Kids' Books Gift Guide: If you really can't decide, just buy a nookcolor.

All week, I've been highlighting and featuring kids' books for different age groups.  There are millions of good books out there, and the one thing I'm probably most passionate about is reading.  Everyone should read.  Regularly.  Like, every day.  Which is why I did not bat an eye at paying full retail - $249, to be precise, for a nookcolor as soon as it was announced.

Back in the spring, I blogged about how much I love my nook.  Well, the nookcolor is all that and a box of chocolates.  And a glass of wine.  And a pair of soft, fluffy slippers...  Whew, I'm out of control over here.  Anyway, I got my nookcolor, loaded some books onto it, and promptly began to read the latest trash vampire book without so much as messing with all the other neat functions.

One day, I was between books, and while browsing my library trying to decide what to read next, I noticed a kids' book.  Richard Scarry's Colors, to be precise.  I tapped it, and was taken to the first page, which offered two options - Read To Me or Read By Myself.  I yelled for zj, and he came to sit beside me, and I chose the Read to Me option.

It was flippin' cool.  The story is read aloud, and not in a monotone like the Kindle's speech to text function.  Zj loved it.  A little more digging showed that my cool new nook had come with not one, but two free kids' books loaded onto it, so next we "read" The Elephant's Child.  A quick search helped me to find DOZENS more free e-books available for download.  Score!

This cool gadget will never take the place of my reading to my kids, but it is a great way to keep an active four year old occupied for fifteen minutes while I pee in peace do household chores.  Check out The nookcolor website for all the ways this gadget is right for your kids.

By the way, my nookcolor is by far my favorite gadget, and I have a ton of gadgets to choose from.  One of my other guilty pleasures is reading magazines, but over the years I've accumulated so many back issues my library looks like a fire hazard in the making.  The nookcolor's periodical function is my new favorite thing.  I'm just like Oprah, you know.  You can try any magazine offered free for two weeks to get you started...

Oh, and one more thing.  The nookcolor lets you organize your files onto virtual "shelves," so my vampire smut fiction books can be accessed separately from zj's books.

Did I mention I love my nookcolor?

 I totally stole that image off the nook website.  Oops.  Oh, and I was not bribed, forced, cajoled, or compensated to write this post.  I am in no way affiliated with Barnes & Noble.  Anymore.  But I know good stuff when I see it, and this is good stuff.