Picturebooks
Is the Picture Book Dead?
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Schons, Lisa M. ‘‘Is the Picture Book Dead? The Rise of the iPad as a Turning Point in Children’s Literature.’’ Journal of Digital Research & Publishing 2 (2011): 120-28.
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: digital picturebooks, picturebooks, visual storytelling, digitization, layout, child readers
Annotation:
From 2010’s release of the Apple iPad, digital publishing saw a drastic change in many ways. More so, the picture book genre saw a wave of new possibilities. Schons explores the market effect as well as the radical reconceptualization of the genre in this article. Using The Heart and the Bottle as an example, Schons notes the differences between the traditionally printed picture book and the new experience driven interactive iPad picture book. Multimodality is positioned as the new normal for digitally published picture book apps with an emphasis on the blurring of lines between movies, games, and books. E-literature is presented as a revolutionary tool for improving the literacy and digital literacy of the child. One important conclusion to note is the statement that the two different formats, traditional and digital, have a place in the complex and rapidly changing market.
