In this digital era where kids have easy access to an array of games, videos and other digital media, will they ever learn to read? In the book “Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens” written by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine, the answer is yes — if they are surrounded by adults who know how to help and if they are introduced to media designed to promote literacy, instead of undermining it.

The book “Tap, Click, Read” gives educators and parents the tools and information they need to help children grow into strong, passionate readers who are skilled at using media and technology of all kinds — print, digital, and everything in between.

As new knowledge and technologies springing up more rapidly than ever before, it’s more important for kids to develop the ability to identify, absorb and deliver the knowledge, and become lifelong learners.

Maryanne Wolf, a U.S. scholar, teacher, and an advocate for children and literacy around the world, noted that “the act of reading did not occur naturally during the evolution of the human brains’ ability to learn. We will never be born knowing how to read.” In “Tap, Click, Read,” the authors believe that children should master basic reading skills and gain background knowledge so that they can learn how to read.

In addition to mastering basic reading skills, they need to understand information presented through multiple formats, be able to create, criticize and analyze text presented through multiple media, learn the ability to screen online information, use new media tools for self-expression, and also protect information security and stay away from cyber violence.

From the authors’ perspective, digital media and reading are not mutually exclusive; instead, teachers and parents should take advantage of new technologies to create an online and offline learning environment for the benefit of quality reading.

In this regard, the book gives a lot of practical advice on how teachers can actively promote new ideas and teaching methods to help children develop literacy skills.

“Tap, Click, Read” includes an analysis of the exploding app marketplace and provides useful information on new review sites and valuable curation tools. It shows what to avoid and what to demand in today’s apps and e-books — as well as what to seek and encourage in community preschools, elementary schools and libraries.

The book highlights the importance of cultivating new-type literacy, which includes the ability to read multimedia texts, symbols and images in addition to paper texts.

(Yang Mei)