Introduction; Ji Eun Kim and Brenna Hassinger-Das -- Part I: E-book Features and Literacy Development -- The Four Pillars of Learning: E-books Past, Present, and Future; Brenna Hassinger-Das, Rebecca Dore and Jennifer M. Zosh -- From Print to Digital: The Medium is Only Part of the Message; Mary L. Courage -- The Promise of Multimedia Enhancement in Children’s Storybooks; Adriana G. Bus, Burcu Sarı and Zsofia K. Takacs -- E-Book Design and Young Children’s Behaviour: The Case of Alphabet Books; Mary Ann Evans -- Part II: E-books and Literacy Practices at Home -- Parent Preferences: E-books versus Print Books; Roxanne A. Etta -- Technology Support for Adults and Children Reading Together; Glenda L. Revelle, Gabrielle A. Strouse, Georgene L. Troseth, Susan Rvachew and Dahlia Thompson Forrester -- Part III: E-books and Literacy in Practices in Schools -- Digital Reading Programs: Definitions, Analytic Tools and Practice Examples; Jeremy Brueck, Lisa A. Lenhart and Kathleen A. Roskos -- The Power of a Story: Reading Live and Electronic Storybooks to Young Children; Kevin M. Wong and Susan B. Neuman -- The Effects of Digital Literacy Support Tools on First Grade Students’ Comprehension of Informational Ebooks; Heather Herman and Katia Ciampa -- Designing Dialogs Around Picture Book-apps; Elise Seip Tønnessen and Trude Hoel -- Practical Strategies for E-book Use in Early Childhood Classrooms (K-5); Amelia K. Moody and Jeanne Swafford -- Part IV: E-books and Special Populations -- Metacognitive Intervention with E-books to Promote Vocabulary and Story Comprehension among Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities; Adina Shamir and Gila Dushnitzky -- A Meta-Analysis of Multimedia Applications: How Effective Are Interventions with E-books, Computer-Assisted Instruction and TV/Video on Literacy Learning? Victor H. P. van Daal, Jenny Miglis Sandvik and Herman J. Adèr.

This edited book focuses on affordances and limitations of e-books for early language and literacy, features and design of e-books for early language and literacy, print versus e-books in early language and literacy development, and uses of and guidelines for how to use e-books in school and home literacy practices. Uniquely, this book includes critical reviews of diverse aspects of e-books (e.g., features) and e-book uses (e.g., independent reading) for early literacy as well as multiple examinations of e-books in home and school contexts using a variety of research methods and/or theoretical frames. The studies of children’s engagement with diverse types of e-books in different social contexts provide readers with a contemporary and comprehensive understanding of this topic. Research has demonstrated that ever-increasing numbers of children use digital devices as part of their daily routine. Yet, despite children’s frequent use of e-books from an early age, there is a limited understanding regarding how those e-books are actually being used at home and school. As more e-books become available, it is important to examine the educational benefits and limitations of different types of e-books for children. So far, studies on the topic have presented inconsistent findings regarding potential benefits and limitations of e-books for early literacy activities (e.g., independent reading, shared reading). The studies in this book aim to fill such gaps in the literature. .