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INF533 Assessment Item 2, Part A, Review 2

Enhanced Book: The Library Lion

The Library Lion is a touching tale about following the rules, and when the rules may need to be broken. It is an excellent choice for any classroom setting wishing to include lessons of this nature but particularly in the library. The illustrations illuminate the soft, comforting, safe space the library is, even when a lion has taken up residence. The Library Lion is a favourite in the library at the start of each year when setting routines and loved by all grades, K-6.

This version of The Library Lion, read by Mindy Stirling on storylineonline.com, is an enhanced version of the original print picture book. It is a video recording of Stirling reading the book aloud. The visual switches between Stirling holding the print version as she reads to us and close up shots of the images from the book. The read aloud is accompanied by background music and sound effects while the camera pans around the images, zooms in and some animation of the original illustrations has been included.

Stirling’s reading is certainly an asset to the story. She is clear and expressive, with engaging voices for the various characters, and guides us through the story at a comfortable pace. Hoffman and Paciga (2013) caution against e-books where the pace is not controlled by the reader, believing it can distract from meaningful conversations between adults and children during shared reading opportunities. However, the option to pause the book at any time is always there.  Additionally, Lamb (2011, p.14) believes leaving the control up to children can be of detriment citing a study by Trushell, Burrell and Maitland (2001) that found even though e-books may have arrows encouraging children to move forward through the story, many choose to go backward or in a non-linear way, adversely affecting their comprehension of the story. Stirling’s reading is a brilliant example of fluency and expression, enhancing rather than detracting from comprehension, and this could easily be picked up as a teaching point from this story.

While this enhanced book does not show the text from the original print book, closed captions may be turned on or off. They are available in six languages, English, Spanish, Russian, Romanian, Chinese and Korean, and the font, text and background colour of the text box may all be altered. If a student is able to read in a home language other than English, these closed captions may be of benefit and there may also be possible benefits for students with learning difficulties, in making changes to the appearance of the closed caption text (Haines, 2016). It even opens possibilities for the enhanced book to have the volume off, and closed captions on only, opening up the audience of the book beyond the early years, perhaps for high school language learners.  If wanting the text to be displayed due to a focus in teaching and learning the closed captions work well, however, the story is enjoyable and well told through the audio and visual so as to not make them critical.

A huge benefit of The Library Lion is that it is a web based product that is completely free to anyone with internet connection and a device. It works on all devices and does not require any purchase or log on to access. In the classroom setting this is a huge advantage where minimal budgets, purchase request forms, system administrators who control downloads and never ending passwords can be prohibitive (O’Connell et al., 2015). The Library Lion can be used for whole class reading via a smartboard or other projector, with small groups using a desk top or iPad, or even for individual students to listen to with headphones. Discussions and/or reading response activities about the themes or the literary devices used in the book may follow. The Library Lion also includes a hyperlink to a PDF Teachers’ Guide and the link to the enhanced book itself is easily shared to assist collaboration and for easy inclusion in teaching and learning program documents.

This enhanced book would certainly be classified as a ‘considerate e-book’ as all effects added are congruent with and integral to the story (Hoffman & Paciga, 2013). Animations are minimal but enchanting, the read aloud pleasing to listen to and the visuals show us both the original work and then zoom and pan to highlight the quality illustrations. A truly beautiful book for K-6 students and beyond.

References

Haines, C. (2016). Evaluating apps and new media for young children: A rubric. Never Sushed. https://nevershushed.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/2016evaluatingappsandnewmediaforyoungchildrenarubric.pdf

Hoffman, J. L. & Paciga, K. A. (2013). Click, swipe, and read: Sharing e-Books with toddlers and pre-schoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(6), 401-484.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-013-0622-5

Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.

O’Connell, J., Bales, J. & Mitchel, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043

Westervelt, C. (Director). (n.d.). Library Lion . Storyline Online. https://www.storylineonline.net/books/library-lion/

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