A kindle is an "e-reader" put out by Amazon. It's a small (6"x4" maybe), light, flat device with a screen and small built in keyboard. You download books onto it so you can read anywhere and, if you're travelling, you can take MANY books with you in that small device. There are other functions on it (some have wi-fi, there are games, calendar capabilities, newspaper and magazine subsciption features, other convenience things), but it's mainly for reading. There are other versions by other companies as well.