Thanks to Julia for the tip.

From Digital Book World:

In digital publishing today, storybook app creation is still a niche. Compared to printed books, creating book apps is in its infancy and still chartering the road “less traveled by” to borrow the words of Robert Frost – and at Wasabi Productions, we believe it can and will make “all the difference.”

Clearly, we aren’t the only ones who think so as this nascent industry is teeming with innovative app creation (especially for children). Device adoption is exploding in both homes and schools – this year, International Data Corporation (IDC) said it expects the tablet market to reach “a new high” of 190 million shipped units, with year-on-year growth of 48.7%, while the smartphone market is expected to grow 27.2% to 918.5 million units. Device variety and price points are also diversifying, and their ubiquity and storytelling potential mean that apps won’t be the marginal choice for digital publishing for very long.

. . . .

[W]e have created a case study detailing our experience in creating for this emerging industry, which, if predictions are to be believed, is the trend to watch in 2013 and beyond.

. . . .

The first step in creating a children’s book is platform agnostic – creation of a story. The author, in our case Graham Nunn, needs creative inspiration and workshops the idea into a script. Once the story is created, the process of making an app diverges from that of other kinds of content creation. Rather than an image of a distanced author developing his idea in isolation, storybook apps are fundamentally collaborative. Early on, Nunn is discussing his idea with the team and providing reference images while building a storyboard rough (draft). The storyboard rough has information on sound effects and interactions page-by-page to accompany the words and it begins visualizing user interface decisions, such as how navigation works (after creating a few apps, we’ve developed a familiar user interface format that our books use, but this is always evolving to ensure it’s optimized for each app).

A timeless, well-written story is critical for all children’s literature but since books on a touch screen device have the added dimension of reader interaction, you need more than just great words. Someone has to decide what those interactions are going to be and when this person is the author, these can be more integral to the narrative–not forced into the scope of a completed story by someone else.

Link to the rest at Digital Book World

From The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators:

The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award is for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field. The grant was established by Newbery Award winner and Newbery Honor Book recipient Karen Cushman and her husband, Philip Cushman, in conjunction with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.  Karen published her first children’s book, The Midwife’s Apprentice (winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal), at the age of fifty-three and has gone on to become one of the field’s most acclaimed novelists.

“This award was established to encourage and celebrate late bloomers like me, who didn’t start to write until age fifty.  But then I bloomed, and I’d love to see others do so as well,” said Karen.

Link to the rest at SCBWI

From Publishing Perspectives:

At this year’s Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, running April 23^rd through May 4^th, attendees have the opportunity to attend  Cultural Programs covering a wide range of topics, including “The Absence of Arabic Childhood Protection and Strategies to Bring it Back,’ “Arab Children’s Magazine – Between Prosperity and Decline,” and “Creating a Fantasy World for Today’s Children.”

. . . .

On Thursday, April 25^th, panelists from Britain, Australia, Tunisia, and Morocco examined the subject “The Important Elements of Childhood,” each bringing to the panel their own unique perspective.

Abdulrzaaq Kamoon of Tunisia author, storyteller, and founding member of Safaqis Children’s Book Society, after  reminding authors and parents that “what you have in your heart is a child,” and discussing the changing roles of school, parents, family and books, placed special emphasis on what he called the three essentials:  milk, kindness, and stories.

. . . .

But it was perhaps British author Terence Blacker, best known for his Ms. Wiz series of books (Fantastic Fiction), who came closest to most directly answering the question at hand.  After reminding the audience that people who write for children are “slightly odd,” he quickly honed in on what he saw as the five elements that are most important, both in stories and in life.

1.  Freedom.

2.  Power.  Children should know that they do have power.

3.  Self worth.  Children need to know that they are not alone, that who they are matters.

4.  Humor.  Even if, and perhaps particular if serious, a little bit of humor is essential.

5.  Kindness or love or hope.  If you’re not teaching children that, either as a writer or parent, you’re not doing your job.

Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives

From Cracked.com:

Author J.K. Rowling might have approximately all of the money now, but things didn’t start out that way. Once upon a time, Rowling was living off of government assistance, retyping complete copies of the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to send out to publishers because she was too broke to have photocopies made. So she sent off her precious slaved-over copies of the manuscript to publishing houses, where they promptly went into the trash.

. . . .

The first several publishers she tried rejected it outright, all for the same reason: It was far too long for a children’s book.

. . . .

Anyway, deciding that she needed an agent, Rowling thumbed through a directory and chose Christopher Little because the name sounded like a character in a children’s book. She shipped her manuscript off to Little’s office, where it met a familiar fate: An assistant tossed it straight into the rejection pile because Little thought that children’s books didn’t make any money.

. . . .

Eventually fate (or possibly a curse on Rowling’s part, we’re not sure) intervened when Rowling’s illustrations caught the eye of Little’s assistant while she was sending out the rejections. She convinced Little, who signed Rowling on … at which point publishers continued to reject Harry Potter. Finally, Little shipped it off to Bloomsbury Publishing, where chairman Nigel Newton agreed to look at it as a personal favor.

Newton then did something that apparently never occurred to other children’s book publishers, which was to show it to an actual child. He offhandedly tossed the manuscript to his 8-year-old daughter, who devoured it in hours and came back to him demanding more. Only at that point did someone finally decide, “Eh, let’s put some copies out there. Who knows, maybe this will make us all enough money that we can each live on an island made of gold.”

