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NOW CLOSED: Competition: Win one of five Lost My Name's new personalised books

(113 Posts)
KatGransnet (GNHQ) Wed 28-Oct-15 13:22:24

We’re celebrating the launch of Lost My Name’s new personalised book for children, The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home, with a fantastic competition. We’ve got our hands on five copies of this magical, visually stunning picture book, which takes a child on a journey from the depths of outer space to their very own home.

To enter, just comment on the discussion thread below. We’re asking “How has technology changed the way you read with your grandchildren?”

Lost My Name combines the power of stories with the possibilities of technology, to create magical, personalised books for children. The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is a story about a child lost in space who has to find their way back home. After seeing their name written in stars, our protagonist makes their way back to Earth in their space ship, flies over an actual satellite view of their own, real neighbourhood and eventually finds their front door, which they recognise by its number.

The story is so impossibly personalised that each and every book can only belong to one child. Find out more on Lost My Name's website.

This competition ends on 11 November. Usual T&Cs apply.

fourormore Thu 29-Oct-15 21:11:39

Call me old fashioned but we still use the good old Ladybird books!
We have 'Grandma's bookcase' where loads of books are available within easy reach including something like 300 old Ladybird books. The girls are intrigued because they know that their Daddy learned to read through these books and even has his name written in some of them!
I leave the technology to school and parents as it's way beyond me (but don't tell the girls that!!! blush

Isis1981uk Thu 29-Oct-15 21:19:21

I don't think it's changed anything, my son prefers his gran (or me) to read to him from a physical book.

Greyduster Thu 29-Oct-15 22:40:50

We don't usually have to fall back on technology - but at the beginning of this week, GS (8) came to stay without bringing any of his books to read, so we had to fall back at bedtime on 'Treasure Island', stored on my kindle and synch'd to my iPad. Phew! He was intrigued that I knew the tune to "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest; yo ho ho and a bottle of rum"! He has a reading programme that they use at school which he can access on the iPad. Bug Club, I think it's called, which has reading comprehension questions involved. We will sometimes look at those when he is here. I can see the advantages of using e-readers, but there's nothing to beat sharing a proper book with a child.

NanSue Thu 29-Oct-15 22:51:20

All of my DG are technology mad and sadly often have to be physically removed from an iPad but they are always more than happy to cuddle up with a book, they love the anticipation of the turning of a page and like the feel of a nice book. We often visit the library and the local bookshop. So, in fact technology has not really changed our reading habits at all.

Redpaws Thu 29-Oct-15 23:47:35

Being able to push a sound button at the appropriate time in a story is great fun!

Jacks10 Fri 30-Oct-15 09:07:19

I do not think Technology has changed the way I read stories to my grandchildren. You cannot beat the personal interaction between the children and yourself when you are reading them stories....my grandchildren are very happy to ditch their I-pads for a story read by Nan or Grandad! Never from a Kindle or similar appliance but from a BOOK! Lately I have been telling them made up stories linked to whatever has happened to them or ourselves, these become long and rambling with add-ons from the children with some very satisfactory made up endings...or tantalising teasers for the next night. Technology is fabulous for disseminating knowledge and facts but you cannot beat the warmth of close encounters of a book kind!

clairew137 Fri 30-Oct-15 09:16:01

It hasn't. We still read traditional paperback books.

Spidergran Fri 30-Oct-15 09:34:12

Not at all I think there is a place for technology and a bedtime story is not one of them. I have nurtured a love of books with them since they were babies which they continue to develop. I the smell of paper, the touch, the illustrations, the flicking of pages back and forth, the glance of the book on the shelf in passing, comforting that its their favourite book to be relished later. A secret world enclosed between written pages....no nothing can replace a book. And the stories I deliver out of my head to pass down through generations which can be varied as required at a seconds notice and give me unlimted scope of my imagination....no technology belongs in another part of the daysmile

whitehouse Fri 30-Oct-15 10:25:25

Technology at bed time has not reached us yet as our oldest grandson is not 4 until Christmas, and the youngest was 2 in August. Love to snuggle up in bed with the oldest boy and have a good read. He gets sleepy after the silly voices settle down and the story goes quiet. He tends to join in at times as he has selected the same book previously and remembers the plot! We also have quiet reading times in the daytime for the toddler. He likes to flip the pages and point at everything - then sometimes has a power nap. Customised reading books are good for children as they can interact with them - especially if their name is mentioned. Involving the place they live and their house, with their own front door would be amazing. Reading, holding and feeling books will last a lifetime. However, I use technology myself by using the internet to search for special books as gifts for them.

