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Documenting historical fiction
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From: Deborah Hopkinson <HOPKINDA>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:44:14 -0800
Although I have not personally seen the Dear America series, I'm finding this discussion interesting because I'm in the process now of fact-checking and revising author's notes for two historical fiction picture books coming out next year. In both cases, my editor and I are going back over my research notes again and contacting sources to try to make clear the differences between the fiction and the actual events and people that inspired it. The hope is that by doing so, readers will get inspired to read and search out more information.
There was a recent article in Horn Book about historical fiction. Clearly there is a growing concern from librarians and educators that historical fiction be presented with notes so as to avoid the kinds of confusion people are mentioning here. Looking back, I wish we'd included a note for my first picture book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. And lately I find myself noticing other absences of notes -- for instance I thought MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, a picture book about Booker T. Washington I love a lot, would have really benefited by the addition of a note.
Deborah Hopkinson hopkinda at whitman.edu
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 01:44:14 PM CST
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:44:14 -0800
Although I have not personally seen the Dear America series, I'm finding this discussion interesting because I'm in the process now of fact-checking and revising author's notes for two historical fiction picture books coming out next year. In both cases, my editor and I are going back over my research notes again and contacting sources to try to make clear the differences between the fiction and the actual events and people that inspired it. The hope is that by doing so, readers will get inspired to read and search out more information.
There was a recent article in Horn Book about historical fiction. Clearly there is a growing concern from librarians and educators that historical fiction be presented with notes so as to avoid the kinds of confusion people are mentioning here. Looking back, I wish we'd included a note for my first picture book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. And lately I find myself noticing other absences of notes -- for instance I thought MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, a picture book about Booker T. Washington I love a lot, would have really benefited by the addition of a note.
Deborah Hopkinson hopkinda at whitman.edu
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 01:44:14 PM CST
