Mother knows best: hardcover vs digital books

The digital clock shows 7:30pm. It’s time to turn off the videogames, the TV, and all devices. A young girl wearing a pink, scruffy unicorn shirt jumps off the couch. “I first have to get out my book. Brush my teeth. Go to the toilet if I need to,” giggles the seven-year-old. “And I have to turn on my desk light. And, only sometimes put up my ears,” Jaime Horowitz yells enthusiastically.

“… I think there’s a benefit to actually holding a book, and reading it, and physically flicking the pages, and not being in front of a screen. I don’t think they need any more screen time,” says Jaime’s mother, Lisa Horowitz.

According to The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), kids aged eight to ten spend roughly six hours on screens a day.

“She’s much happier being able to physically pick up and search through her stack of books,” Jaime’s mother says proudly.

The loyal watch ticks, snapping the little hand onto VIII. The distant crack of the wristwatch goes unnoticed by the busy manager of the Robinsons Bookshop.

She is the last one still there after a surprisingly busy day.

Literature and media post-graduate, Kate Vickery, is still packing a few things up, as another crank goes unheard. This time being the big hand.

Asking Vickery how much of an impact the restrictions are having, Vickery says it’s “still really busy. (she) actually ended up having to recruit extra staff to support through the COVID-19 period, ironically.”

Vickery, like many booklovers, understands the desire for physical books. She explains “everybody wants that weight; the feel, the smell of a book, which you can’t get from a Kindle. People then revert back to actual books.”

In her occupation, Vickery sees the trends of how people prefer to consume literature. She explains how digital books were big “when it first came out, maybe 10 to 15 years ago. It was huge. Everyone wanted an eReader of some description, then it became a phase.”

Vickery says how “even newspapers and magazines, to a certain extent, also came back up. Books especially, obviously with the corona virus lockdown, are Incredibly popular for people home-schooling and those who are home bored. People who didn’t want to sit looking at a screen all day, every day.”

Finally leaving the book shop, Vickery drives home to her partner and 20-month-old son. Her household is home to booklovers of all ages. She explains how her son will “… pick out the big books, place them on the floor, and flick through them like he’s reading them, even though he’s just looking at the illustrations.”

MarketWatch’s article on eBooks, shows that “kids and parents talk and interact less when swiping through a story on a screen, than they do by turning traditional pages.”

Vickery reveals her most preferred way of unwinding after a busy day in her bookshop. “Down plops the dog at (her) feet, and then begins (her) time to read and finally relax.”

“…if I didn’t get a chance to read yesterday, then I’ll be a bit crabby until I actually can … like, that’s my time,” says Vickery.

Monash student Catie Whan shares how, that for her twelfth birthday “the only thing (she) wanted was the set of the Trixie Belden books, (from the 1950’s), which are out of print … and were at the time as well. (Catie and her mother) had to go on eBay and find someone who was selling their entire original set.”

Her mother knows how important reading is to Catie and did what all mothers do to make her birthday celebration especially rememberable.

Questioning Catie on if the books have the same impact if they were digitally bought, she says it is simply “not the same.”

“I have all the … original copies. I think they went out of print in like, 1980 or something, so like they’re old, and they’re just sitting on top of my bookcase, I still have them all,” Catie continues.

There are a couple of reasons why Catie, the self-proclaimed “paper-buff”, prefers hardcopy books. “I remember reading something that I’ve held. So, I remember the cover, and then I remember, kinda, the font it was written in. Like, I remember reading it. Whereas if it’s all kindof in your eBook font, and eBook style, all the stories sort of merge into one.”

“I prefer paperbacks really for the simplistic reason that it doesn’t hurt my head as much. Like, I get headaches reading screens, even if it is a Kindle,” explains Catie.

Health article May Recreation reveals sleep cycles can be altered by blue light from screens, which can lead to insomnia.

Back in the young girl’s room, nine o’clock is about to pass. The seven-year-old rubs her eyes and decides she has finished reading for the night. The last sound she hears, before removing her hearing aids, is the scrape of her bright pink and orange bookmark against the pages. The illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone must wait until tomorrow night, for when the girl will return at exactly 7:30pm.

Jaime enjoys being able to snuggle into bed with a physical book, and read through it … But like, she sits in bed for an hour and a half reading, I don’t want her lying for an hour and a half on a screen. That’s not gonna be her winding down for bed,” says Lisa.

Very Well Family presents an article depicting elementary school-age children being more likely to develop emotional, social, and attention issues, if they spend over two hours a day watching TV or using a computer.

The most obvious clue that Jaime is going to grow up to be booklover, is shown when her mother peeks into to her room and sees that “half the time (she) find her later, still under the covers with a book.”