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The researchers found that when adults read to toddlers, they have more meaningful conversations when the stories are in traditional print books than when the stories are in ebooks.
The results of the little experiment suggest that history with tablets might not be as good for children's development.
Paediatricians recommend not spending all the time spent in front of a screen for children under two years old. They warn that tablets, smartphones, and digitally enhanced toys and games can hinder creative play and interactions with caregivers, which are essential for social, emotional, and cognitive growth.
But many parents who do not watch cartoons or play video games can use tablets to read eBooks to young children. Among other things, ebooks may be more practical than stuffing a lot of cardboard books into a diaper bag. Many parents are also convinced that reading apps and interactive ebooks can help kids learn their ABCs.
"We know that shared reading of books is such an incredible development activity to engage with children – not only by exposing them to a rich language and vocabulary, but also by offering them opportunities for physical proximity and creating special moments, "said Dr. Tiffany, lead author of the study. Munzer of the CS Mott Children's Hospital of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
"Parents and toddlers know how to engage with a book, but when you add a tablet, it diverts some of the benefits of this shared reading experience," Munzer said by e-mail. "This does not mean that the e-book has no benefit, but less than when you compare it to a printed book."
For the study, Munzer's team filmed 37 parent-child pairs during lab reading sessions. Parents read similar stories in three different formats: traditional printed books, electronic books without bells and whistles, and "enhanced" e-books with additional features such as sound effects or animations.
During each reading, the researchers observed the extent of interactions, conversations, and collaboration between parents and children.
With printed books, parents talked a lot more about stories with children. The adults paused to ask the children if they remembered something similar to what happened in the story or the children what they thought of what would happen next, report the researchers in Pediatrics .
Enhanced e-books, however, have generated more interaction than e-books without bells and whistles.
Toddlers also took the floor to ask questions and share their own opinions and ideas about the stories told when parents read printed books.
The improved e-books, however, sparked more children-initiated interaction than the basic e-books.
The study can not say if or how specific book formats could have a direct impact on the social, emotional or cognitive development of children. Nor has it been designed to determine whether different formats influence the ease or speed with which children learn to read later.
One of the benefits of reading for children is the "round-trip" dialogue that can occur when parents share a story with young children and help to put the story back into the context of life of the child, said Dr. Suzy Tomopoulos of the Pediatrics Department of New York University School of Medicine, in an email.
"For example, if the book talks about a trip to the zoo, parents can talk about their last trip to the zoo and the animals they've seen," said Tomopoulos, who co-authored an editorial published with the study.
"Reading books in common with printed books has been well researched and proven useful for child development, language, and social skills," added Tomopoulos. "One of the main problems of screens is that they interfere with those high-quality parent-child interactions that would otherwise take place."
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