Computer Shopper - UK (2020-03)

ISSUE385|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MARCH2020 49

INTHEPAST,ifyou were aparent and
wanted to get your children reading books on
aKindle,you’d have to make do with simply
setting up achild’s profile and then choosing
which books you want to add to their library.
Now,however,Amazon has released the
all-new Kindle Kids Edition. Followinginthe
footsteps of the Fire Kids Edition tablets, it
comes with ayear’s subscription to Fire for
Kids Unlimited content, plus the peace of
mind of aprotective case and atwo-year
guarantee against accidental damage.
Otherwise,thisisexactly the same device
as the regular Kindle model launched in 2019
(Shopper378). That means it has the same
6in E-Ink touchscreen display, as well as a
front light forreading in the dark.
The Fire forKidsUnlimited subscription,
meanwhile,gives your little ones access to
thousands of children’s books at no additional
cost. However,there’s no waytoaccess the
audiobooks, educational apps, films and TV
that you also get with the same subscription
on aFire Kids tablet.

SHIELDS UP

Granted, the E-Ink screen isn’t made forvideo
content, and it’s just as good forreadingasit
is on the standard Kindle.There’s no ambient
light sensor,soscreen brightness must be
changed manually,but the displayalways
stays readable in any lighting conditions.
The only real design difference,then, is
that it comes with achoice of either apink
or blue protective case.This feels well
constructed and suitably protective,ifnot
made with easy cleaning in mind: the
soft-touch texture on the inside of the front
cover,inparticular,looks as though it will
quickly gather dirt from grubbyhands. In a
rather nice touch, however,itcontains a
magnet that not only keeps it firmlyshut
but also wakes and puts the Kindle to sleep
when opened and closed.
When you first use the Kindle Kids
Edition, it invites you to set up your child’s
profile and activatethe Fire forKids
Unlimited subscription. After this, children
can start browsing books right awayfrom the
subscription service using categories that
include Characters &Themes, New Books
and Popular Books.
There are plenty of included titles,
including the full Harry Potterseries and

AMAZON Kindle

KidsEdition

★★★★★

£100•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

TheKindleKidsEditionaddsaprotective
caseandadamageguaranteetoa
familiar device

E-READER

out-of-copyright classics such asTreasure

IslandandThe Wind in the Willows.However,

it’s not an exhaustive selection; we couldn’t

find Philip Pullman’sHis Dark Materialstrilogy

or JRR Tolkien’sThe Hobbit,togive just a

couple of big literary names.

Moreover,while the displayisgreat for

text, more visual-heavy publications such

as theBeano Annualare simply more suited

to the Fire 7’s colourful screen. There’s

nothing to stop you buying any title from

the Kindle store and adding it to your child’s

library,ofcourse,but it’s ashame that

Amazon hasn’t made it easier to see what

the subscription includes before you part

with your hard-earned cash.

LEARNING CURVE

As areading device,however,it’s worth

repeating that the Kindle Kids Edition works

very well. In the same wayasthe regular

Kindle,you can easily customise the size of

the font,and the handy Word Wise feature

lets you show hints fordifficult words on the

page,potentially helping your child to build

their vocabulary without having to look up

words individually.

If awordisn’t flagged via Word Wise,they

can still long-press it to check its definition,

and any words looked up in this wayare

added to the Vocabulary Builder.From here,

words can be revisited at any time and

marked when mastered. It’s these kinds of

features that make the Kindle Kids Edition

arguably better suited than any printed book

to helping children develop their reading skills,

especially when there are none of the

distractions you’ll find on atablet.

It’s also possible to check in on your

children’s progress both on the device and via

the Parents Dashboard on your smartphone

or aweb browser.Doing this via the Kindle

offers more in-depth stats, letting you check

the totaltime spent reading each book as

well as the number of pages read per day.

There are also daily targets and game-style

achievements, to help motivateyoung users

intoreading more.

Should you ever want to use the Kindle

Kids Edition yourself,you’ll be pleased to

discover that it works just like any other

Kindle when you’ve quit the Fire forKids

mode.This means you can access the Kindle

Store,Goodreads, andeven download and

listen to Audible Audiobooks, which are sadly

missing from the children’s app.

YOUTHWORKER

As an e-reader to share with achild, then,

the Kindle Kids Edition is agood option.

The main problem is that practically all its

features can also be foundonthe regular

Kindle.Whether it’s worth paying £30 extra

for, then, depends on how much you value the

two-year accidental damage cover,protective

case and one year’s content subscription.

Remember also that aFirefor Kids

Unlimited subscription entitles your child to

farmore content on aFire 7Kids Edition

tablet at the very same price.Unless you’re

desperatetokeep your children awayfrom

the bright blue light of atablet, the Fire Kids

Edition will likely be the more appealing

device forboth parents and children.

EdwardMunn

SCREENSIZE6in•SCREENRESOLUTION256ppi•

STORAGE4GB•DIMENSIONS162x119x14mm•WEIGHT

288g•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amazon.

co.uk•PARTCODEKindle Kids Edition

SPECIFICATIONS