In the heated battle for e-book supremacy, Barnes & Noble has turned its attention to a group of consumers with no disposable income of their own but who have a strong place in the world of literature – children.
The #1 brick-and-mortar bookseller has launched a new version of its Nook software and online Nook store, called Nook Kids. There will soon be a special “Nook Kids” app for the iPad, iPhone, and other Nook-enabled devices. Additionally, Barnes & Noble will launch NookKids.com early next week.
The new kid-centric marketing approach will bring more than 12,000 children’s books, aimed at the 3- to 8-year-old market, to the digital scene. Much like how children today are growing up alongside computers, it seems logical they should start using e-readers from an early age as well.
“We’re interested in making sure kids can enjoy our books in many new ways. We’re excited about this new direction,” said Random House Children’s Book marketing SVP Judith Haut as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
There is something to be said about the childhood experience of thumbing through pages and seeing the colorful hand-drawn images of Dr. Seuss on paper. It would be weird for most of us to imagine those experiences replaced with a handheld electronic device.
Then again, e-readers are the future of books, so may as well get the young ones interested in them early on.
