Picture book production method

Abstract

To provide a picture book producing method specialized for each infant according to contents each infant targeted by a picture book shows interest in and the vocabulary acquisition status of each infant.SOLUTION: A picture book producing device 10 includes an interesting word acquisition unit 111, an un-acquired word acquisition unit 112, an infant information acquisition unit 113, a display unit 120, a personal material selection unit 130, a page image creation unit 140, a picture book producing unit 150, an input unit 160, the infant information acquisition unit 113, and a material storage unit 170, and produces a picture book corresponding to a purchaser, identification information on a purchase order for the picture book, and identification information on the picture book.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing picture books.

Background Art

[0002] As examples of picture books specialized for each infant, there are picture books published in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2. In the picture book published in Non-Patent Document 1, the name of the protagonist of the picture book can be customized to a favorite name. In this case, for example, the name of the target infant can be used as the name of the protagonist. In the picture book published in Non-Patent Document 2, the name of the target infant and the birth date of the infant can be included on the cover.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0003]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the picture books published in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2, the name, date of birth, etc. of the infants targeted by the picture books are customized. However, in the picture books published in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2, the content other than the name, etc. of the infants is not customized regardless of the infants, and for each infant reading the picture book, the interestingness, easiness, difficulty, etc. of the content of the picture book may be different. Therefore, the picture books published in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem that their contribution is limited from the educational perspective of the targeted infants acquiring vocabulary and the like.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a picture book production method that can be specialized for each infant according to the content in which each infant targeted by the picture book shows interest and the vocabulary acquisition status of each infant.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is a picture book production method including a step in which a picture book production device acquires information of a purchaser of a picture book, identification information of an order form for the picture book, and identification information of the picture book, and a step in which the picture book production device produces a picture book corresponding to the purchaser, the identification information of the order form for the picture book, and the identification information of the picture book.

[0007] Also, one aspect of the present invention is, in the above picture book production method, a step in which a terminal device acquires information of a purchaser of the picture book, identification information of an order form for the picture book, and identification information of the picture book, a step in which the terminal device transmits the information of the purchaser of the picture book, the identification information of the order form for the picture book, and the identification information of the picture book to the picture book production device, and a step in which the picture book production device generates and outputs information instructing to send the produced picture book to a local government, and the terminal device is installed in a facility where administrative services are provided by the local government.

[0008] Also, one aspect of the present invention is, in the above picture book production method, the picture book includes pictures or words specialized for the area of the local government.

[0009] Also, one aspect of the present invention further includes, in the above picture book production method, a step in which a picture book production apparatus produces a picture book corresponding to the identification information of the picture book based on the number of visitors to a facility where administrative services are provided by the local government.

[0010] Also, one aspect of the present invention further includes, in the above picture book production method, a step in which a picture book corresponding to the identification information of the picture book is produced based on the number of visits of the purchaser to a facility where administrative services are provided by the local government.

[0011] Also, one aspect of the present invention is that, in the above picture book production method, the facility where administrative services are provided by the local government is a facility that conducts health examinations for infants targeted by the picture book.

[0012] Also, one aspect of the present invention includes, in the above picture book production method, a step of preliminarily storing pictures representing each of a plurality of interest target candidates, which are candidates for objects that infants targeted by the picture book are interested in, for a certain category in a picture book production apparatus; a step of selecting words corresponding to the pictures representing each of the plurality of stored interest target candidates for the category; a step of creating an image of a two-page spread including the words corresponding to the pictures representing each of the selected plurality of interest target candidates; and a step of producing a picture book including the two-page spread with the created image of the two-page spread made visible.

[0013] Also, one aspect of the present invention is that, in the above picture book production method, the purchaser includes residents of a local government different from the local government.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the picture book production method of the present invention, a high vocabulary acquisition effect can be obtained by providing picture books specialized for each infant according to the content in which each infant targeted by the picture book shows interest and the vocabulary acquisition status of each infant.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the picture book production apparatus 10 of the present invention will be described.

[0017] (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a picture book production apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The picture book production apparatus 10 includes an interesting word acquisition unit 111, an unacquired word acquisition unit 112, an infant information acquisition unit 113, a display unit 120, a personal material selection unit 130, a page image creation unit 140, a picture book production unit 150, an input unit 160, an infant information acquisition unit 113, and a material storage unit 170. Details of the operation of the picture book production apparatus 10 will be described later.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a sequence diagram according to the picture book production method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the production of a picture book is performed through the transmission and reception of various information among a business operator B, a facility M where administrative services are provided by a local government, and a resident C of the local government. The business operator B is, for example, a picture book production company and owns the picture book production apparatus 10. The facility M is, for example, a medical facility that provides health diagnosis services for infants, but may also be a public facility such as a library.

[0019] A terminal device T is installed in the facility M. Also, as the facility M, a medical facility and a library may be provided together. The resident C is the parent or caregiver of the infant who is the subject of the picture book. The resident C is the purchaser of the picture book in the first embodiment. The resident C similarly holds a terminal device T' in the same manner as the facility M. The picture book production apparatus 10, the terminal device T, and the terminal device T' are connected to each other via a communication network NW.

[0020] In step S102, business operator B creates a flyer regarding picture books and sends the flyer together with an order form for picture books to facility M. The information described in the flyer includes information regarding the types and contents of the picture books handled by business operator B. The order form grants the right to resident C to purchase picture books in the local government. The information described in the order form includes at least any one of the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books described in the flyer, and the identification information indicating the local government. When there are multiple types of picture books, the identification information corresponding to each of the multiple types of picture books may be described multiple times in the order form.

[0021] In step S104, when facility M receives the flyer and the order form sent from business operator B, it sends a medical examination slip regarding a health check to resident C. The medical examination slip is for a health check targeting the infants raised by resident C. In step S106, resident C receives the flyer and the medical examination slip. In step S108, resident C visits facility M, for example, a medical facility, for the health check of the infant. In step S110, the infant of resident C receives a health check based on the medical examination slip, and the medical facility provides the order form for picture books to resident C.

[0022] In step S112, resident C selects the picture books to be purchased for the infant and places an order for the picture books based on the identification information corresponding to the picture books and the information of resident C and / or the infant raised by resident C. In this case, resident C may place an order for the picture books by inputting the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant into a terminal device T such as a personal computer or a tablet terminal installed in facility M. In this case, the terminal device T transmits the acquired identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant to the picture book manufacturing device 10. Also, resident C may place an order for the picture books by filling in the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant in a paper order form prepared by business operator B and sending the order form to business operator B or facility M.

