My 10 yo is reading the classics, on which the copywrite expired. With a kindle (or others), you can get them for free from project Gutenberg.

Both of my kids (7 and 10) have Kindles and have had them for a couple of years. They also have plenty of "real" books because you can't get everything in digital format. My older kid is a voracious reader, so this has led to lots of hilarity on family trips. We hunt for a Starbucks (WiFi) so we can download ten more books for the rest of the trip. In an already tightly packed SUV, we love that we are not hauling tons of extra books, too.

I have not yet bought either of them anything that has true internet access, but had no problem with getting them the Kindles. I also agree with the note about the Kindle Fire being backlit, which is why I returned mine and went back to my old school Kindle for reading at night.

My son loves my Nook. The only thing I don't like is that he can't take it to school (school doesn't allow expensive electronic devices), so if he is reading a book and wants to take the Nook to read at school, he can't.

Anonymous wrote:The 10-year old daughter of a friend has a Nook Color. She loves it (when her mother isn't stealing it...) Seems a great gift for that age. She doesn't seem to really NEED the color, but its nice.

This sounds like me! The mom!

What a timely post. My MIL basically told 10 y.o. DS he could get a Kindle Fire for Christmas w/o discussing with us. DS is an avid reader. I like that he can check out library books on it. We limit all screen time: pleasure on weekends and only for necessary school work during week. This seems like it could up the apple cart.

Needless to say, neither DH nor I are thrilled that she discussed w/DS w/o discussing with us first.

I think it's a great gift idea for a 10 year old!

PP here. My DD has a Kindle Fire. It was her "big" gift for her birthday.

My nine year old DD has one and its great. The Mark of Athena was wirelessly delivered the day it was released. There are lots of free books as well and you can set up an account to borrow books from the library.

I was not sure but allowed an Aunt to buy a Kindle last year for my DD. She loves it and it really helps when travelling (as she us to cart thousands of pages on every trip). Our DD checks out books from the public library which definitely helps. I worry about her access to the internet and let her know that I will review her books -- since she could more easily (or accidentally) select a too adult book. Overall, I have been very pleased and have not had any problems.

The 10-year old daughter of a friend has a Nook Color. She loves it (when her mother isn't stealing it...) Seems a great gift for that age. She doesn't seem to really NEED the color, but its nice.

Anonymous wrote:Why not just get....actual books??

Everything does not need to be electronic. There is something wonderful about real books. Your boy has his whole life to be immersed in electronics.

If you actally read the first post, you'd know that we get "actual books" now - hundreds of them, in fact. That in addition to going to the public library every other week and the school library. Books are heavy and take up lots of space in DC's small room. We still buy books, but this seems like it would be a nice alternatve.

No thanks for the snarky reply. If you have nothing helpful to say, maybe you should say nothinf at all.

Why not just get....actual books??

Everything does not need to be electronic. There is something wonderful about real books. Your boy has his whole life to be immersed in electronics.

The problem with the color ereaders like the Fire and Nook Color is that the type of light that's emitted from the screens can disturb your sleep.

So if your kid reads before bed, I would get a Kindle Paperwhite.

There are lots of kids' books and middle grade books on the Kindle.

You might consider a kindle paperwhite. It's pretty much only an e-book reader, but a very good one (personally I don't like reading on the tablets that can also surf and play games, like the fire). I think kindle has the best availability for books.

That said, it's big benefit is for travelling etc., when you don't want to carry multiple books (or visit a bookstore).

We are considering an e-reader for our 10yr old avid reader for Christmas.

This is the kid who begs to go to the bookstore to get the latest 39 Clues book or the just released Mark of Athena and Rangers Apprentice novels. He is usually reading 2-3 books at any given time. Is there enough inventory for books appropriate for his age to make it worthwhile?

He also likes to download/play with the apps on his dad's iPad - the ability to play some games would be nice, but I don't want this to be primarily a gaming system. I'd like it's primary purpose to be an e-reader. I'd also like some parental controls to keep him from surfing to "undesirable" sites if the tablet is internet compatible.

There are so many to choose from (Kindle, Nook, Google, Microsoft ... the iPad mini (but that is a little more $ than we were hoping to spend). Any recommendations?