KIDS’ BOOK WORKSHOP
workshop: children’s books
machines and HD television to go back to important to the younger reader. to mimic the feel of a game.
watching black and white TV. One company ahead of the mobile game ■ The inclusion of plenty of illustrations
Macmillan’s digital editor, Michael is picture book publisher Winged Chariot carefully woven into the text.
Bhaskar, explains: ‘Children today, even Press, which launched its first iPhone dig- ■ Only six lines per page and short chapters
very young children, have an expectation ital picture book The Surprise (Sylvia Van so that young readers are not daunted.
of interactivity and screen-based entertain- Ommen) back in August 2009. The origi- ■ The inclusion of fun, interactive quizzes to
ment and we have to get the content right nal wordless story has been developed to test the reader’s comprehension.
for them.’ include sliding illustrations, animation ■ With prices as little as 59p for a book it is
On the back of this concern, Macmillan and sound, and can be downloaded from pocket money prices.
have launched their successful picture book the iPhone App Store for just 59p. ‘Young people won’t be buying Sony or
title Room on the Broom (Julia Donaldson, Walker Books is another publisher which Kindle e-readers, or even iPhones,’ says
Axel Scheffler) as a standalone electronic is getting to grips with the Apple phenom- Skidmore. ‘But they are getting the iPod
download and also as a DVD plus paper- enon, announcing that they will be making Touch and this makes e-books available to
back. The DVD includes an animated Anthony Horowitz’s Stormbreaker available them. We are bringing books to children so
version of the tale as well as games, a ‘story- through iTunes. that reading can sit alongside their games
maker’ option for children to create their and music and pictures.’
own version and activities to download. Going forward There are a number of other digital
Another challenge is the colour used in The digital revolution is all very well but arenas where publishers have been experi-
a vast number of printed children’s books. what does it mean for new, unpublished menting which could also benefit the new,
While black and white texts can be easily children’s writers? unpublished writer. Egmont has launched
converted into e-books, colour cannot, and One of the most interesting speakers at a successful print-on-demand venture
establishing how to develop full-colour the Children’s Bookseller conference was which enables consumers to order a per-
artwork into digital formats remains a big Steve Skidmore – half of the famous chil- sonalised Thomas the Tank Engine story.
question mark. dren’s writing duo Steve Skidmore and Bearing this in mind, there is no reason
Independent publisher Pat and Pals is Steve Barlow (more commonly known as why any writer couldn’t produce an e-book
one company tackling the challenge of ‘the Steves’). These authors have all but and market it online either as a download
producing colour e-books. Launched four abandoned ties with traditional publishers or as print-on-demand hard copy. As with
years ago, the publisher has been selling and have launched a number of their titles traditional publishing there are plenty of
full-colour e-books, complete with anima- as downloads for Apple’s iPhone and iPod outfits out there who would be willing to
tion and sound, which can be downloaded Touch, including the Vernon Bright and help with such ventures – for a fee.
and played on a PC. Star Bores series. Developments like these begin to show
Another problem with translating the They are now talking to other authors how exciting and colourful the digital
traditional children’s book format into a (both published and unpublished) who world can become. And once children’s
digital format is that reading, for children, want to make their books available as publishers begin to properly understand
is often a shared experience – particularly downloads from the Apple App Store. what is possible, the children’s market will
at the younger end of the market. Bearing These e-books have been developed be way out in front.
this in mind it is interesting that mobile with media company Sleepydog (www. However, for those of you who fear that
phones and other handheld devices are sleepydog.net) and, in theory, there is no the digital age signifies the eventual death
being explored as an alternative platform reason why any writer couldn’t approach of the printed book, I don’t think you need
for the e-book. Sleepdog and produce their book as an to worry. I see no reason why the e-book
Egmont’s Cally Poplack explains: ‘The ‘app’ (Apple’s shorthand for ‘application’ and the traditional book can’t happily co-
iPhone is a very interesting platform, or computer program). exist for many years to come.
especially for dads who are proud of their For ‘the Steves’ the advantages of an And just in case you are wondering what
phones and want to share that with their ‘app book’ far outstrip anything that can happened to all my books on that trip back
child. It goes back to remembering who be produced on an e-reader. They include: from France – well, I took them out of my
buys the books.’ ■ A stripped-down approach which encour- small hand luggage suitcase and stuffed
Returning to my earlier point, both the ages kids to read rather than baffling them them into the pockets of mine and my hus-
iPhone and iPod Touch are ‘sexy’ prod- with menus. band’s jackets…which we then took on
ucts and have the ‘cool factor’ that is so ■ An e-book designed in landscape format to the plane along with my case. So why
couldn’t they have stayed in my case in
DIGITAL EXPERIMENTS (as reported by The Children’s Bookseller)
the first place? I don’t get it! Answers on a
2009 saw publishers trial products across a range of digital platforms
postcard please…
E-books The larger publishing houses Gaming Random House has created
If you’d like your
have been developing lead titles into e-books Random House Children’s Screen Entertain-
children’s book to
and most expect to move towards parallel ment with British game production company
publishing of e-books for their big sellers. Komixx Entertainment to develop its books
be considered for a
Mobile phones The iPhone’s touch and into video games as well as other media
workshop, email your
colour screen opens many opportunities for platforms.
manuscript and covering
children’s picture books. Print-on-demand Egmont’s innovative
letter to
children@writers-forum.com.
Subscription services Penguin is exper- gifting service, offering personalised character-
For information about Louise Jordan’s
imenting with subscription services via a based titles, is being developed further.
digital storytelling kit for children called We Scholastic’s school offering We Are Writers,
critique and mentoring services at
Make Stories. Both schools and individuals where schools can create and sell their own
The Writers’ Advice Centre, please visit
can access the service for a one-off fee. books, has also proved popular.
www.writersadvice.co.uk
Writers
’
FORUM #99 47
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