[0023] The information of the resident C and / or the infant raised by the resident C includes at least any one of the name of the resident C etc., the name of the infant, the gender, and the address. Also, the information of the infant may include things the infant likes and words the infant has learned at the stage of ordering the picture book. Things the infant likes may be words representing foods such as "banana" and "bread", or may be words representing animals such as "lion", "cat", and "dog".

[0024] In step S114, the picture book manufacturing apparatus 10 receives the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture book, and the information of the infant from the terminal device T installed in the facility M, and manufactures a picture book using the picture book manufacturing apparatus 10. Alternatively, the business operator B may manufacture a picture book using the picture book manufacturing apparatus 10 by inputting information regarding the picture book ordered by the resident C into the picture book manufacturing apparatus 10. The business operator B obtains the information regarding the ordered picture book from the identification information of the order form input by the resident C to the terminal device T in the facility M, the identification information corresponding to the picture book, and the information of the infant.

[0025] Alternatively, the business operator B may obtain the information regarding the ordered picture book from the identification information of the order form described in the paper order form sent by the resident C, the identification information corresponding to the picture book, and the information of the infant. The picture book manufacturing apparatus 10 may generate and output information indicating that the manufactured picture book is to be sent to the facility M. The information indicating that the manufactured picture book is to be sent to the facility M is referred to as first information. The first information includes at least any one of the address of the facility M, the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture book, and the information of the infant.

[0026] In step S116, the business operator B delivers the manufactured picture book to the facility M based on the first information. In step S118, the facility M receives the picture book and notifies the resident C that the picture book has been delivered. The facility M hands over the picture book to the resident C when the resident C visits the facility M. Thereby, an effect that the handover of the picture book encourages the resident C to visit the facility M is expected.

[0027] In addition, when a medical facility and a library are co-located as the facility M, the use of the library can also be promoted through the delivery of picture books. This makes it possible to promote the use of picture books stored in the library among infants and to promote the improvement of the intellectual development level of the infants targeted by the picture books.

[0028] In step S102, the business operator B may directly send the flyer and the order form to the resident C. The business operator B may also send a paper order form for picture books to the resident C together. When placing an order for picture books, the resident C may input the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant, etc. into the website of the business operator B. In this case, the resident C may use a terminal device T' such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone to input the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant, etc.

[0029] The picture book production device 10 receives the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant, etc. input into the terminal device T' via the communication network NW. The communication network NW may be a wired telecommunication network, an optical communication network, or a wireless communication network. The resident C may input the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture books, and the information of the infant, etc. into the paper order form received from the business operator B.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the cover of a picture book according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The picture book includes a cover 310. The cover 310 includes a title 320 and a picture 330. The picture book may further include an author name 340. The title 320 includes the name or nickname of the infant targeted by the picture book, such as "Hiro-kun's Favorite Things", and the object that the target person is interested in.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an introduction section of a picture book. The picture book includes an introduction section 410. The introduction section 410 is a spread page. On the left side of the introduction section 410, there is a picture of a boy that reminds one of the infant "Hiro-kun". The introduction section 410 has an introduction description 420 on the right page thereof. The introduction description 420 includes the text "Let's go find what Hiro-kun likes". The introduction description 420 includes the name or nickname of the infant and is a description suggesting that it is a story of searching for an object that attracts the interest of the infant.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a first spread page of a picture book according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The first spread page 510 includes a sentence 520 representing the features of the first spread page 510 and a picture 530 related to the object of interest. The object of interest refers to an object in which the infant, who is the target of the picture book, shows interest. In the sentence 520, it is described that "Hiro-kun lives in Okinawa Prefecture". The sentence 520 indicates that the nickname of the infant who is the target of the picture book is "Hiro-kun" and that the infant lives in Okinawa Prefecture. The picture 530 related to the object of interest is a picture of a residence often seen in Okinawa Prefecture. In Okinawa Prefecture, there are many residences with roofs having red or vermilion tiles like the picture 530 related to the object of interest.

[0033] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a second spread page of a picture book according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The picture book includes a second spread page 610, a question 620, a first picture 631, a second picture 632, a third picture 633, a fourth picture 634, a word 641 corresponding to the first picture, a word 642 corresponding to the second picture, a word 643 corresponding to the third picture, and a word 644 corresponding to the fourth picture. The first picture 631 to the fourth picture 634 are all unique foods or beverages in Okinawa Prefecture.

[0034] On the second spread page 610, the word "sanpincha", which corresponds to the first picture 631, is described as the word 641 corresponding to the first picture, the word "pineapple", which corresponds to the second picture 632, is described as the word 642 corresponding to the second picture, the word "soki soba", which corresponds to the third picture 633, is described as the word 643 corresponding to the third picture, and the word "chinsukou", which corresponds to the fourth picture 634, is described as the word 644 corresponding to the fourth picture. Thereby, the picture book can include the characteristics of the region, give children a chance to learn about the land where they were born, and contribute to cultivating their love for their hometown.

[0035] In the production of the picture book by the picture book production device 10 of the first embodiment described above, the business operator B sends an order form for the picture book to the resident C in the local government. The order form includes identification information of the order form, identification information of the type of picture book to be ordered, and information for identifying the resident C and / or the child. Based on the information described in the order form, the business operator B produces a picture book using the picture book production device 10.

[0036] In this case, the business operator B may directly deliver the produced picture book to the resident C. Thereby, it is possible to directly and quickly order and deliver picture books specialized for children. Also, the business operator B may send the picture book to the facility M based on the above-mentioned first information, and the resident C may receive the picture book when visiting the facility M. Also, by delivering the picture book to the resident C at the facility M, it becomes possible to promote communication between different residents and / or different children. Thereby, for example, when the caregiver of a child is suffering from mental and physical fatigue or feeling lonely due to reasons such as the absence of a spouse or the non-participation of the spouse in childcare, the fatigue and / or loneliness can be alleviated and the childcare environment can be improved. Also, by promoting communication between children, it is possible to promote the communication ability of children and / or the language acquisition ability or speaking ability.

[0037] The picture book may include pictures or words specialized for the municipality where the facility M exists and the residents C live. This can contribute to promoting the use of the facility M by the residents C and enhancing the satisfaction of the residents C with the administrative services provided by the municipality. In addition, it becomes possible to foster a love for the hometown or a sense of familiarity with the hometown among the infants targeted by the picture book towards the municipality.

[0038] Also, when a medical facility and a library are co-located as the facility M, the use of the library can also be promoted through the distribution of the picture book. This can promote the use of the picture books stored in the library for infants and contribute to the improvement of at least one of the intellectual development level, language acquisition ability, speaking ability, and communication ability of the infants targeted by the picture book.

