One app too good to miss

Many of the children's book apps available for iPhones and iPads have been picture books, but now a real information book that older children will love has appeared. We can thank former Vice President Al Gore for this new app based on his longstanding interest in Climate Change. For a brief introduction to the app, take a look at David Pogue's column in the NY Times, which describes how the app works. Formatted like a real book, with a table of contents so the reader can head for the section wanted, whether it's forests, wind turbines, or population, the app is easy to navigate. Once in the chapter you want, it's easy to tap on a picture to get a brief video presentation narrated by a reporter or a chart of statistics such as the countries in which deforestation is happening most quickly. Even on the tiny iPhone screen, the pictures are vivid and the text clear and legible. This is not a children's book, and the language is aimed at high school level, but even younger children who are good readers could handle it and learn a great deal. The big issue, of course, is how the library is going to deal with handling this kind of app and offering it to our patrons. As more and more producers migrate their information resources to the versitle app format, librarians and teachers will be challenged to make sure that all children can access and use them. We have seen the future and it is exciting.

I am also pleased to announce that my new book dealing with some of the issues of children's library service will be coming from Libraries Unlimited this summer. It's exciting to see the cover and know that the book will be available before very long.