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CCBC-Net: August Discussion
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From: Jane E Kurtz <jkurtz>
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 14:07:50 -0500 (CDT)
I've liked thinking about this question, even though I've been too busy to respond, and have liked reading other people's responses. I confess that I'm full of admiration (and a little envy) for authors like the ones mentioned and Mem Fox and Kevin Henkes and others who seem to have that perfect ear for a picture book that connects so deeply with the foibles and issues of the traditional picture book aged set--oh, Rosemary Wells, too. I never got tired of reading her Max books to my toddlers, which was not at all the case with most of the books they liked a lot. It seems to easy to come up with those simple stories and it's really so hard. I only consider one of my books--my first Harcourt book, coming up next spring--a real click with those 3-8-year-olds that picture books are supposedly for (though I know I've hooked some of the older end kids, the 7 and 8-year-olds).
On the other hand, tons of teachers and librarians that work with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders have told me that they use my Ethiopian folktales or Miro, my Inca folktale, in their classes. Even middle school and high school teachers tell me that. And this summer I led a class on connecting geography and literature and had a woman who teaches adult literacy classes in the Aleutian Islands (did I spell that right?) tell me that many short books are too babyish for her students but they love folktales and the Ethiopians who've flocked to the area to work on the boats are so amazed with FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, a book in English about their own culture.
At the same time, all three of my editors are telling me that the reps who take the books out to stores are coming back and saying "shorter text; shorter text." I'm guessing that while a teacher doesn't mind tackling a longer picture book story in the classroom, most parents who wander into a bookstore looking for a book ARE thinking of the traditional picture book age when they look for a picture book and do want those lovely but oh-so-hard-to-write spare, simple books. And I wonder if there are enough teachers using picture books with older students to offset that pressure. Somehow I doubt it, though (partly for my own sake) I can't help wishing it were so.
Jane Kurtz
Received on Sat 17 Aug 1996 02:07:50 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 14:07:50 -0500 (CDT)
I've liked thinking about this question, even though I've been too busy to respond, and have liked reading other people's responses. I confess that I'm full of admiration (and a little envy) for authors like the ones mentioned and Mem Fox and Kevin Henkes and others who seem to have that perfect ear for a picture book that connects so deeply with the foibles and issues of the traditional picture book aged set--oh, Rosemary Wells, too. I never got tired of reading her Max books to my toddlers, which was not at all the case with most of the books they liked a lot. It seems to easy to come up with those simple stories and it's really so hard. I only consider one of my books--my first Harcourt book, coming up next spring--a real click with those 3-8-year-olds that picture books are supposedly for (though I know I've hooked some of the older end kids, the 7 and 8-year-olds).
On the other hand, tons of teachers and librarians that work with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders have told me that they use my Ethiopian folktales or Miro, my Inca folktale, in their classes. Even middle school and high school teachers tell me that. And this summer I led a class on connecting geography and literature and had a woman who teaches adult literacy classes in the Aleutian Islands (did I spell that right?) tell me that many short books are too babyish for her students but they love folktales and the Ethiopians who've flocked to the area to work on the boats are so amazed with FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, a book in English about their own culture.
At the same time, all three of my editors are telling me that the reps who take the books out to stores are coming back and saying "shorter text; shorter text." I'm guessing that while a teacher doesn't mind tackling a longer picture book story in the classroom, most parents who wander into a bookstore looking for a book ARE thinking of the traditional picture book age when they look for a picture book and do want those lovely but oh-so-hard-to-write spare, simple books. And I wonder if there are enough teachers using picture books with older students to offset that pressure. Somehow I doubt it, though (partly for my own sake) I can't help wishing it were so.
Jane Kurtz
Received on Sat 17 Aug 1996 02:07:50 PM CDT
