Adults have always struggled with how to keep the "kids" engaged with activities that aren't what they deem "cool."

Apparently, one of those things is books.

Adopting a Dutch-style of printing, these books are about the size of a cell phone (see the connection?) and contain an entire book that can easily fit in a bag, purse, or pocket.

The pages are razor-thin (think of the pages of a Bible) and the text is so extremely small that you can tell this is supposed to be marketed toward kids because they're the ones with the best vision.

Penguin chose John Green due to his popularity with the "cool kids," as "The Fault In Our Stars" blew up when I was in eighth grade (so, like, five-ish years ago???).

Yeah, they're pretty cool. But are they twelve dollars a piece cool? Is it worth it to have a mini book that seems really hard to read and hold in the first place?

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with reading a normal book, and I'm not so sure how putting MORE words on a page is going to draw kids who don't like to read into a book.

Plus, if you keep one of those in your bag and spill some water or something? Bam. It's gone.

So while I applaud Penguin for the new "hip" idea just in time for Christmas, I'm not so sure it's going to work.

What happens if this style of printing takes off? Am I going to have to read a 500-page textbook condensed into flipbook style? That does not sound appealing to me.

But apparently, I might just be a little old-fashioned.