ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by exploring the role of digital playthings in early literacy with reference to discourses of parenting and the emergence of parental pedagogies. Burnett illustrates this in her review of empirical studies of technology and literacy in educational settings. On the basis of this emerging body of evidence, we can fairly confidently assume that most young children, particularly those growing up in affluent economic contexts, are immersed in a densely mediated communicative environment from the very beginning. Analysing the marketing, production and distribution of digital playthings reveals some important issues and contradictions in contemporary thinking about early literacy. Endless Alphabet is produced by New York-based Callaway Digital Arts, a subsidiary of Callaway Arts and Entertainment, founded in 2010. The material affordances of Endless Alphabet are inseparable from those of the touch screen itself. By using updates and reminders Callaway Digital Arts also exploits a key feature of mobile technology.
