There is some comfort to be derived from Harvey’s (2015) report on book trends in that children still enjoy print books and that the digitalised world has not completely taken over the world of books, as predicted. Although some young people may fight against the idea of reading, preferring to stare at their screens, when they do have the opportunity to browse a book collection it is satisfying to witness the pleasure of finding a book they are interested in. I have found students respond positively to using an atlas for the first time – they seem to enjoy the size of the book as well as the information inside.
Printed books are still in demand (Rutherford, Singleton, Ariel Derr, & Kristin Merga, 2018) and I believe they have survived the first seismic shift of change and will prevail, for the immediate future anyway. According to Short (2018), picture books publications were dwindling in 2015 but were attracting high numbers of readership and her research seems to indicate that the visual component of books, whether for very young children or adults is a growing culture. The future for children’s books it seems will definitely include a graphic or image that enhances the narrative or stands in place of any narrative. Teachers may have to adjust their analysis to cover text and image. They do already but possibly in more depth and using new terminology.
Who will drive the change? There are many stakeholders in this discussion including: parents, publishers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, schools, children and technology. Technology seems to be the driver of change in many other facets of our lives but although it may have some bearing on the future of children’s books, the evidence so far indicates that it has not totally dominated this market as predicted. For a while it seemed that books had been written off but that has not proved to be the case – bookshops are reappearing and some never closed.
Harvey also discusses the popularity of books that have a game or movie tie-in which have proved to be lucrative and this format and distribution will definitely be part of the future book market with drivers coming from other media industries. Personalised books are also a growing sales area and board books are regaining popularity. It would be hard to imagine how this format could be improved by digitalisation – part of the fun of these books is in the handling!
Hateley (2013) discusses the possibility of ipads becoming the readers’ tool of choice in the future, but for the time being it seems that both technology and print have a place for readers of all ages.
References
Harvey, E. (2015, December 8). Five trends affecting children’s literature. BookBusiness. Retrieved from https://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/what-we-learned-from-the-top-trends-in-childrens-literature-webinar/
Hateley, E. (2013). Reading: from turning the page to touching the screen. BookBusiness. Retrieved from https://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/what-we-learned-from-the-top-trends-in-childrens-literature-webinar/
Rutherford, L., Singleton, A., Derr, L.A, & Merga, MK. (2018). Do digital devices enhance teenagers’ recreational reading engagement? Issues for library policy from a recent study in two Australian states. Public Library Quarterly, 55(3), 318-340 https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2018.1511214
Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.