SHORTMAN Fri 30-Oct-15 18:26:46

Nothing has changed - I love my Kindle for the sheer volume of reading material it holds particularly for holidays but nothing can replace a real book and my grand daughter loves choosing which book she is going to have at bedtime - it's a toss up who has more books her or the local library and as she gets older it is a joy to hear her reading for herself books which she loved me to read to her just a short time ago.

peanutmum Sat 31-Oct-15 00:13:24

I love the choice that TECHNOLOGY gives me with my grandsons.
There are so many lovely colourful, interesting books now that it is a joy to read from them. We have our favourites, for different reasons.
My kindle and ipad offer even more choice. We can read in many places now, at many opportunities, waiting in the car, during shopping, a treat time. The books on the kindle offer many interactions, background information, meanings of words, tasks to complete during the story, and most of all you still get the cuddles !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maggiemaybe Sat 31-Oct-15 00:30:54

Not at all. My oldest DGS is still only 2, so stories with him, his baby brother and his cousin are from real books, on a real knee, with really silly voices from a real nana, and really big cuddles!

Technology only comes into it when I'm looking online for picture books that I can't find in a real shop. grin

NotSpaghetti Sat 31-Oct-15 07:33:41

I agree with Jollypot - easier to find the books I know that I want - however I feel that this has made it harder to evaluate books in a real bookshop as they now tend to stock such "obvious" choices.
I don't even have an independent shop anymore as Amazon and supermarkets etc. have driven them out of business.

glossy23 Sat 31-Oct-15 13:02:40

Technology is an advantage really. Especially with a Kindle ereader, because they have more choice. When they decide on which story they would like to hear, I read to them from the Kindle. Lots more choice, and no clutter smile

henbane Mon 02-Nov-15 12:29:46

DGD (4) used to love being read to but is going through a phase now of not being interested in books, she just wants to play on Daddy's iPad. However, DGS (9), has gone through that phase - now he is old enough to read to himself he just wants to read all the time. I think both children want to take control of their own entertainment and aren't so interested in interacting - don't know if both being only children has anything to do with this, reading to children was a whole family experience when I was a child and a parent.

rosemary55 Mon 02-Nov-15 13:00:26

Technology hasn't really changed the way I read to my grandchildren, still using my childrens books too, which I kept.

boo2410 Tue 03-Nov-15 06:39:11

Although all the technology we have nowadays is marvellous it will never replace the feel and smell of a book. My son is 12 now and rarely reads, however when he was younger we used to have a story every night. His favourite was The Gruffalo and he knew it off by heart. I used to swap words around and he always corrected me!! My favourite book to read him was Stick Man because it always made him cringe when I said Stick Lady Love!!! In some ways I wish he was still that little boy so as I could carry on reading to him as that was our special time.

MountainAsh Tue 03-Nov-15 11:45:54

Our 5yr old Grandson is very competent in using the Ipad. He enjoys interactive stories, that I would find for him. However, he much prefers a good old fashioned book. Now he is in P2 he loves going to Bookworms, an after school club. His enthusiasm is a joy to behold and I am amazed at how quickly he is learning to read and write.

Playing on the Ipad has fired his imagination and opened his eyes to what the world has to offer. Technology can distract, whereas a book helps him to focus on the task in hand.

I have just realised, a number of his toys are broken, his books are still like new.

hjw2505 Tue 03-Nov-15 13:00:10

My granddaughter has loved old-fashioned page turning books from a very early age, and I love the bedtime cuddles that come with story time. No sign of new technology taking over yet.

jodie1131 Tue 03-Nov-15 14:36:42

NO, We still read paper books, the children help turn the pages and point to the pictures

mumandnan Wed 04-Nov-15 09:47:38

I prefer to read books with my granddaughter as at her age, 3, the illustrations help bring the story to life - she enjoys pointing to the pictures in relation to the story. She is happy looking at books on car journeys and enjoys turning the pages herself.

I use technology to look for recommended books, read the reviews and enter competitions to win books.

Leah50 Wed 04-Nov-15 10:22:06

Technology hasn't changed my reading habits, my children's, or my grandchildren's. We LOVE books, our homes are full of them, and reading together happens several times a day. The little ones do have access to pads, but rarely ask to use them, they're far more likely to be making up LEGO, playing with dough, or racing round the garden before settling down to a story or three.

AnneMaria Wed 04-Nov-15 12:57:40

At the moment reading is still very much book orientated, however I'm sure that in the future this will change. In school children are given books to read and much of the learning is still based on 'traditional' methods, but as technology progresses this is now starting to change and technology is used more in the classroom than it ever was. Technology is supporting most subjects. As more children have access to laptops and tablets in the future world they may well be given a book name or code and it will be downloaded. For the time being I am pleased to be able to pick up a book with real pages and enjoy the time spent together.

sallyc06 Thu 05-Nov-15 07:39:24

I still read the old fashioned way - books. My grandchildren especially the girls love to sit by Nana and we read. In fact Skye who is 6 reads to me now, lovely!

gingerellanan Thu 05-Nov-15 10:24:18

I embrace all technology except round a book paper books are precious the look feel and smell could never be replaced by a Kindle, there nothing more I enjoy then snuggling up in bed with my grandchildren to read a bedtime story as I did with my children........