[0039] Also, when the picture book is distributed to the residents C at the facility M, an increase in the number of visitors to the facility M can provide an opportunity to directly incorporate the impressions and opinions from the residents C regarding the content of the picture book. This can increase the variations in the content of the picture book and improve the content. Note that the said visitors are, for example, parents or caregivers who live in the municipality, have infants, and visit the facility M.

[0040] In this case, for a specific resident C, the content of the picture book may be customized based on the number of visits to the facility M. For example, when a specific resident C visits the facility M X times or more, or receives Y or more types of picture books at the facility M Z times or more, the content of the picture book may be customized, or the price of the picture book may be discounted. Here, X, Y, and Z are all natural numbers. This can facilitate the purchase of the picture book and the receipt of the picture book at the facility M.

[0041] Also, the facility M that distributes the picture book to the residents C may be a medical facility that provides services such as health check-ups for infants and the like. This can enable the provision of picture books tailored to the growth status of the infants at the timing of their regular health check-ups.

[0042] In addition, business operator B may sell picture books to resident D who lives in a municipality different from the municipality where facility M is located. In this case, resident D may obtain a flyer and an order form regarding the picture book by visiting facility M by himself / herself or by directly claiming to business operator B. There are no differences in other operations when placing an order for the picture book between resident C and resident D.

[0043] Thereby, by increasing the opportunity for resident D and the infants raised by resident D to use facility M, it becomes possible to promote communication, language acquisition, and speech between residents and infants beyond the framework of the municipality. In addition, it is expected to increase the interest of the municipality and the probability that resident D will move to the municipality. Thereby, an increase in the population of the municipality and an increase in future tax revenues can be expected.

[0044] (Second Embodiment) FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a third spread page of a picture book according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The picture book may include a plurality of main texts with different categories. For example, the plurality of main texts may be any of "animals", "food and drink", "others", etc. The "others" is a category that is neither an animal nor food and drink. The picture book includes a third spread page 710. The third spread page 710 belongs to the category of "animals". The third spread page 710 includes a question description 720 and a picture 730 of an object of interest.

[0045] The question description 720 is "Who is the one with a wagging tail?". The "dog" shown in the picture 730 of the object of interest is an animal that the "Hiro-kun" who is the target of the picture book likes. The question description 720 is a question about the tail, which is a visual feature of the dog. The third spread page 710 is a person who asks questions about an object (object of interest) that infants are interested in. Therefore, it may not include pictures having meanings other than the picture 730 of the object of interest.

[0046] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a fourth spread page of a picture book according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The fourth spread page 810 is preferably included after the third spread page 710 in the picture book. The fourth spread page 810 belongs to the category of "animals". The fourth spread page 810 includes a sentence 820 about the object of interest and a picture 830 of the object of interest. The picture 830 of the object of interest is a picture of a "dog", and the "dog" is an animal that the subject "Hiro-kun" of the picture book likes. The fourth spread page 810 may not include animals other than "dogs".

[0047] The sentence 820 about the object of interest is "Bow-wow-wow" for the dog which is the picture 830 of the object of interest. Note that the fourth spread page 810 may include pictures and descriptions other than those of the targeted category, but it is preferable to keep it to the extent of including decorative pictures. This is to prevent the attention of the subject from wandering away from the picture 830 of the object of interest.

[0048] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a fifth spread page of a picture book according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The fifth spread page 910 may be included in the picture book after the fourth spread page 810. The fifth spread page 910 includes a question description 920, a picture 930 of the object of interest, and a word 940 of the object of interest. Also, the fifth spread page 910 includes a picture 930-1 of an unacquired word, a picture 930-2 of an unacquired word, a picture 930-3 of an unacquired word, an unacquired word 940-1, an unacquired word 940-2, and an unacquired word 940-3. An unacquired word refers to a word that a child who is the subject of the picture book cannot pronounce. A picture of an unacquired word refers to a picture corresponding to the unacquired word.

[0049] The configuration of the fifth spread page 910 is assumed to make a child interested not only in the picture 930 of the object of interest but also in the picture 930 of the unacquired word by including the picture 930 of the object of interest and the picture 930 of the unacquired word with the same positioning. As a result, an effect can be expected that the subject can learn and pronounce the unacquired word. Here, the picture 930 of the unacquired word can be represented as 940-n. n is an integer from 1 to N, and N is an integer of 2 or more. N may be about 3.

[0050] The fifth spread page 910 may include one picture 930 of an object of interest and three pictures 930-1, 930-2, and 930-3 of unacquired words. In this case, it is preferable that the average acquisition ages of the pictures 930-1, 930-2, and 930-3 of unacquired words are different from each other. The average acquisition age refers to the age at which an average person acquires or masters a word. As the age, month age, year age, or day age may be used. An example of the average acquisition age is the A% acquisition month age at which A% of the average people acquire the word, where A is a predetermined number with 0 ≦ A ≦ 100. A may be, for example, 50.

[0051] Assuming that the three pictures 930-1 to 930-3 of unacquired words are pictures αp, βp, and γp representing objects corresponding to three words α, β, and γ that a child cannot speak, respectively, the average acquisition age of word α < the average acquisition age of word β < the average acquisition age of word γ may be satisfied. That is, the average acquisition age of word α is smaller than the average acquisition age of word β, and the average acquisition age of word γ is larger than the average acquisition age of word β. This aims to make a child have an interest in pictures αp, βp, and γp corresponding to word α that is expected to be learned by the child soon, word β that is expected to be learned a little later by the child, and word γ that is expected to be learned even later by the subject, among the words that the child has not yet learned.

[0052] As a result, it is aimed to have an effect that the child can at least learn and speak the word α with the lowest difficulty level, and further, it can be expected that the child can also learn and speak words β and γ with higher difficulty levels than word α.

[0053] The picture 930 of the object of interest in FIG. 9 is a picture of a dog, which is an animal that the infant "Hiro" likes. The three unacquired word pictures 930-1 to 930-3 in FIG. 9 are pictures of a fish, a butterfly, and a bear, which are animals corresponding to words that the infant "Hiro" cannot pronounce. The average acquisition age of the word "fish" is, for example, 24.05. The average acquisition age of the word "butterfly" is, for example, 26.15. The average acquisition age of the word "bear" is, for example, 28.36. The fifth spread page 910 in FIG. 9 aims to enable the infant "Hiro" to memorize and pronounce at least the word "fish", which has the lowest difficulty level. The fifth spread page 910 further aims to enable the infant to memorize and pronounce words with higher difficulty levels than the word "fish", such as the word "butterfly" and the word "bear".

