Amazon is hoping to tempt more kids (or their parents) to do their reading on a Kindle with a new bundle deal. The package comprises of a standard Kindle, a "kid-friendly" cover for the eBook reader, and a two-year warranty deal for $99 (around £65) from Amazon's US store.
The warranty package covers accidental damage to the Kindle, including "knocking it off a table, dropping it in water, or your dog chewing on it", according to Amazon's website. The warranty offers a two-day replacement service for Kindles that have been utterly banjaxed, meaning the kids won't miss out on bedtime stories for long.
The plastic cover that comes as part of the deal should help protect the Kindle if it's dropped onto a hard surface. It has a textured back to help prevent the device from slipping out of little, Marmite-infested hands.
The package deal is currently only available on the Amazon US website, although the UK site is often only a few days or weeks behind the mothership when it comes to special offers and new releases. Amazon UK already offers all of the component parts of the deal, including the two-year warranty, which currently costs £11.99 when bought separately. The Kindle itself is £59 and the NuPro cover costs £13. Amazon doesn't allow UK customers to order the bundle deal from the US website.
Dedicated eBook readers have taken something of a back seat since the advent of tablets. Figures released by Ofcom last week showed that more than half of UK households now own a tablet, with seven in ten children having access to one.
However, many parents still prefer their children to have a dedicated eBook device, not least because they don't have any distractions - such as games or YouTube apps - that might tempt the child away from their reading. The Kindle comes with parental controls to prevent the sprogs racking up hideous bills or downloading 50 Shades of Grey from the Kindle Store. The device also offers reading achievements, allowing kids to earn badges for reading a certain number of pages or books.
