Quality in children’s digital picture books: seven key strands for educational reflections for shared dialogue-based reading in early childhood settings

Abstract

The scope of digital children’s books is increasing rapidly; however, the quality of these books needs consideration in view of the educational context in which they are to be read. In this article, we present seven key strands to support early childhood teachers in selecting high quality for shared dialogue-based reading with groups of children. The purpose of the key strands is two-sided: first to provide a tool for assessing the aptness of a digital book for use in shared dialogue-based reading in an early education setting. Second, the purpose is to strengthen the educational competence of professional teachers. The key strands are based on 48 video-filmed reading sessions and educational reflections by participating early childhood teachers after each reading session. This research is part of the project books and apps: evaluating e-books for use in dialogue-based reading in kindergarten (VEBB). The seven key strands identified are 1) Theme, 2) Duration, 3) Verbal text and illustrations, 4) Play with language, 5) Conversation and dialogue, 6) Medium flexibility and 7) Interactivity. The first five strands are also relevant for educational reflections on print books.