[0054] Note that the fifth spread page 910 will include the picture 930 of the object of interest and at least three pictures of the plurality of unacquired word pictures 930-n as pictures representing the object. Therefore, at least one of the picture of the object of interest and the plurality of unacquired word pictures may have a different base color. Although the base color itself does not directly affect the acquisition of the word, in the case of a picture book with pictures that attract interest, it is assumed that the interest of the infant, who is the target person, in the picture book will increase. Therefore, by providing variations in the base color for the pictures included in the fifth spread page 910, it is aimed to enhance the infant's interest in the picture book and indirectly enhance the effect of the infant's acquisition of the word.

[0055] The question description 920 is a description that questions which picture is the object that the infant shows interest in. The question description 920 "Where is Mr. Dog?" is a description that questions which picture among the unacquired word pictures 930-1 to 930-3 is the picture of the dog, which is an animal that the infant "Hiro" likes. By the question description 920, the infant confirms which is the object of the infant's interest. By the question description 920, not only the picture of the object of interest but also the unacquired word pictures will cause the infant to have a need to view them. This makes the infant interested in the unacquired word objects as well and promotes the acquisition of the unacquired words by the infant, who is the target person.

[0056] Note that the description of the question may include, for example, the sentence "Animal-filled" in FIG. 9. The "Animal-filled" indicates that multiple pictures of objects included in the category corresponding to the main text are included on the fifth spread page 910. This sentence is expected to prompt the child target audience to remember that the unacquired word objects represented by the unacquired word pictures 930-n included on the fifth spread page 910 are in the same category as the objects of interest represented by the pictures of objects of interest 930.

[0057] On the fifth spread page 910, the word 940 of the object of interest may be included near the picture 930 of the object of interest. Also, the fifth spread page 910 may include the written notation 940-n of the unacquired word near the unacquired word picture 930-n. The fifth spread page 910 may include the word 940 of the object of interest, "dog", below the picture 930 of "dog", which is an animal that the child "Hiro" likes. Also, the fifth spread page 910 may include the unacquired words 940-1 to 940-3, "fish", "butterfly", and "bear", below the unacquired word pictures 930-1 to 930-3 of the animals "fish", "butterfly", and "bear" corresponding to the words that the target person "Hiro" cannot pronounce. Note that the fifth spread page 910 may not include pictures and descriptions other than those described above, and if it does include them, it is preferably to the extent of including decorative pictures rather than the pictures of the object.

[0058] The fourth spread page 810 is a page included before the fifth spread page 910 of the main text in the picture book. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the fourth spread page 810 includes only the picture 830 of the object of interest for the category corresponding to the main text and includes the sentence 820 about the object of interest. Considering that the target audience of the picture book is a child, it is not preferable for one main text to include too many spread pages. Therefore, in the main text, it is preferable to include the fourth spread page 810 immediately before the fifth spread page 910.

[0059] The fifth spread page 910 is included in the picture book after the fourth spread page 810. The fifth spread page 910 includes, for the category targeted by the main text, not only pictures of objects that the target person is interested in, but also a plurality of pictures of objects corresponding to words that the target person cannot speak. Therefore, the content shown on the fifth spread page 910 is of high difficulty for the infant who is the target person.

[0060] And when the fifth spread page 910 includes the question description 920 or when the caregiver asks a question similar to the question description 920, the infant needs to find a picture of an object of interest from among the plurality of existing pictures, which is also of high difficulty for the infant. Therefore, by including the fourth spread page 810 before the fifth spread page 910 in the picture book, the difficulty level for the infant of the fifth spread page 910 can be substantially reduced.

[0061] The third spread page 710 is a page included in the picture book before the fourth spread page 810 of the main text. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the third spread page 710 includes a picture 830 of an object of interest and a sentence 820 about the object of interest for the category corresponding to the main text (i.e., the same category as the fourth spread page 810 and the fifth spread page 910). The sentence 820 about the object of interest is a description that asks a question about the object of interest.

[0062] Considering that the target person of the picture book is an infant, it is not preferable for one main text to include too many spread pages. Therefore, in the main text, it is preferable to include the third spread page 710 immediately before the fourth spread page 810. Also, the picture 730 of the object of interest on the third spread page 710 is preferably different from both the picture 930 of the object of interest on the fifth spread page 910 and the picture 830 of the object of interest on the fourth spread page 810.

[0063] The question description 720 is a description for asking questions that include the characteristics of the object of interest. The question description 720 includes the characteristics of the object of interest and is a description for asking questions about what the object of interest is. The characteristics of the object of interest are the characteristics perceived due to the existence of the object of interest. Also, the characteristics of the object of interest may be, for example, the visual characteristics of the object of interest itself, the visual or auditory characteristics perceived by the movement of the object of interest, the tactile characteristics perceived when touching the object of interest, the gustatory characteristics perceived when eating or drinking the object of interest, or the olfactory characteristics perceived when the object of interest emits an odor. Further, the question description 720 may include a plurality of characteristics of the object of interest or may include a plurality of types of characteristics of the object of interest.

[0064] The fourth double-page spread 810 and the fifth double-page spread 910 of this main text target one specific object as the object that the target person is interested in regarding the category that this main text targets. Although the object of interest that this main text targets is an object that the target person is interested in, the number of objects that the target person is interested in regarding the category that this main text targets is not necessarily one. For example, the infant "Hiro" who is the target person may like not only "dogs" but also "cats".

[0065] Therefore, by including the third double-page spread 710 before the fourth double-page spread 810, the object of interest that this main text targets can be specified as the infant himself / herself, and the infant can be attracted to the object of interest that this main text targets.

[0066] (Third Embodiment) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of a method for producing a picture book according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The picture book production apparatus 10 and its operation will be described using the schematic block diagram showing the functional configuration example of the picture book production apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 and the flowchart shown in FIG. 10. Picture books according to the first embodiment, the second embodiment, the fourth embodiment, and the fifth embodiment may be produced based on the description of the third embodiment.

[0067] In the material memory unit 170, candidates for words representing a plurality of objects of interest for each category to be included in the picture book and candidates for a plurality of unacquired words are stored in advance. For example, it is assumed that 15 candidates for words corresponding to the objects of interest are stored in the material memory unit 170 for each of the three categories of "animals", "food and drink", and "others".

[0068] The candidates for words corresponding to the objects of interest are nouns included in each category. The candidates for words corresponding to the objects of interest are those that are included in the upper ranks of the ranking as objects in which infants show interest through a prior questionnaire survey or the like to the caregiver. Also, the candidates for words corresponding to the objects of interest may be those that are pre-selected by hand on the condition that they are words that infants can easily understand what they are when looking at the pictures.

