more tangible form. Audio books are not my thing at all sorry.

Caroline: When my children were small audio books were a godsend. Ava was an unsettled baby and so I spent many hours pounding the pavements, in an attempt to induce sleep, listening to audio books. Then when I was breastfeeding Seth they were a godsend to keep occupied at three in the morning! Now the kids are older and keeping me on my toes it’s not very practical for me to listen to audio books but I find them immensely helpful occupying the kids.

Karen: Up until recently, I never bought audio books and only used one gifted to us on a couple of occasions when feeling too lazy to read a bedtime book! I have bought How to be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell and narrated by the lovely David Tennant as thought it would be useful for car journeys?! It’s a little mature currently to keep my preschoolers interest but hope that in the future it will be a story the whole family will enjoy listening to when we do our numerous long journeys.

Caroline: We have a copy of Hairy Mcclary narrated by a very gorgeous, very Scottish David Tennant.  One for the mums?!

Lesley: I’m not really into audio books, but I have got a set of Roald Dahl stories on CD and my son Jack has really enjoyed listening to them on his CD walkman. A few years back they were also enjoyed as a family on long car trips. I will save them for Josh and Sam and maybe look at getting others… but a
s I said, it’s not been my thing so much.

Jane: I must admit I’ve never tried audio books myself or with Morgan but after reading your comments about them I think it might be something I should try out – especially for those long car journeys! Something a bit different to listen to other than the usual ‘Are we there yet?’!!

Caroline: As far as this conversation is concerned I think that we are most definitely there!

What is your favourite book format? What is your opinion of eBooks V’s Paper books? Do you listen to audio books?