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Barnes & Noble drives sales of children’s ebooks via iPad app

The Nook kids for iPad application uses AliveTouch technology, letting children find a favorite story and engage with their favorite characters. Users can digitally turn pages, interact with the text and zoom in and around graphics.

“Barnes & Noble’s strategy is to enable our customers to access the content they love, anywhere they like, on any device,” said Wendy Bronfin, director of product management for Barnes & Noble.

“In creating this application, Barnes & Noble was focused on delivering a safe, kid-friendly experience to young iPad users, and is proud to offer various features exclusive to the Nook kids reading experience such as AliveTouch technology  and the Read to Me feature, in addition to a password-protected Parent’s Corner to help parents select which books are appropriate for their children,” she said.

Barnes & Noble operates 717 bookstores in 50 states.

Kid interaction
Parents can select which books are appropriate for the children via a password-protected Parent’s Center.

The Nook catalog offers books for kids of all ages with more than 230 interactive picture books, many with audio narration.

Parents can shop for books organized by age range.

“Barnes & Noble’s goal is to enable customers to access their content anywhere, from any device, and our suite of Nook products and software provides much flexibility to do so,” Ms. Bronfin said. “With this new application, Barnes & Noble is excited to extend another best-in-class reading experience to iPad owners, and give parents and children more access to timeless classics and new favorites wherever they go.”

Children can read by themselves or with the narraration

Children can read along

Children can view their favorite characters

Reading is key
Additionally, Nook kids books are present in consistent format, so parents and kids can discover a reading experience that is as familiar to them as the content itself.

The company is also working on an iPad application that gives older children and adults access to more than 12,000 children’s chapter books, as well as more than 2 million digital titles.

“Mobile plays an instrumental role in company initiatives as our promise is to deliver content any time, any where,” Ms. Bronfin said. “Barnes & Noble offers a suite of free Nook software for iPad, iPhone, Android devices, PC, which enable our customers to enjoy wireless shopping and downloads, unparalleled customization features, digital book lending, syncing and more, on a variety of mobile devices.”

Final Take
Here is a demo of the application