Part 3: Fun & Games Since John Newbery's 'Pretty Little Pocketbooks'

This is the third in a series of dotMomming's conversation with Patrick Cox,  who is teaching Children's Literacies, a course at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, about learning to read in the digital age. Patrick is a Ph.D. candidate in Rutger's childhood studies program.

DotMomming: The term "book" has become a loose thing as app developers include games and other whistles and bells with their digital stories. Often a parent wonders, "Is this a book? a game? a movie? all three?" What is your take on these new beasts?

Patrick Cox: I think it’s great to be prompted to such questions, and to hopefully conclude that books, games, and even movies needn’t be mutually exclusive. Perhaps it’s OK for reading to be fun. . . it always has been. Adding a few bells and whistles to reading is nothing new. John Newbery’s Pretty Little Pocketbooks are often mentioned as a starting point of children’s literature, at least as a marketed product. He published them in 1744, and they were accompanied with balls and pincushions. Children’s books and toys have always gone hand-in-hand.

One can argue that children’s literature has always crossed a line between “reading” and “playing” in such a way and to such a degree that should really force us to always consider fun, play, and even “gaming” as part of it. Digital enhancements are just the next development.

And the questions and concerns about digital reading are age-old as well. Nowadays, people can’t tell if the latest reading device is a toy or a book, but in the past, people have asked, “How can this be serious reading if the rhymes and rhythm are so bouncy? Won’t the colorful pictures distract from the reading? Aren’t these pop-up images just a little ‘too much’? Isn’t it enough to just read?” But the truth is, reading is supposed to be fun.

I think it’s also worth pointing out that there’s very little evidence to suggest that either:

1. No one is reading any more, or 
2. No one is reading books anymore. 

The presence of these new types of experiences with reading are not spelling the end of reading – to the contrary, I’d argue they enhance and encourage it! And to those who ask, “What’s wrong with just reading a book?” I’d reply: absolutely nothing, and the sales figures suggest that most people – especially young people – agree! These new creations really ought to be embraced for their ability to bring new people to reading and new experiences to reading, and not feared as some sort of enemy of literacy.

Part 2: Digital Literacy and Learning to Read

This is the second in a series of posts in which we'll hear from Patrick Cox, a Ph.D. candidate in the childhood studies program at Rutgers University. Patrick taught a summer course on learning to read in the digital age, and he will repeat it in the fall and spring. In exploring how digital readers are impacting early literacy development, Patrick is engaging his students in better understanding technology and how young children are learning about it and with it.

DotMomming: The digital natives born into the iPad world are experiencing reading and learning in a whole new way. I don't mean this as a plug for Apple, just in the sense that books are a fluid thing now. Kids can toddle over to the bookshelf to sit down with a paper book, or they can tap their fingers on a reading tablet and read a digital one. Is one experience better than the other?

Patrick Cox: Of course not! Certainly the experiences are different from each other, but it gets a bit sticky to ascribe words like “better” or “worse” to one experience over another. Apart from whatever text is being read in each medium, both media also teach valuable skills to young readers. “Book awareness” starts very young, and the book is itself a technology anyone in the United States really needs to learn how to use.

We don’t really think of it, but at some point we had to learn the difference between the cover of a book and the back of a book, or which direction to turn the pages, or that we read from left to right. These are all skills that are developed from a very young age and will serve us throughout our lives . . . unless books completely disappear, which I don’t think is likely at all.

Similarly, reading tablets and other hi-tech manifestations of books teach other useful skills we might call “tech awareness.” As unromantic as it sounds, these days we need to learn a connection between pushing buttons and things happening on a screen, or “swyping” a screen to move an image. In my state of Pennsylvania, naming and having some understanding of how to use computer parts like keyboards, a mouse, a touchpad, and a cell phone is part of the pre-kindergarten education standards. The fact is, like it or not, it behooves us all to learn how to use these new devices.

I’m very interested in this phrase “digital native.” I’ve heard it before and understand what is meant. But there’s an implication about it, it seems, that there’s something natural about kids’ connection to technology that people who aren’t “natives” can’t ever fully learn or become a part of. “Native” means some people are “not native,” so there’s a separation being made in the phrase between children and adults. “You grow up with it or you don’t; you’re a part of it, or you aren’t.” Children and adolescents have been classed as “separate” in different realms before. (There’s actually a book about teenagers called “A Tribe Apart,” another term that both primitivizes children and separates “them” from “us” – the presumably less primitive adults.)

I’ve heard children’s picture book apps on iPads described as perfect for young children because “kids these days are wired differently.” I think there’s a growing belief that children “just know this tech stuff” as if it’s not learned but natural to them, as if children are somehow at one with technology and its accompanying gadgets; “wired differently” as if part of the computer’s circuitry.

What’s troubling in all this is the perception that using reading tablets and other techie gadgets is somehow not reading. And that the gadgets – the digital books and apps and so forth – are cutting us off from “the natives.” We often hear a critique of e-readers along the lines of, “Yes, but it’s just not the same as curling up with a book and turning the pages.” People talk about the feel of paper, the smell of books. Indeed, a Kindle is not the same. But I’m not sure the difference is such as to affect a young reader’s comprehension or engagement with the story being read or their connection with the characters. In other words, reading hasn’t changed; just the device has changed. But that seems to be fraught with a lot of other meanings for people.

Author-Illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba Conjures Up Adorable App with "Lula's Brew"

In getting to understand picture book apps, we've heard from app developers about what it takes to bring their ideas to market. But what about the author-artists themselves? What's it like to see your illustrations and stories come to life as a digitally animated book?

DotMomming reached out to Elizabeth O. Dulemba, author-illustrator of the darling picture book app Lula's Brew. Aside from illustrating over a dozen traditional books, she is the Illustrator Coordinator for the Southern region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an adjunct professor of illustration at the University of Georgia, and also sits on the board of the Georgia Center for the Book. And we cannot overlook this incredibly cool resume footnote: she created the laser show on the side of Georgia's Stone Mountain one summer (which I think I attended back in 1991 when I worked for a South Carolina newspaper).

DotMomming: You have a strong background in traditional books and art, but you've begun to dip your toes in the land of picture book apps. How's the water?

