This review by Rajvir Cheema considers the book as a potential literature piece for an undergraduate course.

Mona Sakr offers an interesting discussion on the fears, concerns and negative assumptions around digital/technology play within childhood. The book addresses the themes and issues of how important it is to understand and see digital play through an open lens.

Reading for an undergraduate course, the book is easy to read for students and to engage with. The use of case studies and other relevant research summaries makes this useful for students to understand the use of digital play and issues around it. A number of topics and themes have been addressed. To name a few: commercialisation of childhood; outdoor play and digital play; impact on the attention span of young children; personal ‘self’ development of an individual child. These are some interesting topics which students can engage with, offering a perspective on some of the issues the students might be dealing with in future as educator in educational settings.

The use of ‘Research Spotlight’ throughout the book is also another useful tool for students. It offers a number of studies which explore the topic giving readers additional references to use- again something which students will find very helpful.  The studies are presented as short summaries of different projects and studies giving readers snapshots of relevant literature around the topic.

Mona Sakr ends the book with a summary of key points and some steps we could take moving forward. One quote which stands out in the end is Sakr stating ‘’they [young children] need to have richer experiences than what the playpen can offer and they need to learn about how to cope with the hazards they encounter through their instinctive exploration’’. This is where adults play a key role including parents, practitioners and future educators.