Stimulating Adventures for Young Learners

Interview with Adriana Bus

This interview was originally published in Didactief.

https://www.uis.no/en/SAYL
Creating a library of high-quality digital books for children
Books Stimulate Adventures for Young Learners (SAYL). They bring children to unknown environments, new emotions, and people they never met. All children need these experiences.
SAYL hopes to show that multilingual, digital books can make book reading possible for all young children.
So far, the gold standard for book reading is a parent sharing a book with a young child – the iconic picture is a mother and her child looking at a book. However, research shows that this is often not realistic. Children tend to spend an increasing amount of time on tablets and phones. SAYL wants to show that digital books can be a beneficial alternative.
"In SAYL, we hope to show that new, digital book forms, less demanding on parents, are also beneficial for young children," says Adriana Bus.
Building a platform with digital books
SAYL aims to build a book platform that includes excellent digital stories in the majority and minority languages used in the five countries participating in the project: Germany, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
The platform will be online and constructed to allow free access through most modern devices. That way, the platform can also make picture books available to young children who are deprived of good books for various reasons.
"We focus on picture books for children aged 3–5. We will equip the books with features, such as a voice reading the text aloud, that make access to the books less dependent on adults, " explains Bus.
SAYL will add audio, video, and animation to make the picture books maximally attractive and motivating to young children turning the digital books into a serious alternative to young children's favorite digital activities. The project involved an app designer with many years of experience building digital books.
Engaging, motivating books in several languages
The books will have multimedia features that support meaning-making. For example, young children quickly miss relevant details in the pictures without sensitive adult guidance. However, multimedia features can support meaning-making instead. Our research shows that zooming in on parts of the illustration or adding motion can be helpful tools.
We will present the books on a platform that allows selecting a book and a language. In addition, the digital platform will be equipped with features, such as a welcoming character, to motivate children to return to the platform.
We focus on picture books for preschool and kindergarten children and equip those with features that make access to the books less dependent on adults but still rewarding and engaging.
Adriana Bus
SAYL pays particular attention to the need for children to have books in their family's language.
"It may even be best for minority children to have books in their first language and the environmental language, enabling them to shift between the two languages. Hearing a story in both languages may stimulate the first language and speed up learning the second language -- vital for their academic success," Bus explains.
Beneficial for children who are not read to by their parents
While the "ideal" situation is that parents read to their children, this is not the case in many families. SAYL targets those children who, for various reasons, do not experience book reading by their parents.
"Unfortunately, many parents are uncertain about reading to their children in the environmental language. Many books are available in this language, but they are afraid to mispronounce words and teach their child the wrong pronunciation. It can be beneficial to, for instance, have not just print, but an oral narrative as well, if parents are unfamiliar with the environmental language in the country where they live," says Bus.
Furthermore, many parents have a low reading proficiency or were not read to as a child, and may not feel at ease reading to their young children.

The platform may boost book reading, particularly in immigrant children, children speaking a minority language, or children deprived of good picture books due to socio-economic factors or a pandemic.
Bus says the project team also expects the book platform to enable more cooperation between ECEC organizations and families.
Access to the same books facilitates families' close cooperation with ECEC organizations. “We expect cooperation to bolster a book reading routine in families,” says Bus.

By: Bea Ros.

Reading list

Scientific articles

• Al-Jarf, R. (2023). Digital Reading Among Educated Arabs: A Twitter-based Study. Journal of Computer Science and Technology Studies, 5(3), 01–12. https://doi.org/10.32996/jcsts.2023.5.3.1
• Bus, A. G., Broekhof, K., & Vaessen, K. (2023). Free access to multilingual digital books: a tool to increase book reading? [Original Research]. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1120204
• Bus, A. G., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995). Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 65, 1-21. doi.org/10.3102%2F00346543065001001

