Rick Richter

Children’s e-book reading is still in very early stages — but with parents increasingly handing iPads down to their kids, publishers see room for fast growth. Scholastic launched a children’s e-reading app, Storia, last month. Launching today is Ruckus Media Group’s new iPad app, Ruckus Reader. It offers books for 3- to 8-year-olds from brands like My Little Pony, Curious George and the Transformers, and reports back to parents on their kids’ reading skills. Ruckus Reader titles can be downloaded individually, and many are free. Or parents can buy access to the whole library for $24.99 for six months.

Seeing “digital devices as another canvas for kids to share their originality and creative ideas,” Crayola is partnering with interactive storybook app publisher Ruckus Media on a series of e-books and apps for iOS and Android. The first three titles in the Crayola series are “Color-Me Early Concepts: Caterpillar’s Colors,” “Color-Me Adventures: Find That Dragon,” and “Color-Me Stories: Picture Day.” They will be available on iTunes in January, with Android releases later in the year. Crayola partnered with Griffin Technology earlier this year on iPad apps that let kids “color” with their fingers or a

Global children's publisher Scholastic has teamed up with independent digital publisher Ruckus Media Group to form a new imprint, Scholastic Ruckus.