Looking to future via children

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

The child and youth literature will be the highlight of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Frankfurt Book Fair will spotlight child and youth literature and its role at the avant-garde of the publishing world with playful apps for smartphones and tablet computers as well as interactive games.

The media world for children and youngsters breaks new ground for publishers in the digital age by pushing the boundaries far beyond the printed book, say organizers of the world’s biggest book fair, which opens on Oct. 10.

Electronics giant Sony and Nintendo, the titan in electronic games, will be among about 7,400 exhibitors at the five-day fair, reflecting innovations in an industry where “content is king,” the fair’s director said.
“Children’s and youth media are a prototype for what is happening in the publishing industry but also for what is happening at the moment socially,” Juergen Boos told reporters.

As well as homing in on which trends may evolve into universal standards, industry movers and shakers will ponder whether new technology limits the imagination, or encourages it to expand. “In order to keep up with the changing reading and learning habits of future generations, we need to constantly create new formats and develop and expand popular topics and trends,” Boos said.

 He said around 1,500 publishers who deal exclusively with the children and youth market were due to attend the Frankfurt fair, describing the sector as a growth area.