I'm interested in e-books because I think they have the potential to change the publishing paradigm (talk about your buzz words!). But except for text books, which have something of a captive audience, e-books have so far been only a blip on the radar, at least for fiction books. However, I noticed this article on Yahoo about kids' books coming out as e-books. It struck me as an interesting development. I guess the strategy is to go with those readers who are most used to electronic delivery—the youngest readers.

The Yahoo article discusses the new BookFlix line from Scholastic (U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter books and a major player in kiddie lit) and references ease of use and the prevalence of laptops as reasons why the idea could work. Here is what the Scholastic site had to say about the pre-K version of this line:

"BookFlix Grades PreK –3. Build a love of reading and learning with paired fiction and nonfiction—online! BookFlix is a new online literacy resource that pairs interactive fictional video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction content from Scholastic to engage students, reinforce reading skills and introduce young readers to a world of knowledge and exploration."

I'm all for instilling a love of reading. Their "Learn more" link didn't work, which made me wonder if Scholastic is ready for e-books, but they sent me a better link. If they can get their act together and indoctrinate the next generation—and the new book readers pan out—we could finally say that when it comes to the publishing paradigm, shift happens.