In the future, will people know what a book is?

You know, the actual object that gets dusty and smells a bit like old coats. Not the virtual file that you load onto your digital reader.

It’s a weird, slightly scary thought, and one which is played with to great effect in this lovely new children’s book, It’s a book.

It’s a very quick read,  but one which reminds you that for all the tweeting, blogging and ‘surfing’ you can do, sometimes it’s far nicer to just get lost in the world of a book.

Released to coincide with World Book Day, the only thing that made me feel a little sad about this book was that on the press release it said to go and watch the book’s ‘award-winning book’ trailer. I (Lol) got excited because I heart book trailers and the potential they have for capturing the essence of a book and leave you wanting more (as I’ve rabitted on about before).

The trouble with this trailer is that it spells out exactly what the book says. It lets you watch/experience 90% of the book for free; leaving hardly any reason to then read or buy the book. Not only that, it animates it for you, with nice voice overs and cool animation. This snazzy YouTube video is nicely produced, but it kind of undermines the very essence of the book. That it’s about a story to be magically enjoyed, on a page. Plain and simple, told with words and pictures. It doesn’t need to be charged up, and it doesn’t need shiny things or clever new fangled technology to make you like it. So there’s a palpable irony at play when you’re watching the trailer.

But that said, the book is still wonderful, and is worth buying for someone this World Book Day when it comes out (1st march).

Just don’t spoil it by watching the trailer – maybe just read it instead.