Amazon wants parents to buy Kindles for their children and is today launching a discounted “Kindle for Kids Bundle” to encourage them to do so. This new package includes the combination of a Kindle e-reader, a durable cover, and an extended warranty on the device which protects against spills and drops. The Bundle is being sold for $99, which is a savings of $39.98 if all three items were purchased separately, notes Amazon.
The Kindle e-reader is designed for books, meaning it doesn’t support apps and games as with Kindle tablets. The device’s 4 GB of storage can hold thousands of books, and stays charged up to four weeks, based on half an hour of reading per day with wireless off. Parents can buy Kindle books from Amazon, which today offers over 250,000 titles, or they can borrow e-books from their public library to use with the device.
The ad-free Kindle also supports “Kindle FreeTime,” which is Amazon’s included system for measuring reading progress, tracking accomplishments and earning achievement badges for reaching various milestones. For those with other Kindle devices, like Amazon’s Fire tablets, parents can also use FreeTime’s controls to ensure that kids are reading first before they’re able to play games elsewhere. This is an option under FreeTime’s parent settings, which let parents restrict screen time and the time kids are allowed to interact with non-educational content, among other things.
Also thanks to FreeTime, kids won’t have access to websites or social media, or be able to make purchases from the Kindle store. Instead, parents can choose specific books for their kids to read on their device.
Clearly timed in conjunction with the end of school, Amazon is targeting those parents who want to better enforce their kids’ summer reading plans. Alongside the launch, Amazon is also featuring a number of editorially curated summer reading lists based on ages, as well as lists of classics, popular books and more.
The e-reader covers that are shipping with the Kids Bundle are a new product, Amazon also notes. They’re lightweight, come in five colors (black, dark blue, green, red, purple) and are designed to guard against scratches and short drops.
The Bundle also includes a 2-year warranty with accident protection from SquareTrade, a prior Amazon partner. This warranty would normally be $19.99 if bought separately.