eBook Review: Fire Truck

Fire Truck by Ivan Ulz has been a favourite in our house for quite some time.  It only occurred to me recently that it could be considered an eBook. Slippery things, these eBooks, aren't they?  It was part of a series of  tree books  called "Sing and Read Storybooks" published by Scholastic.  This particular book is out of print, but there are others in the serious that are still available. (On a side note, the Scholastic website is TERRIBLE for searching.  And there is no link for this series of books.  They have got to get some librarians to work on that.)

The illustrations are great and contain all the requisite parts that make preschoolers go wild: ladders, hoses, spotted canines, wheels, bells and sirens.  There's a reason this video has been watched nearly 3 million times- the little dudes dig it.

The song sounds monotonous on first listen, but once you've heard it a few times, it gets kinda groovy.  And you know what's even groovier?  When you're driving in your car, and a firetruck drives by, and your kid starts belting it out from the back seat.

My heart's an iPod

We listen to a LOT of music in our house.  Little J is very fond of the Decemberists, Charlotte Diamond, Europe, Laurie Berkner, Tom Waits, and Gym Class Heroes.  He will ask to listen to them.

"We can have my heart a stereo?"
"Sure baby! How do you want to listen to my heart's a stereo?"
"On iPod! No, on pomputer.  Yes! pomputer!"

So we fire up the pomputer and find some quality YouTubeage for him to dance around the living room to.  At times he will ask to have music on the "eBook" (that's what he calls the Galaxy Tab), so we use the YouTube App to find music there.  My digital native knows there are different ways to access the same digital content, and depending on his mood, he can choose just audio or audio and video.  This too, ladies and gentlemen, is media literacy in action.

All in the Family with Media Literacy

I don't know why, but it floored me when my 3 year old niece efficiently navigated her way through YouTube on an iMac to find her favourite song.  Not only was I impressed by her impeccable taste in music, but also the ease with which she used the Magic Trackpad and keyboard.  She wasn't zoning out in front of a TV; she was actively using her technological knowhow to fill an information need.  She found what she wanted, grooved a little, moved away from the computer and proceeded to sit on her brother and play with some marbles.

This is media literacy!  This is where success starts!  At a very young age, in the home.  It got me thinking about kids who DON'T have new fangled technology in their homes. Libraries have to get on board and find a way to make these gadgets accessible to everyone.  How do we do that?  Music, books, videos, then homework, bus schedules, job applications and driver's licenses... it's all on the interwebs.  

We have to get some have to the have nots.