I do love it when so many magazines, newspapers and people publish their “Summer Reading List”. I think they envisage as parents we have all this wonderful spare time to while away during the summer months, I don’t know about you but summer for me as a parent is very busy with the children, all good family fun !!
Saying that I am going to put my list of summer reading that I will try and work through, some of it I have already read and some are on my Must Read list.
- The first is Lost in a Good Game by Pete Etchells and so far is a very refreshing look at gaming and the benefits of gaming. His father passed away when he was 14 and Pete used gaming as a coping mechanism and is now a researcher on into the psychological effects of gaming and as I said, as a parent reading this it is such a refreshing look at gaming and all the good things that can come from it. Highly recommended.
2. I could not have a list without including Taming Gaming which is a book that we sponsored, Taming Gaming by Andy Robertson. It is in a similar vein to “Lost In A Good Game” and Andy, who has 3 children, takes a look at gaming from a parental perspective and encourages gaming with you family. Its a great book and I have to mention the website Family Video Game Database – Guides, Ratings and Suggestions – Family Video Game Database (taminggaming.com) which has a gaming database that has a fantastic search feature allowing you to search for games based on a huge range or criteria such as “type of experience” (Be The Villian, Create an Attraction, Commit No Violence to name just a few) as well as “Reading Level”, “Motion Sickness Friendly”, “Play Without Sight”, “Play Without Hearing”, “How Long to Play” etc…
This and the website are a highly recommended addition to a parents book/resource collection.
3. The New Childhood. This is an interesting book and could divide opinions, written by Jordan Shapiro who started playing and connecting with his two children following his divorce. To be honest I love spending time playing video games with my two boys and we have great playing all types of different games. His theory is that as parents we should be teaching our children to use digital devices with integrity and also talks about the digital playground where children play with their friends online, in effect having a digital playground. I can certainly relate to this with my two young children in the pandemic. This became a crucial way of them connecting with their friends. Jorden argues against screen time limits for children and also that parents should not worry or panic about new technology as long as we as parents have given them the tools that they need.
It is certainly an interesting read and one that is sure to evoke emotions as a parent.
4. A Parents Guide to Video Games by Dr Rachel Kowert. This is one I have not read but with the following summary “A Parent’s Guide to Video Games was developed specifically to help parents better understand if, how, and why video game play can impact a child’s physical, social, and psychological well-being. This includes addressing questions such as these: Will playing violent video games make my child more aggressive and more likely to commit violent crime? Is video game addiction real? If so, how do I know if my child is addicted to video games? Will video game play worsen the symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD)?” so it sounds like another interesting read and I have added it to my list of books to try and read over the coming summer months.
5. The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech. I picked this up at the Science Museum in London and visiting one of their exhibitions with some old technology, which was fun trying to educate my boys on using an old dial telephone, showing them a Walkman as well as some computers and consoles I used to play as a child.
This is a coffee table book that briefly visits consoles from the Magnavox Odyssey released in 1972, the iconic and must have Atari 2600 up to the PlayStation and Xbox. It is a fun and nostalgic look at all the consoles through the years.
If you have any more suggested reading please add a comment.