Best way to get a loaded kid e-reader for travel?

February 24, 2024 4:48 PM

I'm going on a trip with my 6 year old for a little over 3 weeks. We can't go to swim lessons without a pile of chapter books in the car. I cannot possibly take enough physical books to keep him happy for 3+ weeks. I want to take an e-reader (not a tablet). I don't want to spend a truckload of money. Please advise.

I've always had Kobos so I assume it should be a kobo. We have access to Toronto Public Library and Libby, if Libby is even working these days given the hack. I also have access to ...the internet and all the wilds of it though I'm not familiar with the ebook wilds currently.. I have calibre including the DRM stripping plugin. I would be fine with paying a month for some kind of read-all-you-want subscription. However, it would need to still work once we left the country.

Please give your opinions on the best way to set something up, in general, and also more specifically help me know/understand/decide etc.

Will a Kobo handle books with black and white drawings? Like for example his favourite books right now are often quasi-graphical. Like the 13-Storey-Treehouse Series is a big read-over-and-over set right now.

Do you know somewhere were one could get a bundle of "500 great chapter books" or such that I could download and then sort through? It might be preferable to memail me such info. Please believe me, I support authors with my money plenty and if I were to download "500 great chapter books" will probably have 300 of those same books in hard copy or on audible. I'm not anti-supporting-artists, I'm just in a logistical bind.

Is there some kind of library like AmazonKids I can subscribe to on the kobo and he can download? I know amazonkids won't work both because it's a kobo and because there are country limits.

If Libby is my solution here, will it work out of the country? Is there a LIbby Kids app that will give a more seamless experience?

Any other ideas?

posted by If only I had a penguin... to Grab Bag (12 answers total)

When I reached this point as an avid child reader, of course before ebook days, my parents solved this by giving me books written for adults. Took much longer to get through, therefore many fewer books were needed. I was entirely undaunted; on the contrary it was exciting to realize I could read just the same as a grownup.

As far as Libby working outside the country or whatever... I'm a kindle user, but my standard practice these days is to check out the max number of ebooks as my library allows and then slap that bad boy on airplane mode until I'm finished. No internet connection, no whisking the books away back to library space. (Also, I have found that if I keep the internet turned off for more than 1 month past the auto return date, the books just...stay.)
posted by phunniemee at 4:58 PM on February 24 [6 favorites]

> Will a Kobo handle books with black and white drawings?

Ereaders do not handle illustrations well. On screen, the images are usually so small they are hard to see, even when in print the images are full page.

Caveat, I’ve never read a children’s illustrated book on an ereader - my referents are maps and illustrations from novels.

I like the suggestion to give him books one or two steps above his current level. This is what my parents did for me.
posted by sevensnowflakes at 5:03 PM on February 24 [4 favorites]

It does look like, through Toronto Public Library, you also have access to Hoopla, which does have children's bingepasses that work for 7 days, though most of these don't look like chapter books; they do have chapter books that you can take out separately. At least it's an alternative to Libby, if Libby doesn't work for you.
posted by carrienation at 5:17 PM on February 24

Libby has worked fine outside the country for me. The overdrive website for TPL might be useful if you’re managing files on the computer (Libby=Overdrive). Also it does look like there’s a subscription option for Kobo, no idea how good the selection for kids books would be.

Agreed that e-ink readers aren’t great for illustrations though I think devices with larger screens might handle them better.

Hoopla is only for tablets, I believe.
posted by yarrow at 5:33 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]

My 8yo just got a Kobo for her birthday after hogging my Kindle for the previous six months.

--She reads the Babysitters Club graphic novels on there. It's in black and white, obviously, and the text is tiny, but it seems to work for her. It does similarly ok with other drawn illustrations, but is terrible with photos.

--Here in the US, we can checkout library books using the Overdrive app (same company as Libby) directly on the Kobo. This was my main reason for choosing the Kobo, so she could browse the library catalog by herself without needing to pick up a phone/tablet. This may not be the case in Canada but thought I'd mention just in case.

--You can get free ebooks of public domain stuff. Maybe too much for a 6yo but all of Jules Verne is there for free. Some of the Oz books too.
posted by hovey at 5:41 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]

Libby, if Libby is even working these days given the hack

TPL Libby is working fine. I haven't had trouble using it on wifi while out of the country, but it's not a bad idea to load it up.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:05 PM on February 24 [3 favorites]

You can tether your phone to your iPad for more Libby downloads on the go (since you can return books early and get more).
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:10 PM on February 24

Kobo has Kobo Plus for $7.99/month—unlimited downloads for free, though not all books are available.
posted by epj at 8:27 PM on February 24

My kids read a lot of graphic novels in black and white on their Kobos. Overdrive and the library are great. (Vancouver public library). We also subscribe to Kobo plus, which has a free promo month, then $10.99 a month. My kids love it, I rarely find a book I want. It works outside Canada, but needs wifi.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 9:55 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]

On the price front most of the thrift stores in my area have a stack of Kobos of assorted vintage for 50-80% off retail.
posted by Mitheral at 9:41 AM on February 25

My limited experience with Kobo and illustrations (specifically, the first volume of Otherside Picnic and a few other epubs) is that the Kobo did a good job showing the pictures, much better that I had when I used Kindle.
posted by lhauser at 4:29 PM on February 25

Yes, Libby still works out of country. You just need wifi or to tether your Kobo to your phone hotspot, say, to connect it. Then just use your library same as always.
posted by blueberry monster at 8:40 PM on February 28