• Bus, A. G., Hoel, T., Aliagas, C., Jernes, M., Korat, O., Mifsud, C. L., & Van Coillie, J. (2020). Availability and quality of storybook apps across five less widely used languages. In: O. Erstad, R. Flewitt, B. Kümmerling-Meibauer, & I. S. Pires Pereira (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Digital Literacies in Early Childhood (pp. 308-321). New York: Routledge.
• Cun, A. (2022). Interactive Digital Book Reading in Families with Refugee Backgrounds. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Published online: 14 Mar 2022. doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2022.2028944
• Dickinson, D. K., & Morse, A. B. (2019). Connecting through talk: Nurturing children’s development with language. Paul Brookes.
• Egert, F., Cordes, A.K., Hartig. F. (2022). Can e-books foster child language? Meta-analysis on the effectiveness of e-book interventions in early childhood education and care. Educational Research Review, Volume 37, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100472.
• Li, X., & Bus, A. G. (2023). Efficacy of digital picture book enhancements grounded in multimedia learning principles: Dependent on age? Learning and Instruction, 85, 101749. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101749
• McNally, S., Leech, K. A., Corriveau, K. H., & Daly, M. (2023). Indirect Effects of Early Shared Reading and Access to Books on Reading Vocabulary in Middle Childhood. Scientific Studies of Reading, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2023.2220846
• Rohlfing, K. J., & Müller-Brauers, C. (2021) (Eds.), International Perspectives on Digital Media and Early Literacy. The Impact of Digital Devices on Learning, Language Acquisition and Social Interaction. New York, N.Y.: Routledge
• Sarı, B., Asûde Başal, H., Takacs, Z. K., & Bus, A. G. (2019). A randomized controlled trial to test efficacy of digital enhancements of storybooks in support of narrative comprehension and word learning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 179, 212-226.
• Valcárcel Jiménez, M., Wirth, A., Birtwistle, E. et al. The home literacy environment and television exposure as mediators between migration background and preschool children’s linguistic abilities. Read Writ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10458-8
• Walsh, James & Vaida, Naomi & Coman, Alin & Fiske, Susan. (2023). Stories in action-PSPI. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 23. 99-141. 10.1177/15291006231161337.
• Wang, X. C., Christ, T., & Mifsud, C. L. (2019): ‘iPad has everything!’: how young children with diverse linguistic backgrounds in Malta and the U.S. process multimodal digital text. Early Child Development and Care. To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1593157

Online resources

• The Routledge Handbook of Digital Literacies in Early Childhood
• Natalia Kucirkova on Research Gate
• SprachSpielLabor
• Painting A True Picture Of Literacy Standards In Malta
• Sardes-Leespluim
• Het Woeste Woud
• Digital picture books: A new opportunity for children whose parents do not read with them
• SPRELL - University of Stavanger

In the news

September 4, 2023.

Bibi Dumon Tak has gained fame in the Netherlands following her appearance on the iconic Dutch television show "Zomergasten" [Summer guests] on August 13. Not many children's book authors can boast such recognition. Bibi is critical of the state of reading education in the Netherlands, but she is particularly concerned about the literature children are exposed to. One of her criticisms revolves around parents' and teachers' preference for classic literature when reading to their children, demonstrating a lack of willingness to explore the unfamiliar.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she encountered various social media requests for book recommendations. However, one particular request left a lasting impression. It inquired, "Does anyone know of a book for my eight-year-old daughter and me to read together? Not classics, as we've already read those." There were 268 responses to this father's query, but, to her surprise, the majority suggested classics, despite the explicit request to avoid them. The first ten books recommended were:

1. Matilda (Roald Dahl)
2. Harry Potter (Joanne J. Rowling)
3. Lord of the Rings (Tolkien)
4. Crusade in Jeans (Thea Beckman)
5. The Famous Five (Enid Blyton)
6. The Letter for the King (Tonke Dragt)
7. The Little Captain (Paul Biegel)
8. The BFG (Roald Dahl)
9. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
10. The Quest (Frederik van Eeden)

This trend raises questions about why people keep turning to these older works and what drives this nostalgia and need for familiarity. Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld poignantly describes in "Het Warmtefront" what Roald Dahl's "Matilda" can mean to an anxious child trying to find her way in school. These classics are timeless in this respect. Nevertheless, I understand Bibi's persistent concerns. There exists a wealth of talented writers producing excellent books tailored to eight-year-olds. So, why are we not more familiar with those? Bibi's answer is that as adults, we are often too hesitant to venture beyond the familiar confines of our own literary comfort zones.

28.08.2023: Comment on Janneke Schotveld's opinion in de Volkskrant, by Adriana Bus

On August 22, 2023, a significant complaint emerged in one of the prominent Dutch newspapers, de Volkskrant. In the article, Janneke Schotveld, a well-known Dutch author of children's books, drew attention to a troubling pattern. She observes that as the new school year begins, her mailbox swiftly fills with requests from teachers seeking free books. While she acknowledges the valid reasons behind their requests - aiming to enhance reading education and create positive classroom experiences - she also expresses a mixture of frustration and anger. Her frustration has two main sources: firstly, the revelation that many schools opt to allocate funds for a new math method at the expense of literature, and secondly, the assumption that authors should readily provide free books without recognizing the substantial effort that goes into their creation.

