Gift it! Putting iPad to Bed

Everyone’s talking about …well let me rephrase that, everyone’s texting, IMing, Skyping, Facebooking and Tweeting about the new parody of Goodnight Moon entitled Goodnight iPad: A Paradoy for the Next Generation ($14.95, blue rider press, all ages). However, the author, Ann Droyd (aka David Milgram) really does not ridicule this classic children’s book, but rather pays homage to its battery-free simplicity. With Goodnight iPad, originally conceived by his agent as Goodnight iPhone, Milgram imagines a scenario where a tired (and ticked off) grandma takes all the electronic gadgets from the characters depicted and tosses them out so a family can get to sleep unaffected by the impact of modern technology. Absent from the original Goodnight book, technology has taken over this household in a big, handheld remote, shiny silver way. The author succeeds in contrasting life’s current fast, plugged-in pace with, if only for one night, a time when going to bed was relaxed and unwired. Now we cannot tear ourselves away from our electronics and it’s taking a toll on our down time and for many, probably the ability to fall asleep!  I’m certain that’s why my 10-year-old son enjoyed the book so much. He knows he’s as wrapped up in technology as the next tween but could easily take a step back and laugh, just like Milgram does. Our recent 60 hour power outage drove that point home. We all emerged unscathed, and a bit more tuned in to one another instead of to our phones, laptops or Playstations. While Milgram may be a children’s author, he’s clearly branching out and his message is reaching a larger and more varied audience.  So put away your gadgets guys and gals and listen to Grandma! Kick back for a bit. You just might like it.