Elizabeth O. Dulemba: Interesting. I've always been a bit of a geek -- taught myself html, do my own website, illustrate digitally. So when e-books came along, of course I was intrigued. I love that we have this new media in which to share our stories, often in interactive new ways. It opens even more possibilities for storytelling.

DM: Lula's Brew is a gorgeously illustrated book. What is your creative process in making your art? And how does it look to you on the iPad, Nook, and other digital formats?

EOD: Thank you! I usually start with pencil sketches which I scan, arrange, and then color digitally (mostly in Photoshop). I'm thrilled by how Lula looks on these devices -- exactly as I intended, with light from behind. The viewer can see every brush stroke, every nuance of color. Fantastic!

DM: How does this compare to the paper books you've produced? Do you prefer one medium over the other?

EOD: I originally got into this business because I love books. Paper and cardboard and color. I will never lose my love for the turned page. So while I love digital formats, I will first and foremost always want to hold a finished book in my hands.

DM: Can you take a moment to talk about the production process with Lula's Brew? How long did it take you to go from "ah-ha" moment with the story idea to "wow" moment when you could download the app? How does this compare with traditional?

EOD: Lula's Brew had a tumultuous journey. I actually created the story and the dummy years before. One of the illustrations even won me a Grand Prize in the SmartWriters competition. And although it got close, the story was never picked up by a major publishing house. When apps came along, I searched my archives for something that I could adapt, and Lula was the one. It had received great feedback, was short, funny, the sketches were done...

But with a Halloween theme, I had a short window in which to complete it. That was two weeks of late nights, and then I sent my files to my app developer. I did a voice recording in a mock sound studio at his house, he put it all together and submitted to Apple. The app was live two weeks later - just before Halloween.

Traditional publishing is a completely different animal. I usually have months to a year to illustrate a book, and of course, I don't have to record a soundtrack. I'm also working under contract with a publisher. The app was on my own.

DM: As an illustrator of traditional books and now with app experience under your belt, could you speak in general terms about profit margins. For a picture book to be deemed a success, it needs to sell about 10,000 copies. Lula's Brew, which was released in April 2010 and retails for $2.99 in the App Store, has already marked more than 10,000 downloads. Despite the lower price, are your profit margins better than for your traditional paper books? Can you elaborate?

EOD: Lula's Brew has done remarkably well in downloads, however the profit margin is still nowhere near a traditional book contract. It's done better than I thought, but I currently wouldn't look to apps as a true money-making venture. Especially now that the field is growing so crowded. The advantage I had of having one of the first picture book apps out there is no longer, so marketing is yet again the grand beastie challenge.

DM: Could you take a moment to gaze into your crystal ball? What do you see as the future for picture books in five, ten years? Of course digital does not have to wipe out print -- as with movies, there's still room for big-screen film experiences along side video-watching at home. Do you see the market preferring one over the other?

EOD: I do think digital picture books will cut into the paper book market, however I don't see it replacing it. Nowhere close. Picture books are still a child's first foray into reading, into loving books, and I don't think parents will be eager to replace that experience with electronic devices. Yes, iPhones are great on the fly, but not as much at bedtime. And the prices of various devices are still too high to make them accessible to all families.

I see the two media working together over the next few years, giving our young ones so many options, they become bigger readers than ever. Doesn't that sound nice?

DM: A worry I have as the mother of young kids is that picture book apps can sometimes blur the lines between book and movie, or even book and game. What are your thoughts about young readers and their early literacy experiences with apps vs. traditional books?

EOD: I agree with your concern. I think it's important for parents to introduce books not only for reading, but as a concept. The world flies at us these days, and children need to know they can find refuge in a simple book, in a story that uses their mind as the interactive element.

DM: What's next for you? Are you illustrating more picture book apps? Are you writing them as well? What about traditional books? What do you hope to be doing three years from now?

EOD: I don't have any picture book apps in progress right now. In my opinion, it's not efficient from a budget standpoint to spend time on them from scratch. It's just too dicey as to whether or not they'll earn enough revenue. Truly, I think the best use of the media is to bring out-of-print picture books back to life -- giving them a new audience. Although, I am curious to see how Lula's Brew does as a Nook Book through Barnes & Noble. Maybe that will change my mind. It's still too new to tell.

I currently have a new picture book dummy being shopped by my agent to traditional publishing houses, as well as a middle-grade novel. In three years, I hope to have them published and be creating more!

Dublin's Ideal Binary Living the Fairy Tale

Among the many interesting things about app-land is that businesses can pop up anywhere you can imagine: a loft in downtown Chicago, a yurt in outer Mongolia. When we read about Dublin-based Ideal Binary and their award-winning adaptations of Grimm's fairytales for the iPad and iPhone, we wanted to find out more about this Irish business (not to mention we have fantasies about moving to the old sod someday). So we contacted Aidan Doolan, who started Ideal Binary with his twin brother, Kevin Doolan. 

DotMomming: Who is Ideal Binary and why did you decide to enter the app business? Do you produce books for kids exclusively? Or are you game developers as well? Why Dublin?

Aidan Doolan: Ideal Binary was founded by my twin brother and me in 2008. We were born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and that's where we live with our wives and families. Location isn't so much of a barrier to doing business globally any more.

We have a long background in the games industry, and have worked on many games titles for companies like Sony, Disney, Konami, and others in the past, and our chairman, Barry O'Neill, also brings extensive commercial experience to the business from companies like Bandai Namco.

We decided to enter the app business because we could see an opportunity to create something no one else had created before - and we set about building the technology platform PopIris to allow us to realise this goal. Our experience in the games industry building high-performance 3D graphics engines and 3D physics engines, along with our experience as artists and animators, has given us a technological advantage over others in this space.

We are currently focused on family-friendly book apps, and we see this as continuing to be the focus of the business - but as we grow we'll expand our products, targeting into different family interest areas aimed at a wider age base.

DM: The picture book app market has changed dramatically since you entered the scene in 2010 with Grimm's Rumpelstiltskin. While there were just a handful of app producers then, it's a very different ballgame now. More and even bigger publishing houses are putting books out there now (Scholastic and other heavyweights). How can a small house like Ideal Binary compete?

