By Adriano Fruzzetti
Associate Product Manager
Lerner Publishing Group

My twelve-year-old nephew’s eyes got wide when I explained to him that “back in my day, video game controllers only had one button.” This revelation not only blew his mind, but made me feel really, really old. Not in “people years” per se, but in “technology years.” I’m approaching my thirty-third birthday, and while everyone (older than me) tells me that thirty-three is not old at all, the speed at which technology has evolved relative to my lifetime is astounding.

I remember my parents owning 8-track and beta max players. I recall having to get up each time my dad wanted the channel changed. I once bought a cassette tape, UN-ironically. Kids today have dual 3D touch-screen portable gaming devices that can play movies and take pictures. I had a Speak & Spell.

Jump to 2011 and technology has become not only part of our everyday lives, but also a major component in schools and libraries across the country. “Edutainment” games like Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Odell Lake were fun in my day, but they were ineffective learning tools. Today K-12 classrooms and libraries are experiencing curricular learning that is improved via the use of technology.

Lerner Digital™ recognizes that simply providing the best curricular children’s books is no longer enough. We’ve taken strides to digitally harness our award-winning content and deliver it in multiple formats on multiple platforms, for specific educational purposes. Lerner Interactive Books™ are designed for struggling and below-grade readers (they are also very effective for ESL students and beginning readers). Books by popular authors such as Brian P. Cleary are read aloud as words are simultaneously highlighted to help students with word recognition. As the students grow more confident in their reading ability, the audio speed can be increased to challenge them. There are also extension activities related to the title’s content, quizzes, and further readings for students to explore. Lerner is the only school and library publisher to provide all of these features in one easy-to-use solution.

Lerner Digital™ eBooks deliver over 1,800 of our titles on Windows, Apple, Netbooks, and Android devices. Our eBooks can be integrated into any library content management system or eBook platform (including Destiny, Via, Overdrive, and MyiLibrary) and may be checked out and read by students anywhere. We also have hundreds of fiction and YA titles available for the Kindle, Nook, eReader, and Kobo devices.


Lerner Digital is also proud to announce our iPad® eReader App. We are the first school library publisher to offer an eBook app for iPad, and it’s free! Simply download and install the app by searching the iTunes app store for “Lerner Digital™ eReader App” and follow the prompts. The first time the app is launched, you will be asked to enter a username and password. Use the same username and password as you would on http://ebooks.lernerbooks.com to access all of your favorite Lerner eBooks.

Titles that you’ve already purchased will be available on your iPad automatically—there is no subscription and no additional cost. To add more eBooks to your collection, visit our Online eBook Catalog to browse and purchase.

Our Lerner Digital iPad App is extremely easy to use and allows Lerner Digital eBooks to be checked in and out of your library system and read anywhere, in full-color, two-page spreads.

It’s been a scant 20 years since my first experiences with educational technology, and looking back it’s easy to see how primitive and ineffective those systems were. I am proud to say that Lerner Digital makes curricular reading effective, affordable, and accessible for readers of all levels. We work with you to seamlessly integrate our products into your existing platform. And best of all—children love to read our books!