Bianca with Jessica Speer on The Phone Book: Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your Hand

The Children's Book Review: Growing Readers Podcast

Jessica Speer wrote The Phone Book to provide knowledge and empowerment for kids and families regarding smartphone use. The book includes quizzes, real stories, techie tidbits, and secret codes to engage readers. In this informative chat, she suggests modeling healthy tech habits, creating a tech agreement, having regular conversations about the dark side of tech, and teaching digital literacy and citizenship to help kids form healthy digital habits.

Speer is the award-winning author of BFF or NRF (Not Really Friends)? A Girls Guide to Happy Friendships and Middle School – Safety Goggles Advised. Her interactive books for preteens and teens entertain readers while exploring important topics. Blending humor, a dash of science, stories, and insights, her writing unpacks challenges that surface during adolescence. She has a master’s degree in social sciences and explores topics in ways that connect with kids. Jessica is regularly featured in and contributes to media outlets on topics related to kids, teens, parenting, and social-emotional development.

Transcription:

You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review.

Order a Copy:

The Phone Book: Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your Hand: ⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠.

Resources:

For more information, visit www.JessicaSpeer.com.

Discussion Topics:

• The Phone Book balances knowledge and empowerment for kids and families regarding smartphone use
• Working with kids to gather information and stories
• How watching "The Social Dilemma" highlighted the need for guardrails around technology use for kids and inspired The Phone Book
• Helping kids understand technology and its impact
• The design elements and interactive features of The Phone Book
• Modeling healthy tech habits, creating a tech agreement, having regular conversations about the dark side of tech, and teaching digital literacy and citizenship for parents to help their kids form healthy digital habits
• Creating more informed young users of tech through her book
• Encouraging families to have guidebooks on hand for when kids hit a bump in the road