ABSTRACT
This chapter reports whether free access through the internet promotes book exposure in young at-risk children. During a period of six months some of the electronic storybooks on the Bereslim internet site that were normally only available via subscription were made available free of charge to encourage parents to get to know the website. The chapter investigates to what extent free of charge computer programs available through the internet may offer a new opportunity to enhance the linguistic development of at-risk children from the lowest-educated families eligible for state-funded early and pre-school education. Even children from the lowest-educated families eligible for Voor- en Vroegschoolse Educatie (VVE) may visit websites such as Bereslim. Literacy activities and the use of new media were correlated with demographic characteristics. The percentage of low- and moderately educated people who visited Bereslim was lower than might be expected on the basis of the distribution of educational levels in Dutch society.