AD: It's true, there seems to be an ever growing gold rush with numerous small and large book app producers entering the market every day. Survival rates are very low, however, with many of these (even some of the large ones) under-performing or even generating losses for their publishers. All of our apps so far have been highly profitable. One of the reasons for this is that we focus on producing unique, high-quality book apps that provide a significant wow factor. It's the wow factor that gets people talking about our apps. This helps us tackle the problem of app discovery to a large degree, and it means we have a competitive advantage. Our technology allows us deliver the "wow factor" at a reasonable production cost.

DM: How do you reach parents about your books? When I slog through the App Store, I have a hard time deciding on what books to consider for my kids. Do you have suggestions for weary parents trying to connect their kids to quality picture book apps?

AD: Thankfully, we have built a very large satisfied customer base for our interactive book apps. When we release a new product, we are able to get the word our very quickly to an audience that knows and trusts our work.

The problem of app discovery for parents is a difficult one. First and foremost, I would recommend that parents talk to their friends about what book apps have impressed them. There are also numerous review sites and blogs, such as this one, that offer good information. This will help provide parents with all the information they need to make good, informed decisions about which kids book apps to purchase and which ones to avoid.

DM: When I was reading your apps with my kids, I was pleased to see my 6-year-old taking his time with the text pages in between the pop-up activity pages. I thought it was a great balance and was pleased that I didn't have to compete with his little fingers tap-tap-tapping on clouds and stars, etc., when he was supposed to be reading. Can you talk about what goes into your decision-making in producing books. How do you strike a balance between whistles and bells vs. literary content?

AD: Above all, the most important component of any kids book app is the story, and the entertainment and educational value that can be drawn from it. We only add interactivity at key points in the story where there is an opportunity to weave the reader into the story itself. We avoid adding bells and whistles interactivity to the text pages because it simply distracts the reader from the story. There are exceptions to this, of course. You may see some examples of this in our upcoming book apps. Again, the interactivity is only added where it can enhance and not distract from the story. We see a lot of apps that try to achieve too much onscreen and overwhelm the user. Design of these aspects is key.

The interactivity we add to the pop-up scenes is largely drawn from experience with my own kids. For example, my youngest daughter initially had problems carrying out lists of instructions in the correct order. To help her with this, my wife and I would walk her through simple tasks and get her to repeat them. One task was to first plant some flower seeds and only then water them to help them grow. This of course became the first pop-up scene in Grimm's Rapunzel. After she completed a task correctly, we praised her to help positively reinforce what she had learned. She no longer has any problems with sequencing. This is how we try to present all of the interactivity in our kids book apps.

DM: The lines between "book" apps and games and movies are blurring. What is your take on picture book apps and early literacy? What do you see as the impact these new beasts will have on kids who are born into an iPad world?

AD: While we see a degree of crossover between the different mediums, in reality there's less blurring of the boundaries than some might believe. In the mid-1990s when CD-ROMs started to take off, the media started talking about exactly the same thing. It was forecast that games and movies in particular would merge. Actors like Mark Hammel started lending their talent to game/movie hybrids like the Wing Commander series. Yet here we are almost two decades later, and movies are still movies and games are still games.

We do believe there is a revolution taking place right now with book apps, and that's what we're trying to take the lead on. People (and kids in particular) learn most when they are immersed in engaging experiences they can enjoy. You've heard the Confucius quote, "Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life." The same is true of learning. If you can find a learning experience that isn't a chore for your child, they stand to learn so much more from it without feeling like it's a boring process. It's these kinds of experiences that we try to embody in our interactive children's books. These experiences can enhance skills like literacy (for more than one language), sequencing, understanding the benefits of a healthy diet, obedience, and kindness.

The impact of this type of learning on children will ultimately mean they can acquire these skills sooner. That means they have the potential for a richer, healthier life. As a parent, that means a lot to me, as I'm sure it does to most parents.

DM: You've made a splash with your pop-up Grimm books, which also include Red Riding Hood. What's ahead? Will you continue to put your own spin on classic fairy tales? Or do you plan to take on new authors and original stories? Do you feel that there is money to be made off new talent -- there is risk involved there in taking on unknowns -- is it worth your time and money?

AD: We're delighted with the success of our book apps so far, and we'll be accelerating our development and publishing outputs. We plan on continuing the Grimm's series. We have the next book app well under way, and we're very excited about this one. We also have a second line of book apps under way which focus more on early learning. We plan to continue innovating with new approaches to engaging our growing audience. We'll also be enhancing our technology with new interactive features with each new book release.

We will likely be partnering with established brand holders at some point in the future. We're not opposed to working with new authors, but as you say, the risks are higher with unproven brands and stories.

DM: What's the biggest lesson learned so far in the past year of this rapidly changing business?

AD: The biggest lesson we've learned so far is the realisation that to succeed in this market, a fine balance needs to be struck between features and production efforts and costs. Too many people have entered the book app market dreaming of Angry Birds style success and have over invested in products that have underperformed. There are 58,000 apps in the Books category vs. 73,000 in Games. But Games represents more than 60 percent of app downloads, whereas Books is probably less than 5 percent. That's a massively competitive environment, and you need to scale your efforts and expectations accordingly. We're happy that the approach we're taking to interactive kid's books works and is proving highly profitable even with that huge amount of growing competition in this space.

DM: What's your biggest goal for the next year?

AD: Our biggest goal for the next year is to scale our business while continuing to innovate. We've had a wonderful time making our interactive kids books, and we're very excited about the road ahead. We hope our customers are too.

Author & Illustrator Mike Austin Debuts With Digital, Then Shifts to Paper Books

Mike Austin is a children’s author in an unusual and fantastic position. His first book that came out was a picture book app with Ruckus Media Group called A Present for Milo. It was well-received, and Mike was quickly hit up to make two more books, only this time with paper and a spine. DotMomming talks to Mike about his experiences as an author-illustrator working in digital and print formats.

DotMomming: A Present for Milo was written originally as a picture book app for preschoolers, and then, after it was out, you were offered a contract to turn it into a print book. That's not the norm these days. Could you speak to that highly unusual experience and how it came about? When can we look for the paper books on shelves?

Mike Austin: It's funny but it actually began as a traditional book.

