Scholastic is launching BookFlix, an educational Web site pairing short films based on popular picture books along with nonfiction e-books that allow early readers to follow the text online.
This starts to introduce multimedia content in the jacket and may show an animated film of a storybook, where children are able to turn pages, backward or forward, by clicking on an arrow on the lower right- or left-hand side.
Disney Publishing Group plans a similar project later this year, making favorites such as "The Jungle Book" and "Cinderella" available online and while Scholastic, is sticking to the school and library market, Disney will offer books to general consumers.
Some remain skeptical as to whether the children’s market is ready for ebooks and believe that a laptop device may be a more acceptable delivery device. But it is the content that counts and Scholastic and Disney are not standing still and waiting for the market to make up its mind.
BookFlix begins with 80 pairings, 20 of them also available in Spanish, with categories ranging from "Family and Community" to "Music and Rhyme." They are working with US schools, teachers kids in small groups and have received enthusiastic responses so far.
Imagine no more ‘read with mother ‘ but ‘click with mother’.
