When 'Everything is a toy', there is no real meaning whether it's an ebook, a book, a cutting board... The question is, whether a book allows for anything special, or is removing books 'robs a child of a variety'. I think not. We can't all have every stimulus available for our children. I never experienced snow until I was 30. Some kids never see an ocean. Some live in the city, some in a more rural environment. Some have pets, some don't. Future generations will not live with paper in their household. They will not be robbed of anything.
Keep in mind, this isn't saying ebook readers are suitable for everything. No ebook reader, at the moment, can match a huge, colourfully printed kids book, not to mention their fragility and price isn't suitable for kids. The same goes for feelies, pop-up books, cards with animals, or colours or other such educational toys, and so on. Take those out of the equation, and there are no advantages for print over digital. Actually, there is no advantages for print over anything if those are taken out, since a child will just refer to them as yet another toy.
removing books 'robs a child of a variety'. I think not.
By definition, it does. The issue seems to be whether or not that variety matters. Trouble is, that leads to a discussion about parenting instead of tech :/
Keep in mind, this isn't saying ebook readers are suitable for everything. No ebook reader, at the moment, can match a huge, colourfully printed kids book, not to mention their fragility and price isn't suitable for kids. The same goes for feelies, pop-up books, cards with animals, or colours or other such educational toys, and so on. Take those out of the equation, and there are no advantages for print over digital. Actually, there is no advantages for print over anything if those are taken out, since a child will just refer to them as yet another toy.