I came up with the story about 15 years ago when my daughter was around two. One evening at bedtime we were wondering what our cat, Milo, was doing all day while we were out of the house. So I grabbed my sketch pad and started drawing the story. I liked the simple concept and character enough that I decided to make a book about Milo and his adventures.

The finished dummy sat on my shelf for years before I was contacted last April by literary agent Rubin Pfeffer, who had seen my illustration portfolio and asked if I was interested in collaborating on some projects. I of course said YES!

A Present for Milo was introduced to a number of different publishers, but it was Ruckus Media Group who saw it and thought it would make a great iPad app. I knew nothing about apps and thought what a great opportunity to learn about the process, thinking how cool it would be to see Milo come to life in an animated, digital form.

I worked with a great developer and art director at Sequel Digital. The project took about three months from concepts to finished app.

The app was launched in early December, and shortly after I was offered a contract to create two new Milo books.



DM: You landed literary agent Ruben Pfeffer? That cannot come out of the blue. Had you been interested in breaking into children's book publishing and been shopping your portfolio around?

MA: I have been working as a graphic designer/illustrator for more than 20 years, my wife Jing Jing Tsong also. And I've been an illustrator full-time for 10. I have portfolios at the I Spot, Workbook.com, picture-book.com, and a bunch of other places. I've won awards and all that. The majority of my work is editorial (newspapers, magazines, corporate publications) for a very diverse cleintele: The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, MIT, Boy's Life, American Express, even the U.S. State Department.

Rubin had actually seen Jing's portfolio first and found me through her. I wasn't actively seeking representation, although I was very interested in children's book publishing from Day One. I have a bazillion ideas in my head, and when Rubin and I had our first conversation I almost exploded. Jing and I have always tried to present a positive, whimsical style in our work. Maybe that's what caught his eye -- I don't know exactly. But I have to say Rubin is a very brilliant and wonderful person who's helped us focus our ideas and make great decisions. It has been an incredible learning experience.

DM: How many print children's books have you done? And how many apps?

MA: A Present for Milo is my first children's book app. I'm currently working on two new Milo books that should be available the end of the year and a new series of apps for young readers that will also be available this fall.

DM: Traditional print books follow standard, 32-page formats, while apps seem to have no constraints. Do you prefer one medium to the other?

MA: I love working in both formats. I think it really depends on the story concept and how well the illustrations will work digitally. I love the flexibility that a digital format offers and also the instant gratification. It was so thrilling to send the page files to the developer and a few days later have a sample app with working clickables. Very cool.

DM: How do you feel kids experience your books? When you're creating a paper book, you have a reader in mind. And when you're creating an app, there are very different considerations. Could you share what your biggest priorities are when creating illustrations and text for the various readers?

MA: I hope that kids are having fun and enjoy spending time with the story and characters. If they are engaged, entertained and learning than I've succeeded. That's my goal, to create something that is meaningful.

DM: Some critics feel that picture book apps blur the lines between a book, a video game, and a movie. What do you say to that?

MA: There are all kinds of apps out there, just like different kinds of books, video games and movies. It's the parents’ responsibility to choose the content that's most appropriate and be engaged in the learning process. Is A Present for Milo a movie? No. Is it a video game? In some ways yes because of the way the reader has to interact and click through each page. Is it a new kind of book? Yes.

DM: How do you think picture book apps are impacting early literacy?

MA: It's an exciting new medium that gives early readers a very fun way to experience both new content and the classics. That's what it's all about, finding new and entertaining ways to help young readers learn. Judging from the popularity of children's book apps, I think it's positive.

DM: What's ahead for you after Milo? Both in terms of digital book making and traditional?

MA: My wife, illustrator Jing Jing Tsong, is currently under contract for a new children's book due out later this year, and we're working together on a bunch of new children's book apps that should be out before Christmas of this year.

DM: Many children's authors and artists are itching to break into this wild and unknown frontier of apps for kids. What advice do you have for them?

MA: It is a time-consuming process, and the development costs can be very high depending on the complexity of the project. For example, if you have 15 pages and each page has backgrounds, lead-in animations, and five clickable elements that each do five random things, you now have more than 500 illustrations! It's a lot of work, but if you have a strong story and a great developer, then go for it!

Forget your troubles, c’mon get appy

For many lovers of neighborhood bookstores, the digital frontier can be a little guilt inducing. How do you shop locally when you want to download electronically? How do you support your beloved local bookseller when you want to read a whole mess of books on a vacation on your tablet?

Well, the answer is simple. As with everything else, we turn to Google.

Google eBooks is a relatively new feature that allows indie bookstores to sell electronic books for a variety of reading devices. Go on a buying bender, and don't worry your pretty little head about where you'll save all those digital files. Google eBooks will store your library in the cloud. All you need is an Internet connection.

What else does it mean for storage in the cloud? You’ll never run out of shelf space since “the cloud” gives you unlimited room. You don’t lose your entire library if you leave your tablet in the seat back in front of you on that American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Chicago. (It happens!) And if you change devices, eBooks allows you to pick up where you left off: Bookmark positions are saved across devices, so you can move from phone to iPad to laptop without losing your place.

To test Google eBooks out, I went to the website of my local indie bookstore, 57th Street Books in Chicago. They featured the Google eBooks tool prominently on their homepage, and the steps I needed to follow were clearly laid out.

I queued up the Newbery Honor winner Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye for my daughter and a few books on Irish history for me. We have an iPad, so once I made my online purchase from 57th Street Books, I downloaded the Google Books app for free. Nice. When the book opened up, it looked great and was simple to use. I was off and reading.

Most e-readers (Sony Reader, the Nook) will be able to go this route, with the exception of Amazon’s Kindle. For a list of devices that support Google ebooks, check out this site.

A few hiccups to keep in mind:

You’ll have to use a Google email account, so if you already use Gmail, you’re golden. If you do not, setting up a Gmail account is free and easy. But it’s another password to remember. Also, the publishing world is still catching up with the technology, so I had to search long and hard to find titles to download.

Obviously, that’s going to change.

For a list of participating bookstores, check out Indiebound’s website.