Link to the rest at Cracked.com and thanks to Shantnu for the tip.

From Forbes Blogs:

If you told a publishing company CEO a decade ago that ten years later a quarter of their revenue would be coming from digital content, they would have probably snorted up some San Pellegrino with lemon, laughing. If they took you seriously, they would have then commenced panicking (or, in the case of those with vision, planning).

Now that the ebook revolution is here and the initial shock has subsided, I have a piece of news that I’d like to deliver (publishing CEOs, put down your sparkling water):

The next wave of the ebook revolution is coming and it’s going to be led by kids. While just under a quarter of U.S. adults are reading ebooks, some 54% of kids are reading them — that’s more than double. This number comes from a brand new study Digital Book World conducted with PlayScience, a children’s digital research firm.

. . . .

– Kids e-read a lot: Of the 54% of kids who read ebooks, 85% of them read at least once a week
– Tablets rule: 22% of kids who read ebooks read most often on an iPad; 20% on a Kindle Fire; 14% on a Kindle e-reader
– Kids make the decisions: No. 1 way a parent chooses a new ebook for their child is that their child asks for it

Link to the rest at Forbes and thanks to Abel for the tip.

From Digital Book World:

Despite their waning influence among children when it comes to book recommendations, libraries are still the No. 1 place kids acquire the books they read for pleasure, according to a new report from Bowker Market Research.

At the same time, libraries are no longer the top place where kids discover new books. Recommendations from friends and family was the No. 1 in this latest iteration of Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age, the report presented at the Publishers Launch Children’s Publishing Goes Digital in New York*.

The top six places kids up to thirteen-years-old get the books they read for pleasure:

1. Public Library
2. Amazon.com
3. Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club
4. Barnes & Noble
5. School Library
6. Scholastic Book Clubs

Link to the rest at Digital Book World

From the Scholastic Media Room:

The editors at Scholastic have been publishing, curating and distributing award-winning books for children for decades, and have become experts at predicting exactly where kids’ book interests will go next. Today, the editors of Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs, along with editors in the Trade Publishing group, present their list of top ten trends in children’s books for the coming year.

. . . .

Bullying is THE Timely Topic in Kids’ Books.

The fact is nearly every child will face or witness the effects of bullying at some point in their lives. Children’s authors recognize this as a major concern for kids and have become more adept at weaving bullying themes into storylines, from picture books to young adult titles. In 2013 look for: The Meanest Birthday Girl by Josh Schneider (May 2013/Clarion), and The Call of the Bully: A Rodney Rathbone Novel - the sequel to How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying by Scott Starkey (January 2013/Simon & Schuster).

’13 Will be a Lucky Number for Science Fiction Fans.

While the end of dystopian novels is no-where in sight, fans can expect to see a new theme uncovered, bringing some stellar new titles with a “true” science- fiction edge. Books to watch for in the New Year include Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet (February 2013/Feiwel & Friends), and Pulse by Patrick Carman (February 2013/HarperCollins).

. . . .

 War.

Whenever we reach a historical anniversary, there is an increased interest in books related to the topic. 2013 marks the second year of the American Civil War Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary), so history buffs will see an influx of Civil War titles to read. Wars in general will be making their way on to the bookshelves in 2013, which is great news for teachers looking for great non-fiction to supplement classroom learning and help kids meet the Common Core State Standards. Look for a broad selection of Civil War books including: I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg by Lauren Tarshis (January 2013/Scholastic) and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? Jim O’Connor, John Mantha and James Bennett (February 2013/Grosset & Dunlap).

Link to the rest at Scholastic Media Room

From Forbes blogs:

 Are you a parent with children aged 2-to-13 who read ebooks?

If so, chances are you’re buying your kid a device this holiday season to read ebooks on. According to a new study conducted by research firm PlayScience and Digital Book World, nearly 40% of parents who have e-reading children aged 2-to-13 plan on buying them some sort of e-reading device this holiday season.

. . . .

– Of the parents who are going to buy their kids an e-reading device this holiday season:
* 28% will buy a Kindle Fire
* 21% will buy the iPad Mini
* 18% will buy the iPad

. . . .

– Of parents of all children who read digitally, an astounding 66% intend on buying their kids digital content this holiday season
– Of those who plan on buying digital content for their kids, they plan on spending an average of $28.26 doing so

. . . .

So, if you take all the kids with parents aged 2-to-13 who are readers (and there are a lot of them) and figure about 40% of them are buying devices for their kids this holiday season and 66% of them are buying ebooks and such for them this holiday season, that adds up to a boom for children’s digital publishing.

Link to the rest at Forbes

From Flavorwire:

Since we love a good story, we couldn’t tear our eyes away from this amazing ink inspired by Richard Adams’ Watership Down, featured on Neatorama. The emotional, allegorical tale has truly touched many readers. We’ve explored tattoos honoring the best of children’s cinemabefore, and the time seemed ripe to seek out body art that gives a nod to the world of children’s literature. Books for young readers are filled with incredible illustrations and memorable lines, and these devotees have celebrated some of the most famous titles in clever, nerdy, intimate, and permanent ways.

Link to the rest at Flavorwire