Kindles are everywhere, the new iPad is out, e-books surge in sales. The good news is that all this gadgetry is not preventing children from reading books, the kind that come with real pages. Reading helps develop young minds, sparks the imagination, and teaches grammar and vocabulary. A new report from the Association of American Publishers, the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry, reveals a mystery for children’s books. Sales for all of calendar 2010 were down from 2009, but children’s books saw higher sales in December 2010 than the prior year. More people than ever are giving children books as gifts in the holiday season.
Paperbacks read by children and young adults saw a healthy increase, up 4.5 percent, to $49 million in December sales. Hardbacks, a more expensive buy for consumers recovering from a recession, were up by two tenths of a percent, to $60 million.