Ruckus Media's Rick Richter on Apps for Kids

Ruckus Media Group just announced it has secured $3.5 million in funding to expand its presence in app-land and across multiple online stores and platforms. Ruckus is already on the scene with tried-and-true story classics told by powerhouse actor-musician teams like Robin Williams and Ry Cooder doing Pecos Bill, Denzel Washington and B.B. King doing John Henry. We interviewed Ruckus president, CEO, and chairman Rick Richter about the company's plans for readers and buyers of digital media.

With so many app developers hailing from the land of computer programming, it's exciting to hear from Richter, who is former president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Division (1996-2008) as well as co-founder of the beloved publishing house Candlewick Press, which has a long tradition of producing quality books. (The paper kind.)

DotMomming: A lot has happened to Ruckus in recent weeks, especially with the funding boost in early March. What can we expect to see in coming months?

Rick Richter: Right now we’re focusing on our future plans and really drilling down on the apps we have in development, which I think will take us to the next level. We expect that customers want more and more from us on a technology standpoint, and right now, we’re laying the track that we can deliver on customer expectations -- not just satisfying moms and kids, but delighting them.

DM: What’s in store for the year?

RR: For the year, ultimately, you’ll see us expand our range of apps. Over time, it will become apparent what’s developmentally appropriate for your child. We will begin to express real points of view on that, taking counsel from leaders in mobile education thinking and from parents themselves. It’s important to know we’re not doing this alone.

DM: A recent Ruckus announcement said the $3.5 million in funding will help “enrich our products, expand our offerings, and expedite the development of original content with marquee titles.” With superstars like Meryl Streep doing narration and Elvis Costello providing music, Ruckus apps feature celebrity adaptations of well-loved classics.

Does Ruckus plan to open the doors to more original stories and illustrations?

RR: That is the most exciting part of what we do. Of course, originality comes in all forms, and we’re seeking out the brightest and the best storytellers from around the world.

DM: One of the biggest “ifs” with this new era of children’s publishing is quality. Many app producers have no schooling in children’s literature and no editorial staffing on their team. Ruckus is unique in that its team is made up of industry heavy hitters from traditional publishing, media, and entertainment. You, yourself, are unusual in publishing for having been a leader in both sales and editorial.

Does Ruckus plan to set the standard for quality content? And if so, how?

RR: Absolutely, if you look at the background of not only me but the people who are associated with us, including some very prestigious editors, we think that we are reacting to what we observed as a real hole in the market as far as quality. The reason why apps are as expensive as they are, and why people like free apps, is that you can’t count on the quality. So we intend to raise that standard and raise the bar, and there are two or three other companies like us, who will emerge like us. There will be a few brands that pop out, creating products of outstanding quality. That’s where we want to be.

DM: For many authors and artists of traditional picture books, the app world presents a whole new publishing frontier. Could you talk about author/illustrator Mike Austin and his picture book app, A Present for Milo? The Milo app morphed into a few traditional books for Austin. How did this happen?




RR: One of the most interesting reviews we received on our app is that one reviewer hoped the books would be as good as the app is. It really does fall back to "a great story is a great story," regardless of how it is presented. You have to ask yourself, Is a book its body or its soul? We maintain that it’s its soul. Print books very much have their place, and app books do too. For us, it was never either/or, it was always either/and. And we want kids to enjoy great storytelling wherever they are.

DM: One of your mantras has been “books you can play with and games you can read.” For this digital generation that doesn’t feel an affinity to paper books, apps are a natural extension of their screen experiences. What does Ruckus see as the future of reading?

RR: I think for us, we see today’s on-the-go culture as wanting to enjoy media wherever they are. It’s historically how media has evolved. Typically, one form of media has not eclipsed another. People still read books, they go to movies. Video was predicted to crush movie theaters, which never happened. It’s really about where people are when they enjoy the media. Statistically, it isn’t that one kind of media is replacing another; it’s about multi-tasking. One thing that does stand is the ability to find print books, which is becoming more difficult with the closing of Borders and independent booksellers. We hope to provide that kind of curation service for parents, so we give guidance on what is not only a great app but a great story.

DM: It’s a cluttered market for iPad apps right now. Competition is stiff and – as an Oklahoma gal, forgive me – it’s like a land grab. How should parents make their way to quality apps for their kids?

RR: What you will find is that there will be curators that step forward and offer their insight. Awards are evolving. Reviews will become more and more solid, and people with real review experience will step in. People forget that we’re in the early days of apps; the first digital reading device was created in 1970, but it’s only been three to four years that e-books have really exploded and hit a tipping point. We’re really in the early days. There are 70,000 developers and 350,000 apps. What you’re going to see is people stepping in and helping you decide where to go and what constitutes a great app.

DM: Apple’s iTunes is the main player for app distribution. But Ruckus plans to expand distribution to include Google’s Android Market, Research In Motion’s Blackberry App World, Amazon’s App Store, and the Barnes & Noble Nook.

What does this mean for Ruckus as far as establishing a beachhead in the highly competitive app market?

RR: For us, we want to be able to be available on every device possible. You’ll see us developing apps on multi-platforms. You can also add that to our goals for the year. It’s very exciting, but it’s also very expensive. It’s probably going to be what weeds out the smaller developers from the larger developers.  Interesting enough, you have to recode an app from the ground up to be played on an Android device, so you’re incurring twice the cost. If you’re talking about four to five platforms, you’re talking $200,000 in development costs. So two things have to happen: the company has to be funded to do that, and the market has to be evolving.

Loud Crow's "Peter Rabbit" Tops Kirkus Reviews, and for Good Reason

Not long ago we wrote about Kirkus entering the world of app reviews. And not a moment too soon, when I think of the picture book stinkers now collecting dust on our iPad.

I recently downloaded the app ranked in the No. 1 position with Kirkus. It’s PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by one Beatrix Potter. Even though I’m committed to my great-new-app-by-a-talented-new-author quest, I went ahead and queued up what Kirkus considered the best.

And whaddaya know? It is. Heads and shoulders, in fact, above any picture book app I’ve bought so far. Check out the video to see for yourself.

What makes Peter Rabbit such an enjoyable reading experience? The list is long.

First of all, it’s the British narration. Think Emma Thompson, but more Howards End than Nanny McPhee. The voice is smooth and gentle, which jibes perfectly with the clean, understated piano accompaniment.

