Children’s literature has evolved since its inception and will naturally continue to do so. In addition to the healthy current demand for children’s literature, the future of children’s publishing is already looking promising. McLean (2015) stated that children’s print books were the highest proportion of book sales in the US in that year – despite the expansion of the ebook and digital children’s literature markets. Recent trends would indicate continued future growth of interest and therefore increased book sales in both print and digital formats for children’s literature. Despite the increasing amount of time children and young adults spend on screens and electronic devices (both for reading and other activities) the future already looks promising for the publication of children’s literature as the demand for the evolution of various formats of children’s and young adult books continues to grow.

Children’s Literature Evolving Alongside Technology

There is little doubt children’s literature will continue to evolve alongside the development of new technologies within society. McLean (2015) noted that of the top twenty bestselling books of 2014 in the USA, eighty percent were children’s books which tied in with movies or computer games released in that year. Similarly, as technologies have evolved (such as touch screen sensitivity and interactivity) children’s literature has expanded to meet these digital developments. The formats in which children’s literature is presented is constantly changing and growing as technology evolves within society.

Children’s literature (including young adult literature) stays relevant to young readers and even meets the growing markets in related children’s industries such as film, computer games and general screen interactivity. The cross pollination between books, films, games and other online activities for children and young adults – and the bestselling status of children’s/YA books – ensures the future is bright for publishing despite the ever-changing technologies manifesting within society. Children are naturally imaginative and as imagination thrives on stimulation, new technologies provide a platform for print books and ebooks to launch into new collaborations with the form and stay relevant to children’s development as technology evolves around them.

The Personalisation of Children’s Literature

Another way children’s literature is evolving from traditional forms of presentation is the increasing personalisation of children’s books. This affords young readers who enjoy other personalised items and objects they may own to enter the story as themselves and interact with the story at the same time it unfolds before the reader.

While traditional, classic works of children’s and YA literature will continue to be read, it would not be surprising if these classics and long loved literary works will be reimagined to bring the reader into a more interactive relationship with the story, especially when these books and literature are presented in an electronic format. This I feel will become a natural extension of the personalisation of some literature which has been noted to be increasing since at least 2016. (https://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/what-we-learned-from-the-top-trends-in-childrens-literature-webinar/)

Not only are new books being created which place the reader as the central protagonist at the heart of the story, they may take the place of a character in an existing work (such as taking on the role of Robin Hood, for example). This interactivity brings the child/youth’s own imagination to the story or literary work. This may be similar to the way children may ‘become’ a character in a computer game and interact with the other characters in that game. In this sense the child in an ebook may be seen to personally interact within the story and not simply read of the characters and engage in the story from a third person perspective. This interactivity and personalisation shift the reader’s engagement with the story more into the first-person experience, potentially stimulating their imagination in ways which were not explored by simply reading the story in its original context. More interactivity through personalisation will heighten the reader’s experience and expand the forms in which traditional children’s literature is presented in the future.

Interactivity

Following the trend of children and young adults spending large amounts of their time on screens such as phones, computers, watches and tablets, interactivity within children’s literature will increase to adapt to the changing ways children learn and interact with the world. McLean (2015) noted that the most successful books which embraced interactivity recognised the need for the interactive elements to be directly relevant to the story and not exist simply as a technology which was self-contained and did not advance the story.

Ebooks will evolve to embrace new technologies in the future which keep the young reader engaged and advance the story. In a similar way to the way children and young adults sometimes wear eye goggles to view and interact movies and games, it is a natural extension of children’s literature to travel down a similar path and enable the reader to have a heightened, interactive and possibly three-dimensional personalised experience of the book they are immersed in and experiencing as a viewer. This interactivity with the literature has the potential to expand the concept of what constitutes children’s literature as the boundaries between technology, personalisation and children’s literature are blurred. This melting pot of interactivity, words and pictures has the potential to elevate children’s literature to new levels in the future and heightens the reader’s experience.

The Drivers of Change

The interest in mixed media such as film, games and other interactive technologies by children and young adults is already shaping the way children’s literature is being created. The demand for children’s literature which refers to and interacts with these other technological forms – as evidenced by the very significant book sales which link books, film and games together – is driving change with the way many children’s books are made and interact with other technologies and media. No longer is much of children’s literature self-contained and the form is expanding to embrace and interact with other technologies and subjects of popular interest to children and young adults. This expansion can only be an exciting prospect for the reader-demand drive for interactivity with children’s literature into the future.

Resource

https://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/what-we-learned-from-the-top-trends-in-childrens-literature-webinar/