[0069] In the material memory unit 170, for each of the three categories of "animals", "food and drink", and "others", for example, 20 candidates for unacquired words are stored. The candidates for unacquired words are nouns included in each category. The candidates for unacquired words are words whose average acquisition age is within a predetermined age range (for example, 18 to 32 months of age) based on the age of the infants targeted by the picture book. Also, the candidates for unacquired words may be those that are pre-selected by hand on the condition that infants can easily understand what they are when looking at the pictures. The number of candidates for words representing the objects of interest and the number of candidates for unacquired words stored in advance in the material memory unit 170 may be arbitrarily set for each category.

[0070] In the material memory unit 170, the original image of the front cover 310 of the picture book is stored in advance. In the material memory unit 170, at least one of the original image of the introduction part 410, the original image of the first spread page 510, the original image of the second spread page 610, the original image of the third spread page 710, the original image of the fourth spread page 810, the original image of the fifth spread page 910, and the original image of the back cover of the picture book is stored. Each original image is an image that does not include parts specialized for the infants who are the target of the picture book.

[0071] The parts specialized for the target person are, for example, the title 320 of the cover 310, the introductory description 420 of the introduction section 410, the sentence 520 representing the features of the first double-page spread 510, the question 620, the sentence 1120 representing the features of the sixth double-page spread 1110, and the sentence 1220 representing the features of the seventh double-page spread 1210, etc., which are the name or nickname of the target person. Also, the parts specialized for the target person are the question description 920, the picture of the object of interest 930, the picture of the unacquired words 930-n, and the written notation of the unacquired words 940-n on the fifth double-page spread 910.

[0072] In the material storage unit 170, for each category to be included in the picture book, a set of text of a plurality of sets of candidates for words representing the objects of interest, pictures representing the objects of interest corresponding to each candidate, and text of sentences related to the objects of interest is stored in advance. Also, in the material storage unit 170, a set of text of a plurality of sets of candidates for unacquired words and pictures representing the objects of the unacquired words corresponding to each candidate is stored in advance. Regarding the plurality of sets of objects of interest, the plurality of sets may be M sets, and M is an integer of 2 or more. Also, regarding the text of the plurality of sets of candidates for unacquired words, the plurality of sets may be L sets, and L is an integer larger than N.

[0073] The text of the sentence related to the object of interest may be multiple for each set. In the material storage unit 170, the text of the sentence related to the object of interest is stored in advance for a plurality of patterns to be included in the picture book. Also, the set of the text of the candidate for the unacquired word and the picture representing the object of the unacquired word corresponding to each candidate is preferably stored in the material storage unit 170 so that the order of the average acquisition age can be known. For example, it may be stored in the order of the average acquisition age, or the average acquisition age may also be included in the set and stored. Note that the number of sets stored in the material storage unit 170 may be different for each category. That is, the values of M and L described above may be different for each category.

[0074] In the material storage unit 170, for each of the three categories of "animals", "food and drink", and "others", a set of text of candidate words representing objects of interest, pictures representing the objects of interest corresponding to each candidate, and text of sentences related to the objects of interest may be stored in 15 sets. Also, in the material storage unit 170, for each of the three categories of "animals", "food and drink", and "others", a set of text of candidate words of unacquired words and pictures representing the objects of unacquired words corresponding to each candidate may be stored in 20 sets. In the material storage unit 170, pictures of images representing infants are stored for each gender. In the material storage unit 170, for example, pictures of images imitating the face or figure of a baby boy and pictures of images imitating the face or figure of a baby girl may be stored.

[0075] In the material storage unit 170, information for each infant who is the target user for making picture books is stored. In the material storage unit 170, for each infant, words representing objects of interest, unacquired words, names and pet names, and genders are stored.

[0076] Next, with reference to the schematic block diagram showing the functional configuration example of the picture book production device 10 shown in FIG. 1 and the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, the picture book production device 10 and its operation will be described. In step S2102, the interest word acquisition unit 111 reads out a plurality of candidate words representing objects of interest stored in advance from the material storage unit 170 and displays them on the display unit 120. As a result, any one of the plurality of candidate words representing the displayed objects of interest can be selected by the user of the picture book production device 10 via the input unit 160. In step S2102, the interest word acquisition unit 111 outputs the candidate selected by the user as a word representing the object of interest to the personal material selection unit 130.

[0077] Next, the unacquired word picture acquisition step will be described. In the unacquired word picture acquisition step, for a certain category, the unacquired word acquisition unit 112 acquires a picture representing one object of interest that is an object of interest to the subject from among the pictures representing each of the plurality of candidate objects of interest stored in the material storage unit 170, and for the certain category, acquires unacquired word pictures that are pictures representing objects corresponding to each of the plurality of words that the subject cannot speak from among the pictures representing each of the plurality of unacquired word candidates stored in the material storage unit 170.

[0078] In step S2104, the unacquired word acquisition unit 112 reads out a plurality of candidate unacquired words stored in advance from the material storage unit 170 for the target category. The unacquired word acquisition unit 112 causes the display unit 120 to display the read plurality of candidate unacquired words. As a result, a selection operation by the user is possible for each candidate displayed on the display unit 120. Here, among each of the candidates displayed on the display unit 120, the user selects a word that the infant targeted by the picture book cannot speak. The unacquired word acquisition unit 112 outputs the word selected by the user as an unacquired word to the personal material selection unit 130.

[0079] In step S2106, the infant information acquisition unit 113 causes the display unit 120 to display a screen on which infant information can be input. The infant information includes at least one of the name, nickname, and gender of the infant. As a result, the user can input infant information for the displayed screen. The infant information acquisition unit 113 outputs the input infant information to the personal material selection unit 130. Here, the infant information acquisition unit 113 acquires first information including at least one of the address of facility M, the identification information of the order form, the identification information corresponding to the picture book, and the information of the infant from the input unit 160 and outputs it to the personal material selection unit 130.

[0080] In step S2108, the personal material selection unit 130 selects, based on the candidate words representing the objects of interest selected by the user and the unacquired words, and the infant information input by the user, the images and texts for each target person to be used in each part of the picture book, and outputs them to the page image creation unit 140. The personal material selection unit 130 may output the aforementioned first information to the picture book production unit 150.

[0081] Based on the infant information output by the infant information acquisition unit 113, the personal material selection unit 130 outputs the name or nickname of the infant to the page image creation unit 140. For example, when producing a picture book for the target person "Hiro", the text "Hiro" is output to the page image creation unit 140.

[0082] Based on the infant information output by the infant information acquisition unit 113, the personal material selection unit 130 selects and outputs an image corresponding to the gender of the infant from the images of the pictures representing the infant stored in the material storage unit 170. For example, when producing a picture book for the target person "Hiro", an image of a picture imitating the face of a girl among the images of pictures imitating the face of a girl and the face of a boy stored in the material storage unit 170, which corresponds to the gender "male" of the target person "Eren", is acquired and output to the page image creation unit 140.