I loved that the pages, when our iPad was turned to landscape, seemed to be the exact size as the real book in our hands. And the pop-out components were a terrific blending of old school and new: paper flap pullouts, spin wheels, and springy elements were planted on every page.

They were infinitely engaging, and my kindergartner recognized them immediately from traditional pop-up books. Pull on this flap, and Mr. McGregor blocks Peter's path. Turn this circle, and Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail gobble up their supper.

What delighted Junior most of all were the unexpected new pop-up elements. The rabbits come across blackberry vines, and when we touched the simple watercolor image, the berries popped into realistic, true-to-size blackberries on the screen. We spent quite a while playing with the blackberries, gooseberries, and lovely fall leaves, piling them on different parts of the pages and bouncing them back and forth. When we spent too long away from the story, the blackberries squished beneath our fingers.

It was a gentle reminder that Peter was waiting.

Developed by Loud Crow Interactive, Peter Rabbit is for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. It was followed at the holidays by PopOut! The Night Before Christmas.

Loud Crow on Friday unveiled the first app in its new line based on Sandra Boynton's adorable board books. Stay tuned for our review of The Going to Bed Book app, which makes us anything but sleepy.

Soupy Sales Taught Me to Read

Junior and I were snuggled in the rocking chair last night, iPad before us, great British narrator's voice reading the words of our bedtime story aloud. I was watching my son follow along, whispering quietly to himself as each word became illuminated. He was enthralled, loving that he could keep up with the narrator and feeling quite big for "reading" the story himself.

It took me back -- waaaay back, I have to admit -- to the pink and green bedroom I shared with my big sister in Oklahoma and the Fisher-Price record player that stood beside my bed. I was a huge Soupy Sales fan in those days (who wasn't?), and my parents presented me with a great new find: Soupy Sales Reads a Wonder Book.


It was a simple children's book accompanied by a 45 record. Pop it onto your record player and voila!, Soupy Sales was right there in your room reading Silly Sidney or another title aloud. I could not get enough of Soupy. I holed up in my room each evening to get my daily dose, and before long, I was venturing off to read other things beyond Sidney.

And it will be the same for my little guy. He looks forward to reading time, whether it's my voice or anyone else in the family reading to him, or even this anonymous Brit who joined us last night. He simply loves to have a story read to him. But soon -- all too soon, I fear -- he'll be ready to climb into the rocking chair on his own and read a book like Silly Sidney all by himself.

He'll have his own Soupy Sales to thank.

Kirkus Revs Its Discovery Engine for iPad

Kirkus Reviews, the curmudgeonly review journal that looks at more than 500 books each month, has moved into app-land. And not a moment too soon, when I consider some of the stinkers I've recently purchased in the iTunes store.

Last month Kirkus began reviewing picture book apps -- from tried-and-true classics to brand new titles created just for the iPad. About 50 apps are already reviewed on the site, and a Top 10 list highlights their faves. Also in the works, according to a press release, is a discovery engine for the iPad that will feature app demonstrations along with interviews with authors and developers.

"Parents will have the opportunity to hone their search by answering 5 quick questions about their child. Kirkus will then return a selection of book apps to match their child’s interest. The questions include gender, age, price range, visual interests, and interactive elements."

Think of it as your neighborhood children's bookseller, who has gotten to know you and your child's interests over the years, only now the chit-chat is cut a little short.

That Kirkus is venturing into this terrain is not all that surprising, as this is the future of reading. But that it is reviewing -- and giving stars -- to material that some diehards would not dare call "a book" does raise an eyebrow. Here's an excerpt from a starred review of Bartleby's Book of Buttons:

"Less a straight-ahead storybook than a combination of story and interactive puzzles, each page includes lighted buttons to press, keys and cranks to fiddle with."

The book app discovery engine, which will be available in March, is part of the journal's repositioning since its purchase last year. While some authors still smarting from scathing Kirkus reviews quietly cheered its seeming demise in late 2009, parents, teachers, and librarians who need help slogging through bookshelves (both the wooden kind and the digital ones) have a lot to be grateful about.

I hope to make good use of it. Now, if only I could take those stinkers I downloaded earlier this month and resell them at Powell's.

Quick Draws: iStoryTime's Picture Book Apps Come Hot Off the Presses

Toy Story 3 set box office records this weekend, which wasn't too surprising. But what did come as a surprise was that Buzz Lightyear and the crew were heading toward infinity and beyond with the release of Toy Story 3 apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch -- all on the film’s launch weekend.

The digital book publishing business is turning around books quickly enough to tie in with movie releases, which hasn't always been the case. Two other recent big-screen hits, How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After, also launched picture book apps the same day the films hit theaters, allowing kids to walk out of the movie house and download the story for the drive home. Both were published by iStoryTime, which is part of FrogDogMedia.

“It was less than eight weeks from the finish of the movie to our book being published,” said iStoryTime founder Graham Farrar. “It used to be that you could not publish a book at the same time as the release because they were finishing just weeks before the films hit theaters.”

As we’ve learned from previous interviews with picture book app producers, the turnaround time to make a picture book app for iPad or iPhone is just a matter of weeks.

“Certainly someone could send us a fantastic Halloween app book today,” Graham said, “and it would be a non-issue to get that out by Halloween.”

iStoryTime has been on the scene for about a year and a half and has 35 books in their catalog – making them one of the largest picture book app publishers. They have worked with DreamWorks on the movie tie-ins, but they also publish little-known authors and illustrators, such as their popular Binky the Pink Elephant, written by Sonowa Jackson and illustrated by Jaclyn Mednicov, which has sold upwards of 10,000 copies.

“That's the beauty in books,” says Graham, a father of two young children, who used to tote bags of picture books out to restaurants but now totes their books in his iPhone. “If you look on the bookshelf in kids’ rooms, there’s plenty of room for Dr. Seuss and Binky the Pink Elephant and How to Train Your Dragon. And it’s constantly evolving as they get older.”

That matters a lot to picture book authors and illustrators trying to break into the market, so it’s great to hear a publisher like Graham leaving the door open to new talent.

iStoryTime accepts submissions from authors, but the story has to be illustrated – which is completely different from what traditional book publishers want. And while they are open to retellings of the classics or original stories, they are only interested in buying the rights for electronic distribution – meaning an author with iStoryTime could sell his or her digital book to a traditional publisher.

