Not as long as we adults can see to read.
But it's all about the next generation and how they will one day view the world of books.
I'd hate to think our kids could be seduced into reading stories on a soul-less little mini screen; reading a bo
ok involves so many of the senses and they would miss out on so much.
An ebook may contain up to 160 tomes, but there won't be one colourful cover to give a hint of the storyline and characters; not a single crisp page to turn with eager fingers. There can be no satisfying thump as they plonk down a much-enjoyed tale, having just read to the very last page. And they will never be able to glance with pride at all the novels they have loved from cover to cover on their cluttered bookshelves.
But it may end up being the only way to make them read anything longer than the back of a cereal packet.
In years to come, will they be too busy playing computer games and scanning the internet to want to bother with a story? Will their imaginations have shrunk to the size of the pea that the princess in the fairytale they've never read could pinpoint beneath a tower of feather mattresses?
If electronic books are the only way to press their reading buttons, it's better than nothing.
Though I did hear some foolish, far too trusting grown-up say ebooks might prove a boon to schoolchildren weighed down with scores of text books.
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FeaturesMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport. The full article contains 325 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
