ABSTRACT

In this chapter, we examine how adults in a shared reading context make use of the specific interactive features in three e-books for teaching their pre - schooler about the meaning of text elements. Of particular interest are their attempts to teach children key vocabulary and engage them in infer ential talk going beyond concrete story contents. We observed 29 parent-child dyads engaged in shared reading interactions according to a standard protocol that involved a traditional paper book and two different types of e-books. Participants were mothers or fathers reading with their child (aged 3 years 7 months to 5 years 8 months) whose language skills were age-appropriate in a majority language (i.e., either French or English). Four book interactions from two children are presented. It is concluded that interactions with ebooks can support co-construction of meaning when the dyad adapts to the interactive features provided. Main strategies of adaptation observed in parents while viewing e-books with their child consisted of verbal nego - tiation of each reader’s role as well as the use of parallel talk, which was contingent on the child’s activities on the screen. The study calls for a more differentiated look at the interactive features contained in e-books, and how they intersect with parental teaching ability and behavior.