A new study on the connection between children’s books and ebooks finds that parents prefer to read print books to their children and the results suggest that children prefer print books to children’s ebooks. The survey, which was conducted by the  non-profit Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, confirmed the parental preferences suggested not long ago in a New York Times article.

As part of the study, 1,200 parents were asked about their reading preferences when reading to their children. Those same parents were also asked to state whether they believed their children preferred ebooks over printed publications.

While the results of the study are preliminary and the complete report will not become available until the end of the summer, one can guess why parents prefer print books to electronic materials: The reading experience is highly dependent on the shape of the books. Many print children’s books are interactive in the old sense of the word–some books contain pop-out art, other books include unique textures and prints. All of this helps to shape the reading experience for the children, and these are not experiences one can get from ebooks. …At least for now.

Do you read ebooks to your children? Comment below.

Naomi Rappaport is a contributor for Wrightspeak.