Children have been reading through Scholastic for over 87 years. They give opportnites for learning by working with schools, teachers and classrooms to bring books into the hands of children. In addition to their in classroom marketing they are now offering online e-books, that work along side of BookFlix. This new resource pairs a fictional video storybook with a non-fiction ebook, to teach and entertain at the same time. With options to read along and cross refrence the non-fiction e-book. 

This new media is booming, the e-book industry is a “35 billion dollar” (cbc.ca) machine. Until recently childrens e-books have not been the majority of the market, it was advertized to adults and college students for a less expensive text choice. However, marketing to children through electronic media is becoming a unsurprising use of resources. With the majority of toys, games and televison shows having a onine counterpart the option for online learning though classic and neo-classic books is not an unwelcome resource.

Suzanne Murphy with Scholastic says:

‘I’d be hard pressed to say there won’t be a time when bedtime reading is with an electronic device.’

Some might be turned away by this fact, and argue that reading to children is one of the most memorable and rewarding parent/child experiences. I agree. I am not trying to say that e-books should replace those moments all togeather, but give another way to experience learning. Just as one uses online resoreces to learn and educate. E-books are another fomat that can inhance reading, learning and bring something different to the way a child recieves the information. 

“We’re so lucky to live in an era when kids can have books in multiple formats. Each format offers something that the other doesn’t,” said Francie Alexander, Scholastic’s chief academic officer.