Ypulse Essentials: Amazon's Children's Imprint, Twitter Time Capsule, JCPenney's Geniuses

Amazon gets on the kids’ book bandwagon (buying rights to 450 Marshall Cavendish titles, but it doesn’t plan to stop there and hopes to acquire many more children’s stories. Amazon says it sees the children’s book segment as “an opportunity to innovate in both print and digital formats,” which we read as “we want to bolster our kid offerings for the Kindle Fire.” The new titles will be published under a new children’s imprint Amazon is establishing in its New York offices) (PaidContent) (Kidscreen)

- The Library of Congress is creating an archive of posts to Twitter (in an effort to document the communication “of our time,” which may result in a collection of mundane notes about what we’re having for lunch, but also some insightful commentary. By the way, have we mentioned lately that you can follow Ypulse on Twitter? We won’t bother you about what we’re eating, but we will tell you about the latest youth media and marketing news) (TheNextWeb)

- JCPenney is getting a makeover (at the hands of Ron Johnson, the former Apple retail chief who is now JCP’s CEO. He’s bringing in more name brands and building a staff of highly trained employees, a la the Apple Geniuses and Genius Bar concepts he invented. We’re curious to see how this translates to department store retailing vs. electronics retailing) (Dealbook)

- Gaga’s Workshop at Barney’s is packed with, um, unique gift items (but while most of us don’t need and can’t afford a $700 teacup and saucer or a $350 rhinestone encrusted military hat, we love some of the cheaper beauty items, like the Gaga-inspired press on nails for $45. It’s nail art made easy!) (IHeartDaily)

- Girl Scouts of America are getting more modern (with a revamp of the organization’s badges. On the outs are antiquated ideas of women as pretty little homemakers; coming in are badges on financial literacy, entrepreneurialism, and technology. Sure, girls still want to be fashionable and look good, but now the focus is on being healthy and shopping smart. Stay tuned for more as we’ll be speaking with new Girl Scouts CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, next week!) (TheWeek)

- We’ve seen a lot of creative holiday campaigns this season using technology (and Build-a-Bear is no exception. It is partnering with Fraboom for the “Get Your Wish On” site, which lets kids have a live chat with the “elves” up at the North Pole. During set hours, the elves are available by video. They greet kids by name, respond to their instant messages, play games with them, and help them create their holiday wish lists and deliver them to Santa) (Build-A-Bear)

- Speaking of fun technology, teens are spicing up their text conversations (with emoji, pictorial emoticons that are popular in Japan, which are now available via the iPhone’s international keyboards. We wonder if Americans will start using series of emoji to express themselves as is already the custom in Japan) (NY Times, reg required)

- We wonder if Millennials will start demanding Dunder Mifflin paper (along with social media access and flexible hours as they enter the workplace. Quill, which is owned by Staples, is now carrying the licensed brand of paper. Andy Bernard must be thrilled at landing the big account. To celebrate, Dunder Mifflin is distributing reams of free paper at NBC’s Rockefeller Center and via “paper trucks” in New York, LA, and Chicago) (Quill)