Unplugged: Ella Gets Her Family Back Hardcover – Illustrated, October 10, 2012

The students really like the book. Got a lot of good!

Timely.

Ella misses spending time with her family. Everyone seems to be ignoring each other because they are all plugged in to whatever electronic thing they have. Her brother has his video games, her dad has his computer and her mom and sister have their phones. Ella has had enough and decides to unplug her family!Why I liked this book - I love the message of this book! It is well-told in the story. I like Ella's cleverness and creativity. She probably has it because she is not plugged in! All families should read this book and learn from the message given in it - spend more time with each other! I like the illustrations! The expressions on the faces of the characters are really life-like. I like all the small details in the illustrations. This is a great book with an awesome storyline! I recommend this book to kids 5+*NOTE I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a great book to read to the children I babysit! A fresh take on sibling rivalry and learning how to put down the electronic devices; Unplugged really held the 5, 6, and 8 year old girls captive as I read to them. Well written and a very cute story, Laura Pederson did a wonderful job! One of the girls wanted to even go buy the book for her own, and especially loved the cover design. You follow Ella as she starts to feel her family become distant while using their cells phones, computers, and Ipods. We all loved how the story was up to modern times! Holding true with many families, Ella urged everyone to spend more one on one time instead of being so 'plugged' in. I would suggest this book to any young girl or boy, and to moms and teachers as well!

My third graders, both boys and girls, loved Ella and her electronic adventures. We had a wonderful discussion about the role of devices in our lives and how it makes us feel about our relationships when others are regularly distracted. I highly recommend the FREE TEACHER'S GUIDE that can be found online to discuss this story with individual children or children in groups. This is a book for which parents, teachers, counselors and librarians will find many uses. My kids are still talking about grownups who are glued to phones and computers. I was amazed at how aware they are of "divided attention." If you have an UNPLUGGED week at your school, like we do, you'll want to kick it off with Laura Pedersen's smart and funny story.

Managing our love of phones and other electronic devices seems to become more challenging every day. This book offers a great way to start a discussion about about the importance of relationships and how technology fits into our life. It's here to stay but what we do about it is up to us, especially if we start to make children aware of pros, cons and social etiquette at a young age. Some parents may even want to re-think their own usage patterns after asking how the kids are impacted.

I love it when books exceed my expectations. And this one did. Surprisingly, the story didn't come off as overly preachy. It was well written and concise. I love the idea of unplugging from devices at mealtime so that the family can connect. I also love the way Ella confronts her problems head on instead of waiting for someone else to do it for her.The illustrations were okay. I didn't hate them, but I didn't absolutely love them either. I really didn't have strong feelings about the artwork either way.

This book is fun and the main character is slightly mischievous but it does contain a good message about ignoring others or being ignored. An excellent thing for kids and adults to be aware of or reminded of when there are more distractions than ever before. The whole world seems to be forgetting what is was like to give another person your full ("undivided" as my teachers used to call it) attention. It's not just a sign of respect but caring.