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I brought up the term "graphic novels" as an example of how to handle this -- the comics industry created the term to illustrate that they were doing long-form storytelling that is structurally similar to novels...but completely different because it was not only text.
For the record, I consider comics and graphic novels a GREAT form of literature...I have been a Marvel/DC and indie fan for decades. There are some amazing stories that only made sense as graphic novels/comics and prose only would not have had nearly the impact.
But I didn't stop to think about childrens' illustrated books...
I think the issues with multi-media "books" are 1) the reading experience, 2) the technological capabilities of the device.
1) The reading experience.
In picture books (like Where the Wild Things Are) and graphic novels, the text and illustration are integrated for an immersive experience.
I have difficulty seeing how audio and video clips, etc. could be integrated into the same kind of immersive, integrated experience.
Read some text, click on an audio or video file, then read some more is a REALLY different experience then straight reading.
Honestly, when reading, I want to read instead of mentally changing gears constantly.
2) The processor, memory and power requirements of these multi-media projects are going to be vastly higher than those for conventional ebooks.
Plus, as these tools become available and implemented, there will no doubt be ever increasing device requirements to use these books as publishers try to outdo each other with bells and whistles. This is not unlike how PC games kept on increasing requirements to run the newest games and so gamers were continually forced to upgrade their PCs.
I really believe that this "upgrade arms race" is what enabled consoles like XBox 360 & PS3 to become dominant -- PC gaming got to the point where you had to spend almost as much time tinkering with your PC to get it to run the newest games as you actually did gaming. As gamers had to spend more time adding memory, video cards, high-end joysticks, etc., PC gaming became a "hobbyist's" pursuit, like working on cars for a hobby.
The gaming mainstream moved to consoles because it was a lot easier for people to buy a self-contained unit that never needed to be upgraded (although hobbyists still spend lots of money on "optional" upgrades).
"Traditional" ebooks -- text, a few pictures -- have relatively low requirements and can run on comparatively primitive devices compared to what these multi-media books are going to want.
I think, if these mutli-media books flourish, you are going to see a return to the days of outdated formats, device incompatibility...and we are going to see the same transition that we saw with gaming: Most early games were designed by small teams or even solo programmers with tiny budgets. It quickly escalated to the point where budgets reached Hollywood movie levels, with the attendant corporate bureaucracy and stifling of original ideas...although some of the most innovative games are still produced by lone hobbyists and small publishers working on their own.
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