海角大神

Talk about starting them young.

The newest trend in children鈥檚 board books, it seems, is literary classics adapted for the under-three set. Think 鈥淪ense and Sensibility,鈥� 鈥淟es Miserables,鈥� yes, even 鈥淎nna Karenina鈥� and 鈥淢oby-Dick鈥� for babies and tots.

All with bold shapes and colors, and highly chewable corners, of course.

As more and more parents are reading early to their children 鈥� some parenting guides suggest starting in infancy 鈥� publishers are responding with more substantial fare.

Of course, it鈥檚 not the first example of exposing young ones to sophisticated material, as Linda Bubon, an owner and children鈥檚 book buyer at Chicago bookstore Women & Children First, told the The New York Times.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to play classical music to our babies in the womb and teach them foreign languages at an early age, then we鈥檙e going to want to expose babies to fine art and literature,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow we know there are things we can do to stimulate the mind of a baby.鈥�

Cozy Classics and BabyLit, which was conceived when Suzanne Gibbs Taylor, a creative director at a small Salt Lake City publishing house realized no one had ever 鈥渢aken Jane Austen and made it for babies,鈥� are among the series of literary board books.

BabyLit uses such classics as 鈥淲uthering Heights鈥� and 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� as a springboard to explain counting, colors, or opposites, while Cozy Classics illustrates such heavyweights as 鈥淢oby Dick鈥� and 鈥淟es Miserables鈥� with needle-felted pictures of Captain Ahab and Jean Valjean.

鈥淧eople are realizing that it鈥檚 never too young to start putting things in front of them that are a little more meaningful, that have more levels,鈥� Ms. Taylor, of BabyLit, told the Times. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not so simple as, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 a dog, here鈥檚 the number 2.鈥欌��

It鈥檚 a trend that鈥檚 catching on. BabyLit has sold more than 300,000 books so far, and if science and retail trends are any indication, it鈥檚 a genre that has room for growth.

That鈥檚 because children鈥檚 books are one of the few genres that have escaped the digital revolution unscathed. Few parents want to read pixels rather than pages when putting their little ones to sleep with 鈥淕oodnight Moon,鈥� for example. As such, children鈥檚 books are doing relatively well.

What鈥檚 more, as more research on early childhood development encourages early reading and early interactions, parents 鈥� and publishers 鈥� are listening.聽

And that鈥檚 why board books, traditionally seen as cheaper, less attractive fare in the books biz, are getting literary makeovers.

As one publishing exec told the NYT, 鈥淎 board book was [once] little more than a teething ring.鈥�

Now, it seems, they鈥檙e canvases for the likes of Shakespeare, Melville, and Tolstoy.

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.