Hybrid books. Merged audiovisual literature for children

Abstract

The production and consumption of audiobooks for children have risen, bringing all sorts of related audio publications into the spotlight. The article defines and discusses hybrid books, i.e. audiobooks published jointly with a visual text either in print or in digital format. In the article I argue that hybrid books have developed both as a format in their own right and as constantly changing transmedial products. Hybrid books have not only ceaselessly interacted with book publishing but also with movies, TV shows, comic magazines, radio, drama, and music. Hybrid books for children are historically, as well as in the present, deeply embedded in the media industry rather than solely in book publishing. The article emphasizes that hybrid books have multisensorial qualities which include listening, reading, looking at pictures, and tactility. Several media concepts are brought in to address different aspects of hybrid books: remediation, multimodality, transmedial storytelling, and adaptation, all of which are highly relevant. The development of digital hybrid books has emphasized the medial character of contemporary literature for children.

Keywords

• Audiobooks
• childrenʼs book history
• digital publishing
• hybrid books