"I thought iBooks were just regular books, but then Mrs. Benson showed us--it's a laptop," said 11-year-old Craig Hartwig, his face glowing as brightly as the sleek Apple computer in front of him. "Hopefully, I'll be able to do my homework on it."

Yes, Craig, you will. And so will thousands of other kids in your school district in what's believed to be the largest laptop distribution program ever in Illinois.

By fall 2004, each fourth- through sixth-grader in northwest suburban School District 54 will get an Apple iBook to use both in school and at home--about 5,200 computers total. The idea isn't to have the machines replace textbooks, pens and paper, but to use them as research and writing tools that will lead to students performing better on reading and writing exams.

The program has a total budget of $6.6 million, including hardware, wireless Internet access for classrooms and 21 digital video cameras. Officials rolled it out on Friday at Dooley School to rave reviews from Hartwig and his 26 classmates.