While the paper picture book market is growing 1.2 times, demand for picture book apps is expanding
- The following is content from the press release -
(Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Tomomi Okuno), a company that supports child-rearing through intellectual education, has released nine new picture books on its picture book reading app "KIKASETE" on Wednesday, October 18, 2012, bringing the total number of picture books to over 300. The total number of picture books has now exceeded 300.
According to the Publishing Science Institute, the market for paper picture books grew approximately 1.2 times in 2021 compared to 10 years earlier, while the paper publishing market is on a negative growth trend. One of the reasons for the strong picture book market is the continued sales of classic picture books. In addition, the market for picture books has remained stable despite the declining birthrate, due to the social trend of picture books becoming more popular and reaching children through efforts such as picture book distribution by local governments, bookstores, and storytelling programs at educational institutions. Under such circumstances, the percentage of new publications has been increasing in recent years, and picture books by hit picture book creators, who are not limited to picture book authors, have also become a hot topic. In addition, the world of picture books is also becoming more diversified and digitalized, with publishers that publish many children's books launching e-book services for elementary and junior high school students.
KIKASETE is an electronic picture book reading application for cell phones and tablets. The picture books cover a variety of themes, from original stories about environmental issues and diversity to familiar fairy tales from the past. We have received comments from parents who use the application that they "enjoy a variety of picture books" and "have become more interested in paper picture books," and we feel that demand for e-picture books is growing. With this update, the number of e-picture books available to the public has surpassed 300.
We developed KIKASETE in 2019, inspired by our representative's experience in raising children. We are creating a service that leads to learning based on the knowledge of a children's book concierge and a former teacher, utilizing the voices of parents who want their children to "acquire the ability to survive in the coming age" and other such comments. We are developing a service that ensures time for communication between parents and children while allowing them to enjoy picture books. We understand that you are very busy, but we would be grateful if you could cover this issue and help us to reach more people with the help of the press.