“The value is in the content these authors create,” said Graham, addressing skeptics who are still leery of digital books. “Michael Jackson’s Thriller was just as good on CD as vinyl.”

Children's Books, Authors, & Apps, Oh My!

Digital picture books have arrived on the scene, and I am trying to understand what it means for aspiring picture book authors and illustrators. So I contacted David K. Park, co-founder of MeeGenius, a publisher of digital picture books for the iPad, iPod Touch, and the iPhone. I asked him how the whole process works.

“You would submit your manuscript,” David explains. “Our editors would review it. If we agree to publish it, we would enhance it with audio playback and word highlighting, and create the personalization tool for the text. We
 would then make the book available on the web, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad in days.”

Days? He must have meant to say months.

“This process would be weeks instead of 18 months to bring a traditional book to market.”

Okay, so what’s the catch for authors and illustrators? We must have to pay to bring our stories to life, no?

“We are not currently charging authors and illustrators to enhance and distribute their books," David says. "We understand they are plunging into this paradigm, so we want to be as supportive as possible.

“We offer 30 percent royalty on the net price of a book. For example, for a $1.99 book purchased on iTunes, Apple received 30 percent of that, which leaves $1.40. Authors and illustrators received 30 percent of that $1.40, or $0.42. So if an author/illustrator creates a book that gets downloaded 10,000 times, they received $4,200.”

That 30 percent would be split between an author and an illustrator, so for picture book authors, that’s about 15 percent, or in this example, $0.21.

How does that compare with the traditional model? According to Harold Underdown’s Purple Crayon website, for a traditional 32-page picture book priced at $16,

“Half of the $16 is the wholesaler and bookseller's part--their overhead and profits. On average, the publisher receives $8, or perhaps a little more. Assuming that the publisher does a print run of 10,000 copies (this is fairly typical), of that $8.00,
• $3.20 is overhead
• 
$1.60 is the royalty to author and illustrator

• $1.76 is the cost of paper, printing, and binding (binding is about half of that)

• $0.64 is the cost of preparing the plates
This leaves 80 cents profit per book, assuming all goes well and that the entire printing is sold. And assuming, on the other hand, no subsidiary rights income, which would increase the amount of profit.”

Let's point that out again: That $1.60 is split between author and illustrator, so for the writer, we're talking about $0.80 per book sold. Compared with about $0.21 in the e-book example. So how can an author hope to come out ahead selling digital picture books for $1.99 online?

It remains to be seen how these markets will play out. One thing to keep in mind is that not every traditional picture book is going to sell 10,000 copies. Many do not even come close. While for the digital book, the market is very different.

“There are currently 75 million iPhone, iPod Touches, and iPads in the United States,” David says, “so even a small fraction of that market is very large.”

MeeGenius and Picture Book Apps: An Interesting Story

I had picture book apps on my mind after attending a meeting up at my kids' school last week. A learning counselor was talking about summer activities parents could do to keep kids' math and reading skills alive. One mother said her daughter wanted to read books on the Kindle, just like Mom and Dad. But she was worried about her daughter learning to read in an electronic format. What about the act of turning the page? Basic literacy skills? Engaging with a real book?

I contacted David K. Park who, along with Wandy Hoh, is founder of MeeGenius, a publisher of digital picture books for the iPad, iPod Touch, and the iPhone. MeeGenius has been listed on the New and Noteworthy section of iTunes, the What’s Hot section, and a staff favorite for the iPad.

“We launched our beta site and introduced the iPhone and iPad app on April 1st of this year,” says David in an online interview with dot.momming. Remember that the iPad hit the market on April 3, so they’re off and running.

“We’re ultimately creating these beautiful works to be read and enjoyed by children, so whatever medium they enjoy the most, we should adapt and provide it for them,” says David, who is the father of two young boys. “Furthermore, a digital platform will allow so many more talented authors and illustrators to get their works out there in the hands of children.”

Okay, sure, but let's get to the point: Change is bad. Everybody knows that, right?

What does an app publisher like MeeGenius have to say to calm parents and authors who are quaking in our collective boots? For authors and illustrators, we want our books to stand the test of time – in a library, on a bookshelf, under Junior’s bed! What are we supposed to do with all these changes in book publishing?

“We think you should embrace it and will be pleasantly surprised by it.”

I can see what it means for parents like me: I’m driving on our annual 11-hour roadtrip to Grandmom’s house, only this time, instead of toting a bag full of bulky picture books to keep the troops happy in the car, I download an entire library of them. In app form, those picture books are accessible at all times – whether we’re waiting in line at the St. Louis Arch, waiting for lunch at yet another Cracker Barrel, or trying to fill the endless miles.

As parents, we want our kids reading and engaging with books. So as iPad and other platforms enter the market, are parents ready for this new medium? Will they believe that their kids are getting the same out of this new experience as they are from traditional books?

Oh, The Places You (and Your iPad) Will Go!

Reading an AOL News story today that 13 of the 16 top book applications for the iPad are children's titles, I began getting a little light-headed. That time, "somewhere down the road," when kids will be reading picture books on handheld computers and we'll all be flying jetpacks to work, well, it's here. Mostly.

But I still couldn't wrap my brain around what it all means. So I got in touch with Oceanhouse Media, the publisher of the Dr. Seuss apps that are among the most popular downloads. Surely he could calm me down about the iPad, picture book apps, e-books, and what this all means.

"It's a complete revolution in the way children's books will be published," said Michel Kripalani, president of Oceanhouse.

Okay. Now that we've got that straight.

"A lot of the old skills won't apply anymore in publishing," Michel said. "I won't have to ship from China anymore, I won't have to deal with resellers, or with brick and mortar stores."



That echoes what Stephen Roxburgh said recently when he spoke at 57th Street Books about his new publishing venture, namelos, which prints books in hardback, paperback, and e-formats all on demand. From a publishing standpoint, this makes a lot of sense. No paying to move freight, no gambling on how many books to send out and how many get remaindered, no grinding down unsold books into pulp. The Lorax (another recent Oceanhouse release) would be proud.

