Finally! A much-needed series of books to tackle device dependency amongst our youth (and adults!) and to cast a spotlight on the importance of good eye care habits.
The Plano Adventures series is pitched at young readers aged 6 – 8, and is great for reading aloud to those as young as 4 or 5, which is perfect in my opinion, since the message of not being fixated on screens needs to be brought across as early as possible.
The story is interesting, the text is well-spaced and illustrations are aptly interspersed amongst the text, which is great for kids who are transitioning from picture books to chapter books.
Artist David Liew does a great job as usual, especially on those pages with full colour illustrations!
The two images above are from Book 1 “Trouble in Murktown”, which sets the stage for the adventures of Zed and Zee as they overcome screen fixation, and try to free the people of Murktown from Lord Myopia’s evil ploy.
Book 2 “The Ray Keepers” emphasize the importance of outdoor time (the fun facts at the end contrast beneficial ultra-violet outdoors light to harmful blue light from screens), whilst Book 3 effectively brings across how addictive gaming can be (a scientific study recently showed that gaming addiction affects the brain the same way cocaine addiction does!) and how important self-control is.
Each book contains the ‘Clear Vision Recipe’, which is spelt out in a scroll as below (bottom left). A great way to take to heart these key reminders!
I also liked the “Facts are Fun!” section at the end of the book. Apart from cool scientific information on stuff like dopamine (top right photo), it also contains information about the authors.
I personally think this is a fantastic partnership between scientist Dr Mohamed Dirani and author Hwee Goh. Both are passionate advocates of tackling the problem of excessive screen use amongst children, and of promoting good eye health.
Every kid should read this set of books, for their eyes’ sake, don’t you think? In the same vein, these books make great Christmas gifts too!
You can purchase them online from Marshall Cavendish, or find them at Popular and other good bookstores in Singapore.
What we can look forward to in 2019, are books 4 and 5, which will cover dealing with cyber-bullying and reducing device dependency, which are subtly pernicious and sadly quite pervasive.
Here’s a neat summary from publishers Marshall Cavendish on the current and planned books in the series.
The storylines are so relevant, and almost too close to home, as many adults have a greater problem with screen-addiction as opposed to kids.
To me, what’s worse than adult screen or gaming addiction is probably adults who actively nurture screen addiction in their children by foisting the iPad or iPhone on their kids as a given, from the start of every meal, or as the first option whenever they want some peace and quiet. Perhaps a future sequel could feature Zed and Zee tackling this issue!
GIVEAWAY TIME
Our sponsors are offering a generous giveaway of one set of the first 3 books in the series, to one loyal reader of this blog!
To enter, simply complete the following:
1. “Like” LilBlueBottle’s Facebook Page
2. Leave a comment on this Facebook post with your email address (or PM your email address to me), tag 2 friends who might be interested in this giveaway, and share how you reduce device dependency in your family.
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The giveaway ends on 2359 hrs on 23 Nov 2018, and the winners will be contacted via email.
The usual terms and conditions apply.
[Congrats to Meifen Tan on being our winner!]
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