[0083] Next, the personalization material selection step will be described. The personalization material selection step is a step of selecting words corresponding to the pictures representing each of a plurality of candidate objects of interest pre-stored in the material storage unit 170. For each category to be included in the picture book, the personal material selection unit 130 selects from the set of the text of the M sets of candidate words representing the objects of interest stored in the material storage unit 170, the image of the picture representing the object of interest corresponding to each candidate, and the text of the sentence regarding the object of interest, the text of the word representing the object of interest included in the set (one set) including the text of the word representing the object of interest of the target person, the image of the picture representing the object of interest, and the text of the sentence regarding the object of interest, and outputs them. Here, the word representing the object of interest of the target person is output by the interest word acquisition unit 111.

[0084] For example, when producing a picture book for the target person "Hiro", regarding the "animal" category to be included in the picture book, among the sets of the text of 15 candidate words representing the objects of interest stored in the material storage unit 170, the picture representing the object of interest corresponding to each candidate, and the text of the sentence regarding the object of interest, the set including the text of the word "dog" representing the object of interest of the target person "Hiro" contains the text of "dog", the image of the picture representing "dog", the text of "Dog! Bow-wow-wow!", and the text of "Who's that with the wagging tail?" The personal material selection unit 130 acquires and outputs these.

[0085] For each category to be included in the picture book, the personal material selection unit 130 selects N sets (i.e., N sets) each including one of the N unacquired words of the target person from among the sets of the text of L candidate unacquired words stored in the material storage unit 170 and the images of the pictures representing the objects of the unacquired words corresponding to each candidate. The personal material selection unit 130 acquires the text of the word representing the object of the unacquired word and the image of the picture representing the object of the unacquired word included in each selected set, and outputs them to the page image creation unit 140. Note that the unacquired words of the target person are those output by the unacquired word acquisition unit 112.

[0086] For example, regarding the "animal" category, when the number of unacquired words of the target person "Hiro" is 12, L = 20, and N = 3, the personal material selection unit 130 selects 3 sets (i.e., 3 sets) each including one of the 12 unacquired words of the target person "Hiro" from among the sets of the text of 20 candidate unacquired words stored in the material storage unit 170 and the images of the pictures representing the objects of the unacquired words corresponding to each candidate. The personal material selection unit 130 acquires the text of the word representing the object of the unacquired word and the image of the picture representing the object of the unacquired word included in each selected set, and outputs them to the page image creation unit 140.

[0087] Note that for each category to be included in the picture book, when the number of unacquired words of the target person (let it be K. K is a positive integer) is more than the number to be selected (N), the unacquired words may be selected so that the average acquisition age is not biased. For example, among the K unacquired words of the target person, the unacquired words included in the range from the one with the smallest average acquisition age to the K / N-th one, the unacquired words included in the range from the (K / N + 1)-th one to the 2K / N-th one, and the unacquired words included in the range from the ((N - 1)K / N + 1)-th one to the K-th one, may be selected one by one from each range.

[0088] When there are multiple words within each range, the personal material selection unit 130 may randomly select one word from the multiple words. Also, when K is not divisible by N, the personal material selection unit 130 may use, instead of the value calculated by each of the above fractions, an integer value obtained by rounding down, rounding up, or rounding to the nearest integer of the first decimal place of the value calculated by each fraction. When the personal material selection unit 130 operates in this way, in the material storage unit 170, a set of the text of L sets of unacquired word candidates and the image of a picture representing the unacquired word target corresponding to each candidate may be stored so that the order of the average acquisition age is known, or may be stored in the order of the average acquisition age, or the average acquisition age may also be included in the set and stored.

[0089] The case where K is 12 and N is 3 will be described. The personal material selection unit 130 randomly selects one word from each of the following ranges: among the 12 unacquired words of the "animal" category acquired by the unacquired word acquisition unit 112, from the 4 words from the one with the smallest average acquisition age to the 4th one, from the 4 words from the 5th one to the 8th one, and from the 4 words from the 9th one to the 12th one, among the set of the text of 20 sets of unacquired word candidates stored in the material storage unit 170 and the image of a picture representing the unacquired word target corresponding to each candidate.

[0090] Here, the personal material selection unit 130 may group, as the first group, four words from among the 12 unacquired words in the "animal" category acquired by the unacquired word acquisition unit 112, from the one with the smallest average acquisition age to the fourth one; group, as the second group, four words from the fifth one to the eighth one in terms of average acquisition age; and group, as the third group, four words from the ninth one to the twelfth one in terms of average acquisition age.

[0091] Regarding the "animal" category of the subject "Hiro", the personal material selection unit 130 selects three sets (i.e., three sets), each containing three of the 12 unacquired words, and acquires and outputs the text of the word representing the unacquired word target included in each selected set and the image of the picture representing the unacquired word target.

[0092] Thereby, the personal material selection unit 130 can evenly select, from among the K unacquired words of the subject, the unacquired word α that the subject is likely to remember soon and the picture αp corresponding to this unacquired word target, the unacquired word β that the subject is likely to remember a little later and the picture βp corresponding to this unacquired word target, and the unacquired word γ that the subject is likely to remember even later and the picture γp corresponding to this unacquired word target.

[0093] Also, the operation of the personal material selection unit 130 is described in the case where the function INT() represents the integer value when the number inside the parentheses is an integer value, and represents the value obtained by integerizing the decimal value when the number inside the parentheses is a decimal value. The personal material selection unit 130 selects, as the picture αp of the target corresponding to the unacquired word α, one within the range from the one with the smallest average acquisition age to the INT(K / 3)-th one among the pictures representing the targets corresponding to the words that the subject cannot speak; selects, as the picture βp of the target corresponding to the unacquired word β, one within the range from the (INT(K / 3)+1)-th to the INT(2K / 3)-th one in terms of average acquisition age; and selects, as the picture γp of the target corresponding to the unacquired word γ, one within the range from the (INT(2K / 3)+1)-th to the K-th one in terms of average acquisition age.

[0094] Next, the operation of the personal material selection unit 130 in the case where the number (K) of unacquired words of the target person is less than the number (N) selected for each category included in the picture book will be described. For N - K of them, the personal material selection unit 130 may select a set including N - K of the texts of the L sets of candidate unacquired words stored in the material storage unit 170 and the images of the pictures representing the unacquired word targets corresponding to the respective candidates, which are not the unacquired words of the target person, and are those with a larger average acquisition age among the words that are not the unacquired words of the target person.

