books keep coming in all sizes and shapes

No matter how much hand-wringing there is about books disappearing, they steadfastly refuse to do so. Instead they are reinvented in a variety of formats and styles and it looks as though they will continue to change. Book design is flourishing in this digital age, as an article in the N.Y. Times makes clear. As its author Alice Rawsthorn makes clear, "The Invincible Book Keeps Reinventing Itself" Not only are design books more beautiful and varied than ever before, but some books, frequently children's books, are appearing as apps which can do far more than a print book could do. One example given is Alice in Wonderland as an app for the i-Pad in which a child (or adult) can manipulate the pictures by touching and pinching the screen. Surely Lewis Carroll himself would have approved of having a visual rendition of some of the madcap pranks of the creatures of Wonderland. As long as children still have access to the magic of Wonderland, the spirit of the book will not disappear. We should welcome its availability in new forms and dimensions.