Michael Norris, an analyst for the media research firm Simba Information, said publishers of children's books are "unbelievably important" to the survival of publishing as a whole. "If you think about the long-term future of the industry, the people who are reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' today will hopefully be reading a thick piece of literature in a few years."
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Children's publishing is often viewed as a stable segment of the industry, thanks to reliable sales to parents and school libraries.
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Nielsen BookScan reported that sales of juvenile books were the strongest of any category in 2008, rising 6 percent from 2007. In 2009, Nielsen reported, sales held mostly even. By contrast, last year adult hardcover and mass market paperbacks both declined nearly 4 percent, and trade paperbacks fell 2 percent.
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Although e-reader sales have exploded in the last year, kids have not been terribly keen on these monochrome digital ink devices, and most children's publishers still offer only a smattering of titles that way.
Norris is not convinced that e-readers will be good for young readers in the long run.
