Kids Today

"The enhanced e-book version of A Time for Courage provides Scholastic with the opportunity to demonstrate the potential of digital content, while extending one of our most powerful brands, 'Dear America,' in a new exciting format. A Time for Courage provides a rich reading experience, adding even greater depth to this already engaging and educational property," explains Marcus. "Currently, our e-book publishing program supports our overall marketing objectives to increase product awareness, reach new audiences and to create brand extensions."

In the adult reading world, Random House (www.randomhouse.com) first made international news by successfully defending the U.S. publication of James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses. But by the early 1930s, the company moved into children's publishing and eventually acquired Golden Books.

Since then, Random House developed Kids@Random, a portal designed to honor its many noteworthy titles, including Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Thomas and the Tank Engine. The site is probably one of the best examples of how children's' publishing has welcomed multi-media products (i.e., The Grinch video is marketed right alongside a reissued, collector's edition of Dahl's children's book classics).

According to Kim Hawley, sales manager for Walsworth Publishing (www.walsworth.com), "Books are becoming more interactive with electronic chips. Some publishers are trying to compete with new technology, especially in the reading and educational markets." But Hawley is suspicious of the trend. "Publishers have pushed the limits of design to the point that (children's books) are difficult to read," he explains. "Harry Potter, however, is an original." Hawley admits that after bringing home a number of interactive, highly graphical, and often highly confusing books for his grade-school-age children, the Rowling's series won hands-down. He attributes the success to the fact that children can use their own imaginations when reading the simply printed books. "They don't have to have a master's degree just to read a book," he adds.