The Social Semiotics of Book Apps : Redesigning Meaning for a Digital Childhood

The transformation of book formats, production technologies and reading practices has always been at the heart of any social change. Sumin Zhao offers an in-depth study of an emerging book format — book apps for young children — through the theoretical lens of social semiotics, considering them as both a techno-social phenomenon and a semiotic artefact. She illustrates how on the one hand, the design and use of book apps is shaped by public, professional (design) and research discourses of technology, childhood and literacy — and on the other, how the interactive design of apps has the potential to reshape literacy and meaning-making practices in early childhood. Zhao examines the ways in which the public, app designers and academic researchers discuss, debate, and understand children’s book apps and eBooks, before looking closely at the meaning-making potentials of interactive design features such as touch. Showcasing various discourse analytical tools and concepts of the social semiotic theory this book illustrates how fine-grained semiotic analyses can be used to investigate multiple dimensions of a social phenomenon and unpack its complexity.