Janneke Schotveld is astonished by the unwillingness of schools to allocate resources for quality literature for their students. Her anger arises from the observation that authors invest their heart, effort, and dedication into crafting books, while schools appear to cut corners in this crucial aspect of education. She passionately argues that this indifference towards literature indicates a lack of concern for the well-being of children. She underscores that valuable books shared within classrooms not only contribute to children's reading enjoyment and skill development but also foster group cohesion by uniting the class through shared stories.

Echoing Janneke's sentiments, I concur that the current situation, in which schools struggle to allocate resources for quality books, is illogical. SAYL's policy to offer free access to a digital library is driven by the recognition that many parents might lack the financial means to buy books. However, we both agree that this approach isn't fair to all the artists involved. A more equitable solution would involve child centers and schools taking on the responsibility of funding books, while parents gain free access through these institutions.

Updates from the project

Presentation on SRCD 2021

"A platform with multilingual digital picture books to promote book sharing in families: first results"
Contribution to an SRCD symposium “The potential of digital media for word learning among educationally at risk preschoolers,” chair: Susan B. Neuman (New York University), Salt Lake City, March 24, 2023. Download the presentation by Trude Hoel and Adriana Bus here (pdf).

In-person meeting in Malta – 17–18 November

The project group met for the first time in-person in Malta for a two-day workshop. The University of Malta hosted the meeting beautifully in one of the old buildings in the center of Valetta. Between two days of meetings, I could enjoy the view of the Valetta Harbor, St John's Co-Cathedral with Caravaggio's famous paintings ('Beheading of St. John the Baptist' and 'St. Jerome'), and the excellent food and wine.

During the meeting, we discussed the following themes: the deliverables of Work Package 2 (Adriana Bus), the quality of picture books (Trude Hoel), which picture books we like and why (Kees Broekhof), Maltese digital books for bilingual families (Charles Mifsud), which books work best as digital books (Christiaan Coenraads), the potential of olfactory books (Natalia Kucirkova), a Maltese project conducted by the National Literacy Agency involving the parent-child joint reading of digital books in bilingual families (Charles Mifsud), books with a public domain license (Adriana Bus), a Turkish book platform (Burcu Sarı), experiences with a Dutch platform (Kees Broekhof & Adriana Bus), ideas for designing the platform format (Christiaan Coenraads), co-constructing stories at different levels (Katharina Rohlfing & Angela Grimminger), Ukraine books on Storyweaver (Natalia Kucirkova), and translation in which languages.

We discussed many essential issues concerning book choice. To mention a few: relevance of the book's popularity, icono-text, irony and humor, the aesthetic quality of the artwork, moralistic stories, the relevance of rich language, stories taking on a question-answer format, repetitive stories -repetition in finding solutions for a problem, and how we can promote that children likely read a story again and again.

I heard interesting new ideas, for instance, about conditions promoting the repeated reading of the same book. Children are more likely to reread the story when the child finds meaning during the first reading, but the book is sufficiently rich to discover new meanings during subsequent readings. Discussing the participants' favorite books, people brought up issues that would be problematic in their country: for instance, the child teaching the parent a lesson or parents acting as if they were monkeys.

It was fascinating to look at the books the participants brought as compelling examples and hear about their personal experiences with the stories. We talked about: The crocodile in the tree (Ragnar Aalbu), Frederick (Leo Lionni), Brave Ben (Matilde Stein), Pete on the Pavement (Tjibbe Veldkamp), Little White Fish (Guido van Genechten), and a Bulgarian fairy tale - all leading to fascinating observations and increasing my admiration for the book authors. Some brought up the idea of creating new stories from scratch. For example, a story demonstrating the difference between a robot and a human being seems promising. Tricky but exciting.

Inspired by Christiaan Coenraads' reflections, another important topic was the multimedia format: the potential but also its dangers. Books are digitized to improve the readers' connection with the stories. However, we need to prevent some risks. Enjoying a story results from efforts to imagine what is happening and empathize with the characters. Children's brains may become less active with an app, expecting the app to do all the work, passively consuming the animations. The trick is to use multimedia to enhance the events' surprise, delight, and beauty.

I also have high expectations from the idea of adding animations to the platform where children choose the book and language. For example, we may think of a robot welcoming the child, saying the child's name, and suggesting a book choice.

Adriana Bus