Sourcebooks has once again improved the world of kids’ and teen’s reading content by introducing its HEAR IT READ IT Classics line of ebooks. While digital content for younger readers is a booming business, especially among app developers who have created dynamic interactive edutainment with the capabilities, Sourcebooks has actually stepped away from some of the bells-and-whistles normally associated with kids’ tablet books and just kept the great storyline, professional read-aloud narration, and illustrations with optional sound effects and background music.
Publisher’s Weekly spoke with Todd Stocke, VP and editorial director at Sourcebooks, about this less invasive mode of digital reading for younger readers.
“So many e-books are really games,” he says. “You push this, and that jumps. To get an actual reading experience is important to us.”
While Sourcebooks has aimed the eight-book series at a younger audience, even reluctant readers can benefit from the narration, especially since this series of titles includes some of the mainstays of required classics reading from US school curricula around the country. Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, and Little Women are still highly prized volumes that may seem outdated in their language to readers who struggle with comprehension and word recognition, so HEAR IT READ IT can also be a perfect platform for emerging readers, regardless of age.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
