"Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens" by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine

This breezy, accessible book doesn't have a lot of original thought but summarizes some of the major trends and studies of the past few years into nuggets of interest.  Freely flowing from one topic to the next, it comes off like a conversation you might have with a group of parents after a long lunch, lingering over a glass of wine.  The book wheels from a serious concern about the lack of efficacy with so-called educational apps to how parents can grow literacy by working with their children.  Early on, the authors explore what "media" really means.  This becomes one of the few clunkers in the narrative.  The authors describe all the things encompassed by the term "media" and then proceed to create a new term for the student graduates of 2030 (today's Kindergarten class).  They call it "Readialand".  It's too saccharin and arch and brought me back to the idea of a conversation fueled by fermented grape drinks.  In any case, the book is clearly designed for skimming with its short stand-alone chapters.  Beyond the occasional a-ha moments one could get most of this content by attending a conference seminar and delving deep into the Tap, Click, Read website.  Since I was familiar with many of the studies mentioned and had seen Ms. Guernsey speaking recently, I found it somewhat difficult to focus on the narrative and often raced through, hoping to finish a chapter before lunch was up.  I didn't feel it was a bad book but it seemed "so-so".  I may not be the intended audience, however.  The book speaks heavily to parents, trying to determine which materials and practices will best help their children.  There is a lengthy list of resources at the end.  For someone who is just "curious" I would start with that.  One warning -- this book is already a few years old.  With the pace of technology there were elements already out-of-date.  I suspect it will have a short shelf-life.

"Pax" by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen

This is a difficult, sad, beautiful, simplistically powerful novel.  There is Peter, a boy without a mother who loves his pet fox.  There is Pax, a fox who loves his boy.  There is a father who is a soldier and war is coming.  Pax and Peter are separated, with each facing a kind of crucible.  As they fight to get back to one another there are many stories about how war destroys not only land but living creatures great and small, in body and in spirit.  At its core, this is a book about the pointlessness and destructiveness of war.  The book is symbolism, metaphor and allegory.  The place and time are ambiguous.  The time period could be now or then, the location here or there.  The generic setting is meant to let the reader focus on the voices -- those of Peter and Pax, as they grow to see a world they never expected.  For any animal lover, this novel pulls at the heart-strings.  The conclusion, one which makes sense yet is hard, will leave you reaching for the Kleenex.  The story ends with many questions about the future.  Again, this harkens to the uncertainty of war, the "not knowing" what may come.  A saving grace in the darkness seems to be the connections we have with one another, how we are separate but can learn to care, learn to love.  It is easy to see why this one made the National Book Award Longlist and is a New York Times Bestseller.  A good read, with an important message.