I was especially excited to look at Michel's version of Dr. Seuss's ABC since it is the very book that my five-year-old is actually reading to us right now. So for me, after years of reading about Little Lola Lopp and the lazy lion licking a lollipop in the traditional paper and glue format, it was a bit of a rush to hear the narrator's voice in the iPad app. (This is a book that came out in 1960 and probably taught me, my husband, and these app programmers how to read!) Besides hearing the narrator read the text, I could tap on Lola and see her name cross the screen as the narrator read "Little Lola Lopp." I could tap on the lollipop and see that word come up as well, accompanied by the sound of a creature happily licking.

Oceanhouse plans to produce one to two Dr. Seuss books per month until they've gone through the entire Seuss library of 44 books and stories. Michel began to explain that it takes just a couple weeks to produce an app. I missed what he said next because I'd begun choking on my chai and dropped the phone. A couple weeks? Surely I'd misheard the man.

"That's assuming we have the source content -- the original digital art files of Dr. Seuss books," he explained. "We do a recording session for the narration in a professional studio, create a new set of sound effects for each book, pull it all together in our proprietary engine. . ."

Slow down there, Tex. I get what galleys are, F&Gs, and I can tell my ARC from a hole in the ground. But I don't speak this lingo. What's a proprietary engine?

"It's what we call the code, or the technology that everything is sitting on," he explained patiently, clearly aware by this point in our conversation that he was dealing with a 20th century book gal (or is it more like 15th century? How long has this model been around?). "It's the core technology that's under the hood for every book. Because essentially we are a software company more than a book publisher."

And that's a great point. Because for picture books, more so than any other electronically delivered books, the interactive element will require much more equipment under the hood. Michel said Oceanhouse wasn't interested in too many whistles and bells in their books, but there are interactive qualities.

"The fact that we started with Dr. Seuss guided our direction. He was all about teaching kids to read, so we use that as our litmus test. 'Will this feature help a child learn to read better?' If we highlight a word, it will help."

So how long did he say it takes to get the app to market?

"It takes a couple weeks to pull all that together, then we get Seuss approval (from Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which handles the licensing of all things Seuss), then we submit to Apple for approval. From the time we get Seuss approval to the Apple store is less than 100 hours."

And as if that weren't enough to make you want to sing like one of the Whos down in Whoville, he added,

"Then we're immediately available for sale in 70-plus countries."

So what does this mean for authors? Looking at Oceanhouse's model, they're going with a proven winner in the traditional format and adapting it to the new market. There's no editing and revising of the text, no working with an illustrator to bring that text to life. But will other houses take a risk on an unknown author? I think the answer is yes. But it will take time.

"It's hard to say what it means for authors," Michel said. "In general, the author's cut could be higher in this model than the old one. Traditional publishers have a lot of overhead; they have to print all those books just to get them into, say, 100 bookstores.

"But with this model, you have hundreds of thousands of people seeing your book. What iTunes did for music it is doing all over again for books, without a doubt."

So what's next for Oceanhouse? Michel and his wife are looking to have a baby any day now. And beyond that, we can look for One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish in June. And just in time for graduation, they'll be releasing Oh, the Places You'll Go!

And with an iPad, that could be just about anywhere.

Have you hugged your screen today?

I’m done apologizing.

My days of hiding my kids’ Wii remotes when unexpected guests knock at the door are all behind me. The era of ushering the little darlings away from the computer screens when the neighbors stop by is history.

I’m now embracing technology, that 2.0-pound gorilla in the room. I’m getting more comfortable with the place it’s found in my home. While I used to cringe at how tech-savvy my five-year-old was (“He should be reading more books!”), now I’m all right (and a little impressed) with the way he can move so fluidly from beating his big brother at basketball on the Wii to downloading a free game on the iTouch to picking up where he left off playing Spore on the laptop.

What’s made me stop apologizing for all this tech play at my house? It might have something to do with a recent job I started, working with an academic whose area of research is digital media and urban schools. Or maybe it's from reading stories about serious institutions like the MacArthur Foundation’s commitment to digital media and young people’s learning.

But most likely it has to do with a talk I heard Thursday night at 57^th Street Book Store in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The speaker was Stephen Roxburgh, a former children’s book editor and publisher who is at the forefront of the e-book revolution. Having recently founded a new publishing venture called namelos, which can deliver a children’s novel in the click of a button, Stephen talked to us about the current convulsions in the book publishing industry. He likened it to Gutenberg’s arrival on the scene back in the mid-1400s.

“Screens are the future of content delivery, not ink on paper.”

Stephen (pictured here at 57th Street Books) says this on his blog, but it was also the essence of what he discussed with the bookstore audience, made up mostly of SCBWI-Illinois writers and illustrators who have an enormous stake in the conversation. When I heard Stephen – legendary editor of such distinguished children’s authors as Roald Dahl, Madeleine L’Engle, Carolyn Coman, and Uri Shulevitz, to name a few – talk about embracing the book delivered via computer screen as closely as the one bound in leather with gilt pages, I began to question my own thinking.

Technology is changing so rapidly, every day offers tremendous change from the one before. It’s all a bit dizzying. But there is no mistaking that products like Apple’s iPad are revolutionizing the way we live, work, and enjoy our leisure time.

Says Stephen, “. . . a powerful tablet computer with a high-resolution screen and intuitive operating system is the face of the future of reading. . . .”

And when I look at my kids – my five-year-old especially, who has used his daddy’s iTouch like a pacifier, tucking himself into a big chair in the corner of our family room when he needs a little quiet time – I couldn’t agree more.

They are perfectly content to enjoy a picture book delivered by one of the many screens in our house as from the glossy pages of the hardback book they pluck off the shelf. They are equal opportunity consumers of media right now, but I have a feeling that they are going to prefer their books online soon. Because that’s where they have been going for information and entertainment since they could toddle over to a chair, clamber up at a desk, and click the mouse to bring up the Sesame Street website. PBS Kids’ online games have been as crucial to their reading development as the dog-eared copies of Dr. Seuss’s ABCs.

So it’s official. As of Thursday – which was Earth Day, I might note – I am done apologizing for my kids’ screen use. Though we still love paper books in our house (they are everywhere, even wedged beneath the cushion where I am sitting), I am comfortable with my kids reading new ones as well as the classics via a screen.

And if it means we save a few trees in the bargain, all the better. It’s one less thing I have to apologize for.