Arvyn Cerezo is an arts and culture writer/reporter with bylines in Book Riot, Publishers Weekly, South China Morning Post, PhilSTAR Life, the Asian Review of Books, and other publications. You can find them on arvyncerezo.com and @arvyncerezo.com on Bluesky.
Technology has been shown to help with education by making content more engaging and accessible. With the addition of interactive and multimedia content such as digital quizzes, videos, and virtual reality, books continue to have a place in the classroom. And it’s only getting better.
Recently, new book formats such as VOX and Wonderbooks have been on the rise. They may seem like another book/audiobook variant, but they are more than that. These formats combine the audiobook and print book, with the audio embedded in the children’s books and plays as you read along. There’s hardware involved, as the speaker is attached to the side of the book.
VOX Books and Wonderbooks are more common in academia and libraries, and the books are produced through trade publishing. VOX Books devices are produced by Vox Publishing, and Wonderbooks are produced by Playaway, a media company that specializes in pre-loaded edutainment devices.
Now that we’ve learned a little bit about these innovative book formats for children, let’s dig deeper.
The Differences Between Vox Books and Wonderbooks
In the past, audiobooks for children were available on platforms such as Audible and OverDrive. There are also plenty of enhanced and proprietary ebooks that can play audio and interactive content. When I was working as a digital publisher in the past, I recall a work trip to a school that required the use of interactive ebooks for students. I even installed some of them on their devices. And now there are VOX Books and Wonderbooks, physical books that have embedded audio.
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VOX Books and Wonderbooks share a lot of the same features: they both add audio to the physical book reading experience with an attached digital listening device. Both devices function as both a speaker and controller to adjust volume, play, pause, skip ahead, or go back, and they both contain a headphone port for silent listening. There are some slight differences between the two, particularly in the hardware. The speaker in VOX Books is a vertical rectangle shape attached to the side of the book, whereas Wonderbooks use a triangle-shaped device docked to the bottom corner of the book. Wonderbooks also have a Learning Mode button that prompts questions from the narrator. Both formats are widely available for children’s books of all ages, but Wonderbooks also offers a catalog of young adult and adult titles.
Vox Books and Wonderbooks are available in Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, and many other languages. Both of the media companies appear to be acquiring titles from Big Five Publishers and adapting them. Both VOX Books and Wonderbooks’ print versions are available under Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and others, but Vox and Playaway also produce their own media.
Some bestselling VOX books titles include modern classics such as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ronald Barrett, and narrated by Emily Lane, and bestelling picture books like The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López and read by the author.
Some popular Wonderbooks include Gigi and Ojiji: What’s in a Name? by Melissa Iwai and narrated by Seiko Shih, which follows Geraldine Hanako who’s in search of a “perfect name” after having trouble choosing the right one; My Town (Mi Pueblo) by Nicholas Solis, narrated by Oscar Emmanuel Fabela and illustrated by Luisa Uribe, a bilingual picture book that follows two cousins separated by a river in the US-Mexico border; and Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, an uplifting picture book about our capacity to make a change.
Where are VOX Books and Wonderbooks Available?
VOX Books are available for purchase by schools and libraries, and Wonderbooks can be purchased by public libraries, preK-12 schools, and correctional & healthcare institutions. They are not yet available for purchase by the general public due to publisher agreements, as outlined here by Wonderbooks. If you want to check out a VOX book or Wonderbook for your young reader (or yourself!), check with your school or library!
What Are the Advantages of VOX Books and Wonderbooks?
VOX Books and Wonderbooks don’t require internet to work; they are accessible at all times and from anywhere. And since they don’t require internet to play the audio, there are no ads and thus less distraction for kids. Librarians or staff only have to charge them once in a while, though VOX Books have a longer battery life of 100-150 plays per charge, compared to 12-14 hours for Wonderbooks. To be fair, an average Wonderbook is approximately 10 minutes long, so that’s plenty of play.
Technology has proven to be effective in promoting learning, so these formats are likely to be even more beneficial. They may help children learn proper pronunciation, accents, and dialects, and they also benefit children with dyslexia and ADHD.
From ebooks to audiobooks, the world of children’s books has evolved dramatically. VOX and Wonderbooks are new formats that are accessible to children. These novel formats help foster interest in books among the young. For children, they serve as an educational tool. For publishers, it’s a new way to tap into a new market. It’s a win-win for everyone.
For another in-depth look at kids’ media devices, check out our comparison of the Toniebox vs. Yoto Player.
English (US) · 