Two leading children"s publishers, Scholastic, Inc., and Disney, will soon discover whether the laptop compares to the lap in the hearts of young readers. Scholastic is officially launching BookFlix, an educational Web site pairing short films based on popular picture books along with nonfiction e-books that allow early readers to follow the text online.
For example, click on the bar that reads "People and Places" and you"ll find a pair of offerings on Abraham Lincoln: An animated film of a storybook, Jean Fritz"s "Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln"; and the animated image of a nonfiction work, Will Mara"s "Abraham Lincoln," with children able to turn pages, backward or forward, by clicking on an arrow on the lower right- or left-hand side.