Beyond Paper Books

In searching (via Google) for further information about multimedia teen literature, I came across an interesting blog posting by Regina Brooks on huffingtonpost.com called "KidsLit: Beyond Paper Books", in which she describes some of the up-and-coming "multi-platform books":

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regina-brooks/kids-lit-beyond-paper-boo_b_464130.html

I also found an interesting article titled "The Future of Children's Publishing" by Stephen Lowman (Washington Post) which talks about some of these new forms of delivery for children's literature:

"...entertaining the kids with the printed page seems to grow more difficult by the year. Children's appetite for cell phones, computers, video games and television far exceeds that for books. In January, a Kaiser Family Foundation report found that the time spent on all entertainment by kids from 8 to 18 rose from 6.5 hours a day five years ago to 7.5 hours a day. But only 25 minutes were typically spent reading a book. The Department of Education found that in 1984 only 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds reported that they 'never or hardly ever' read for fun on their own. By 2008, the percentage had jumped to 24 percent for both groups."

"Publishers are trying to entice kids to read books by offering companion Web sites that are graphic-rich and able to plunge young readers into the story. Along with the tale on the page, kids can dip into online videos and games, win prizes, create Internet identities and get into social networking. It is a tricky gamble for publishers, one requiring a deep commitment of time and money."

"The question remains whether all these multimedia add-ons to the reading experience will pay off. 'At the heart, you still have to have good storytelling,' Kinney said. 'You can't resort to gimmickry and hope to retain an audience.'"