Barnes & Noble rolls out children's publishing site

NEW YORK Barnes & Noble this month began unveiling plans for its recently acquired children's book publishing Web site, Tikatok (www.tikatok.com). According to the company, Tikatok was created in collaboration with a team recruited from MIT University, Tikatok is the first Internet publishing platform for children.

To celebrate Tikatok, which Barnes & Noble acquired in September 2009, the company began holding a series of in-store events this month. The events were created to help children learn the process of writing, illustrating and publishing their own books.

“Tikatok gives parents an easy-to-use and fun online resource to enable their kids to create, publish and print their wonderful stories,” said William Lynch, president of Barnes & Noble.com. “Barnes & Noble has always promoted kids’ creativity and fostered their imaginations and a love of reading. Now, with our award winning Tikatok Children’s Publishing platform, parents and teachers can cultivate budding young storytellers to create, print and share their creations with families, friends and classmates.”

The Tikatok Web site features the StorySparks system, which enables children to create their own books that parents can purchase in hardcover ($18), softcover ($15) and digital print ($2.99).