'B' for Books 'T' for Tech Parenting

Up North, and the New NOOK

This post is brought to you by CJ Affiliate’s VIP Content Service. Thank you Barnes & Noble for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Barnes & Noble, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.


The newest Barnes & Noble NOOK 7″ Tablet just launched, and it’s their most affordable NOOK yet at $49.99. We received one a little early to test out, so we took it up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin with us over Thanksgiving.

Barnes & Noble NOOK

The Kids, Up North

Thanksgiving Dinner

We all gathered for Thanksgiving dinner and did plenty of sledding and playing in the snow while we were up there, but we also relaxed and read a lot. I got started with our NOOK by adding a few books for each of us from the NOOK store. The tablet is Android-powered with full access to the Google Play Store, so I added some of the kids’ favorite apps too. Eleanor’s current obsession is horses and she has been making an e-book about them. She even figured out how to add audio and narrated each page! I have two favorite excerpts: “horses are beautiful and nice and strong and helpful and they like you too,” and “woohoo woohoo go horses!!”

Playing with toy horses and making an e-book about them on our NOOK

We packed light and each kid could bring two toys and one book. We were gone for four days though, so it was pretty handy to have the NOOK with more books for everyone when we wanted to read something else. Brandon and I had our titles on it too, saving a lot of room in our bags. The tablet has all kinds of features (front and rear-facing cameras, a 7″ LCD screen, expandable storage from 8 GB up to an additional 128 GB, and more), but it’s still nice and lightweight — super easy to pack or just slip in my purse.

The feature I appreciate most is that you can create up to 6 individual profiles. I can hand the NOOK to one of my kids and not worry that they’re accidentally going to get into my email or delete something that I need. Plus it’s easier for each of us to find what we’re looking for; nobody has to scroll through a bunch of books or apps that are on there for someone else.

Even raccoons love reading on a NOOK!

(Are you loving my Northwoods props? Mr. Raccoon is such a help when I need to stand something up.)

The new NOOK would be a great gift for readers, and I love it as a tablet for the kids. It’s available now at Barnes & Noble.

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  • Veronica
    December 5, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    5 sponsored posts later…

    • Making it Lovely
      December 5, 2016 at 3:55 pm

      Yes, the frequency of both sponsored and non-sponsored posts is up. It’s a busy time of year!

  • Stephanie
    December 5, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    I think you do a great job of personalizing your sponsored posts. I don’t find them bothersome at all.

    • Vicki
      December 5, 2016 at 7:44 pm

      Yep, that raccoon is worth the price of admission! Sponsored posts put oatmeal on the table … And presents under the tree …

  • Staci Jackson
    December 5, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    I’m a huge book lover like you and I was hesitant to cross over to the e-reader side. I still buy hard copies but heck, I certainly take advantage of 1.99 ebook sales. This new Nook looks like it’s shiny like an iPad, which is great for apps and game playing, but if you’re looking for an e-reader to do extended reading sessions on, I’d recommend one of the more matte screens. Somehow I have a kindle fire (shiny) and a paperwhite (matte) and I prefer the latter for heavy reading. I think Nook has comparable models to both. :)

  • Marilyn Moskal
    December 6, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    I’ve had my Nook ereader for about 6 or 7 years, and love it. I don’t like reading “real” books anymore – you have to hold the pages open.

    • Making it Lovely
      December 12, 2016 at 10:48 am

      Ha! True. It does sort of feel like an inconvenience when you get used to not having to do that anymore. :)

  • Cheri Brown
    December 7, 2016 at 1:50 am

    Think I have every new generation of Nook there is. Currently using the Samsung that cost over 200 dollars and quite satisfied with it. They all still work! Not ready to go over to the Kindle any time soon. Especially now that you can get a Nook for 50 bucks that has a camera

  • Karen
    December 9, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Finally a real review of the new nook! I have the last non-Samsung nook that barnes and noble came out with and it’s still going strong. I want to buy the new one but this is the first review I’ve seen!

  • Mony Zaharieva
    December 30, 2016 at 1:35 am

    I love NOOK! This is the best brand for eReaders and tablets!