[0095] The personal material selection unit 130 may acquire and output the text of the word representing the unacquired word target included in each selected set and the image of the picture representing the unacquired word target. Thereby, although these N - K are actually not the unacquired words of the target person, it is possible to promote the fixation of words for which there is a high possibility that the target person will be able to speak recently.

[0096] Next, the page image creation step will be described. The page image creation step is a step of creating an image of a two - page spread including words corresponding to the pictures representing each of the plurality of candidate objects of interest acquired in the personal - specialized material acquisition step.

[0097] In step S2110, the page image creation unit 140 inserts the image and text for each target person input from the personal material selection unit 130 into the original image of each part of the picture book input from the material storage unit 170. Thereby, the page image creation unit 140 creates page images of each part of the picture book and outputs them to the picture book production unit 150. For example, when creating the fifth two - page spread 910, an image of the fifth two - page spread 910 including the image of the picture representing the object of interest selected by the personal material selection unit 130 and the images of the pictures representing a plurality of unacquired word targets is created.

[0098] Next, the picture book production step will be described. The picture book production step is a step in which the picture book production unit 150 produces a picture book including two - page spreads in which the images of the two - page spreads created in the page image creation step are made visible.

[0099] In step S2112, the picture book production unit 150 produces and outputs a picture book in which the images of each part of the picture book input from the page image creation unit 140 are made visible. The picture book production unit 150 prints the images of each part of the input picture book on paper. The picture book production unit 150 binds the paper obtained by printing so as to include the front cover 310, the introduction part 410, the first double-page spread 510, the second double-page spread 610, the third double-page spread 710, the fourth double-page spread 810, the fifth double-page spread 910, the ending part, and the back cover in this order, thereby obtaining and outputting a picture book.

[0100] Note that when the picture book production unit 150 binds a picture book, it may be bound so as to include at least any one of the first double-page spread 510, the second double-page spread 610, the third double-page spread 710, the fourth double-page spread 810, and the fifth double-page spread 910. The picture book production unit 150 may generate and output second information for instructing to send the produced picture book to the facility M based on the aforementioned first information. Based on the second information, the operator B may send the produced picture book to the facility M.

[0101] (Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the sixth double-page spread of a picture book according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the infant information displayed by the display unit 220 of the picture book production apparatus 10 and acquired by the input unit 240 may include the first word the infant learned, in addition to at least any one of the name, nickname, and gender of the infant. In the fourth embodiment, the picture book produced by the picture book production apparatus 10 may include a sixth double-page spread 1110 having content specialized for infants.

[0102] The sixth spread page 1110 includes a sentence 1120 representing the features of the sixth spread page 1110, a word 1130 related to the object of interest, and a picture 1140 of the object of interest. On the left page of the sixth spread page 1110, the sentence 1120 representing the features of the sixth spread page 1110 is described as "The words Hiro-kun learned for the first time". The sentence 1120 representing the features of the sixth spread page 1110 suggests that the words the infant "Hiro" learned for the first time will be described on the right page. On the right page of the sixth spread page 1110, the features of the picture 1140 of the object of interest "dog" are described as the word 1130 related to the object of interest "wanwan".

[0103] Thus, since it is possible to impressively express that the infant has learned words, it is expected that the infant can feel the joy and pleasure of learning words and be motivated to learn words. In addition, the state of growth of the infant can be preciously preserved in the picture book.

[0104] (Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the sixth spread page of the picture book according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, the infant information that the display unit 220 of the picture book production device 10 displays and the input unit 240 acquires may include at least one of the name, nickname, gender of the infant, and the words the infant learned for the first time, and may also include the words the infant spoke interestingly. In the fifth embodiment, the picture book produced by the picture book production device 10 includes a seventh spread page 1210 having content specialized for infants.

[0105] The seventh spread page 1210 includes a sentence 1220 representing the features of the seventh spread page 1210, a word 1230 related to the object of interest, and a picture 1240 of the object of interest. On the left page of the seventh spread page 1210, the sentence 1220 representing the features of the seventh spread page 1210 is described as "Hiro-kun's interesting words". The sentence 1220 representing the features of the seventh spread page 1210 suggests that the words the infant "Hiro" spoke interestingly will be described on the right page.

[0106] The picture 1240 of interest is a picture corresponding to a television. The word 1230 related to the object of interest is described as "Tebeli" (television). The picture 1240 of interest and the word 1230 related to the object of interest represent that the infant "Hiro" mispronounced "television" as "Tebeli" when he should have pronounced it correctly as "television".

[0107] Thus, infants may not be able to pronounce certain words correctly. For example, an infant may mispronounce "television" as "Tebeli", "kami no ke" as "ka no mi ke", and "elevator" as "e be re ta" respectively. In the process of growth, it often happens that infants mispronounce words. In such cases, infants may rather be interested in their mispronunciations and try to learn new words. This makes it possible to actively and proactively encourage infants to learn new words.

[0108] (Sixth Embodiment) FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a picture book production apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the picture book production apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment and the third embodiment, the picture book production apparatus 10b includes a transmission unit 181 and a reception unit 182. The operation of the picture book production apparatus 10a will be described centering on the differences from the embodiments already described. The picture book production apparatus 10a is connected to a communication network NW. The picture book production apparatus 10a is connected to a terminal device T installed in a facility M via the communication network NW using the transmission unit 181 and the reception unit 182.

[0109] The transmission unit 181 transmits the screen displayed on the display unit 120a and the input unit 160a or the information displayed on the screen to the terminal device T of the facility M via the communication network NW. The terminal device T of the facility M displays the screens of the display unit 120a and the input unit 160a on a display device to which the terminal device T is connected. The display device may be, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display.

[0110] In facility M, the user may input first information including at least any one of an interesting word, an unacquired word, infant information, the address of facility M, the identification information of an order form, the identification information corresponding to a picture book, and infant's information based on the screens of the display unit 120a and the input unit 160a displayed on the display device via the terminal device T. The terminal device T transmits the information input by the user to the picture book manufacturing device 10a via the communication network NW for the terminal device T of facility M. The receiving unit 182 receives the information input by the user to the terminal device T of facility M from the terminal device T of facility M via the communication network NW.

[0111] The interesting word acquisition unit 111 outputs the interesting word, the unacquired word, and the first information input by the user to the personal material selection unit 130. The personal material selection unit 130 may output the aforementioned first information to the picture book manufacturing unit 150. The picture book manufacturing unit 150 may generate and output second information instructing to send the manufactured picture book to facility M based on the aforementioned first information. Based on the second information, the operator B may send the manufactured picture book to facility M.

