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To device or not to device

These EPUB books will open free on any device you already have, the phone in your pocket included, and that’s the place to start. The problem with those devices is, they are devices. The book has to share a screen with games, videos, and everything else a child would rather tap. We have found significant tradeoffs between the options (you probably already know what they are) and share our opinion below.

The one-question decision

Is your kid distractible? If yes: e-ink Kindle, full stop — it’s the only option where reading is the only thing the device does. If no, and the budget allows color: a tablet works and does double duty.

The villains, some with more heroic qualities than others

Everything above works with what your family already owns — that advice stands. But if a device is on the list anyway, these are the ones worth a look.

Kindle Paperwhite Kids

Usually the right answer for this audience: e-ink, weeks of battery, warm backlight for bedtime, plus the kid-proof case and two-year no-quibble warranty.

Kindle Kids (the basic one)

The cheaper way onto e-ink — smaller screen, same distraction-free reading, same warranty. Fine for chapter books.

Kindle Colorsoft Kids

Color e-ink, same distraction-free rules — worth it if illustrated editions are your child's way in, since the original art finally gets its color back.

Fire HD 10 Kids tablet

The cheapest color screen, with genuinely strong parental controls — but it's a full tablet, so the games problem comes with it.

Apple iPad (11-inch)

The best screen and the most versatile device in the house. Buy it as a family computer that also reads books — not as a reading device.

Apple iPad mini

The iPad for smaller hands and bedtime laps — light enough to hold like a paperback, with all the same distraction caveats.

Yoto Player (the wildcard)

A screen-free audiobook player young kids run themselves with physical cards. It won't read our ebooks — but if audio is your child's middle ground, this is the gentlest way in.

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