Red is Still Best
There have been 37 printings of Red is Best in Canada since it was first published back in 1982. That doesn’t count the many foreign editions and reprints this “classic” has enjoyed. A month rarely goes by that I don’t hear from someone who loved the book as a child. But that’s not the end of the good news for this little book.
Annick Press and Open Road Media will soon be publishing Red is Best as an e-book for a whole new generation of readers, along with a number of other titles.
I enjoy reading novels on my Kobo but must admit I wasn’t impressed with the first electronic versions of children’s books I saw, some years ago. They were so full of gimmicks – Click the cap to see it spin! Click the mouse to hear it squeak! I wondered how anyone was supposed to keep track of whatever story lay behind all the distractions.
But Annick partnered with Open Press Media because they were impressed by “how well they manage to keep the focus on the story while making the most of the technology” so I have great hopes that the books they produce together will be a good addition to the libraries of kids whose parents want to introduce them to books in a digital format. For those who prefer their children’s books in a traditional format, rest assured that Annick will continue to publish that way, too.
Have you been reading e-books with your kids? How do you like it? How does it compare with reading a paper book? Is it the same cuddly experience some people fear they’d miss if they were to turn away from traditional format books? Will the day come, do you think, when the only books kids will ever have known will be e-books?
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Kathy Stinson is the author of the classic Red Is Best and the award-winning The Man with the Violin. Her wide range of titles includes picture books, non-fiction, young adult fiction, historical fiction, horror, biography, series books, and short stories. She has met with her readers in every province and territory of Canada, in the United States, Britain, Liberia, and Korea. She lives in a small town in Ontario.