[0112] (Seventh Embodiment) FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a picture book production information acquisition device according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a picture book production device according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. In the seventh embodiment, different from the first embodiment, the third embodiment, and the sixth embodiment, the functions of the picture book production device 10 are separated into a picture book production device 10b and a picture book production information acquisition device 20. In the seventh embodiment, based on the information of the target person stored in the picture book production information acquisition device 20, the picture book production device 10b selects materials and produces a picture book.

[0113] As shown in FIG. 14, the picture book production information acquisition device 20 removes the personal material selection unit 130, the page image creation unit 140, and the picture book production unit 150 from the picture book production device 10 according to the third embodiment, and includes an infant information storage unit 270.

[0114] As shown in FIG. 15, the picture book production device 10b removes the interesting word acquisition unit 111, the display unit 120, the unacquired word acquisition unit 112, and the input unit 160 from the picture book production device 10 according to the first embodiment and the third embodiment, and includes a material storage unit 260 and a child information storage unit 270. Hereinafter, the production of the picture book according to the seventh embodiment will be described centering on the differences from the description of the third embodiment.

[0115] The operation of the display unit 220 is the same as the operation of the display unit 120. The operation of the input unit 240 is the same as the operation of the input unit 160. The operations of the page image creation unit 140 and the picture book production unit 150 are the same in the third embodiment and the seventh embodiment.

[0116] In the third embodiment, the interesting word acquisition unit 111 of the picture book production device 10 outputs the acquired interesting word candidates to the personal material selection unit 130. In the seventh embodiment, the interesting word acquisition unit 210 of the picture book production information acquisition device 20 saves the acquired interesting words in the child information storage unit 270. In the third embodiment, the unacquired word acquisition unit 112 of the picture book production device 10 outputs the acquired unacquired words to the personal material selection unit 130. In the seventh embodiment, the unacquired word acquisition unit 230 of the picture book production information acquisition device 20 saves the acquired unacquired words in the child information storage unit 270. In the third embodiment, the child information acquisition unit 113 outputs the acquired child information to the personal material selection unit 130. In the seventh embodiment, the child information acquisition unit 113 saves the acquired child information in the child information storage unit 270.

[0117] The personal material selection unit 130b reads out the interesting words, unacquired words, child information, etc. stored in the child information storage unit 270. The personal material selection unit 130b selects materials from the material storage unit 260 based on the read interesting words, unacquired words, child information, etc. The personal material selection unit 130b creates a page image of the picture book using the selected materials. Note that when producing a picture book in step S114 of the first embodiment, the picture book production device 10b and the picture book production information acquisition device 20 may be used.

[0118] When realizing the picture book production apparatuses 10 according to the above-described first and third embodiments, the picture book production apparatus 10a according to the sixth embodiment, the picture book production apparatus 10b according to the seventh embodiment, and the picture book production information acquisition apparatus 20 by a computer, the processing contents of the functions that the apparatuses should have are described by a program. By executing these programs on a computer, the above-described processing functions are realized on the computer. Programs describing these processing contents and electronic files of picture books can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of computer-readable recording media are non-transitory recording media. Examples of such recording media are magnetic recording devices, optical discs, magneto-optical recording media, semiconductor memories, and the like.

[0119] The distribution of these programs and electronic files of picture books can be carried out, for example, by selling, transferring, lending, etc., portable recording media such as DVDs and CD-ROMs on which these programs and electronic files of picture books are recorded. Further, these programs and electronic files of picture books may be stored in the storage device of a server computer, and these programs and electronic files of picture books may be transferred from the server computer to other computers via a network, so as to configure the distribution of these programs and electronic files of picture books.

[0120] A computer that executes such a program first stores, for example, a program recorded on a portable recording medium or a program transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. When executing the process, the computer reads the program stored in its own storage device and executes a process according to the read program. As another execution form of this program, the computer may directly read the program from the portable recording medium and execute a process according to the program. Further, each time a program is transferred from the server computer to this computer, the computer may sequentially execute a process according to the received program. The above-described process may be executed by a so-called ASP (Application Service Provider) type service that realizes a processing function only by an execution instruction and result acquisition without transferring a program from the server computer to this computer.

[0121] Rather than causing a predetermined program to be executed on a computer to realize the processing functions of the present apparatus, at least a part of these processing functions may be realized by hardware. As described above, the embodiments for carrying out the present invention have been described using embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Explanation of Signs

[0122] 10, 10a, 10b... Picture book production apparatus 20... Picture book production information acquisition apparatus 111, 210... Interesting word acquisition unit 120, 220... Display unit 112, 230... Unacquired word acquisition unit 113... Infant information acquisition unit 140... Page image creation unit 150... Picture book production unit 160, 240... Input unit 130... Personal material selection section 170, 260... Material memory section 270... Infant information memory section

Claims

1. A step in which a picture book production device acquires information of a purchaser of a picture book, identification information of an order form regarding the picture book, and identification information of the picture book; A step in which a picture book production device produces a picture book corresponding to the purchaser, the identification information of the order form regarding the picture book, and the identification information of the picture book, Regarding a certain category, A step of previously storing pictures each representing a candidate of an object of interest that is an object of interest for infants targeted by a plurality of picture books, the infants being the steps indicated by the information of the purchaser of the picture book; A step of selecting words corresponding to the pictures each representing a plurality of stored candidates of objects of interest for the category; A step of creating an image of a spread page including words corresponding to the pictures each representing a plurality of selected candidates of objects of interest, and a step of producing a picture book including a spread page in which the created image of the spread page is visible; A picture book production method including the above.

2. A step in which a terminal device acquires information of a purchaser of the picture book, identification information of an order form regarding the picture book, and identification information of the picture book; A step in which the terminal device transmits the information of the purchaser of the picture book, the identification information of the order form regarding the picture book, and the identification information of the picture book to the picture book production device; A step in which the picture book production device further generates and outputs information instructing to send the produced picture book to a local government, The terminal device is installed in a facility where administrative services provided by the local government are provided The picture book production method according to claim 1.

3. The picture book includes pictures or words specialized for the area of the local government The picture book production method according to claim 2.

4. A picture book production device further includes a step of producing a picture book corresponding to the identification information of the picture book based on the number of visitors to a facility where administrative services provided by the local government are provided. The picture book production method according to claim 2 or claim 3.

5. A picture book production device further includes a step of producing a picture book corresponding to the identification information of the picture book based on the number of visits of the purchaser to a facility where administrative services provided by the local government are provided. The picture book production method according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. The facility where administrative services provided by the local government are provided is a facility that conducts health examinations for infants targeted by the picture book The picture book production method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.

7. The purchaser includes residents of a municipality different from the said municipality The picture book production method according to any one of claims 2 to 6

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