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Since founding namelos, my print-on-demand and ebook-based publishing house, I have been accused of having an unnatural attachment to hardware and all things digital. However, in spite of what some people are saying, I was more excited about the birth of my children than the arrival of my iPad. But the kids are grown up now and... well, maybe I'm not. Be that as it may, the iPad is a thing of beauty and a wonder to behold. It arrived in typically stylish and minimalist Apple packaging and I had it opened and operating within minutes.

The screen is the sharpest, clearest, most luminous screen I've ever seen on a device. The touch interface is intuitive (it helps if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch because it's the same OS). I got right down to business, loading the iBook app (Apple's new ebookstore) and the Kindle app. I also loaded the Barnes & Noble ereader app but it hasn't yet been optimized for the iPad. I was immediately able to access my entire Amazon archive and was reading the book I'd just put down (on a Kindle DX), synced to the page I was on, in under a minute. The app allows you to adjust the size of type, the brightness of backlight, and the color of the background (I chose "sepia"). I have read several books since then and I have yet to pick up my Kindle 2, Kindle DX, nook, or Sony Reader again.

In addition to transferring all the books (336) on my Kindle to the iPad, I downloaded some apps that take advantage of the iPad's color screen, including several picture book apps-Cat in the Hat and Dr. Seuss's ABC (Oceanhouse Media), The Surprise by Sylvia van Ommen (Winger Chariot), I Can Do It Too by Karen Baicker, pictures by Ken Wilson-Max (PicPocket Books)-and the now classic Cathy's Book, originally published in 2006 as an ARG (alternate reality game) book for young adults. It's telling to me that the iBook store came pre-loaded with only one title: Winnie-the-Pooh.

After dinner on Easter I settled down in my reading chair with my five-year-old granddaughter, Belle, in my lap to see what we could see. The Dr. Seuss books are the best of kind. In a fashion reminiscent of the old Weston Woods filmstrips, the conversion involves nothing more elaborate than panning in and out and cropping the original images; i.e., there is no animation. An appealing sound track is added, with options to read the story yourself, have it read to you, or play automatically. By touching images on the page, words jump up and are spoken. Belle played the images like a drum, somewhat diminishing the flow of the story, but she was having a good time.

I Can Do It Too is gorgeous on the iPad screen: the artist's palette is lustrous. The interface is even simpler, with almost no bells and whistles, but a straightforward presentation of the book. Belle quietly listened and flicked the pages.

The Surprise is the simplest of all; it is wordless and the only sound is of the scooter ridden by the sheep in transitional pictures. Belle really liked the scooter.

Belle was mostly quiet while we perused these books. She instantly figured out how to turn pages and otherwise interact with the touch screen. She would play away when she discovered a new feature, but once she'd explored that she mostly just listened. I showed her Cathy's Book but it is clearly meant for older kids and we didn't stick with it.

For those who can't imagine sitting down with a child in their lap reading on a screen, listen to this. The last book we looked at was Winnie-the-Pooh, which ports beautifully over to the iPad screen. In the horizontal mode the book is laid out in spreads and the full-color Sheppard illustrations are as gorgeous as ever. I read Belle a few pages and then asked her what she wanted to do next. She said, simply, "Read."

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