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June Discussion on CCBC-Net: Crossover Books
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 14:35:32 -0500
Thanks, Fran, for letting us know about J.K. Rowling's appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show. I'm sure there are many people who are programming (or learning how to program!) VCRs as a result.
Our topic this month is "Crossover Books," that is, books that are specifically marketed to both a child and an adult audience. This may lead us eventually into a discussion of children's books adults enjoy (even those who don't normally read children's books) and crossover readers, such as SF aficionados, but for now let's consider the books that fit the narrower definition.
In earlier times, before books were divided into categories defined by intended audience, crossover books were such an ordinary occurrence that there wasn't even a term for it. Historian Anne Scott McLeod has pointed out that this was due mainly to limited light sources prior to the widespread use of electricity. Out of necessity, families who read, read aloud, and from the same book which was meant to entertain and/or enlighten both children and adults.
Interestingly, the very first book to win the Newbery Medal, "The Story of Mankind" by Hendrick Willem van Loon, was what we would today call a true crossover book. It was a runaway bestseller from the time it was first published, marketed to a wide audience and popular with adults and children. The news that it had won a newly established award for distinguished writing for children was met with widepread enthusiasm, rather than embarrasment or outrage on the part of adult readers who had enjoyed it. Ironically, a special children's edition was published several years after it won the Newbery!
Today, crossover books are much less common and much more of a phenomenon. We have chosen three books to discuss this month that represent the different types of crossover publishing we see today. These are:
(1) "The Middle Passage" by Tom Feelings. (Dial, 1995). This is an example of a true (i.e. intended) crossover book in that the publisher, Dial, promoted it for both children and adults. In libraries, you may find it in either or both the youth section and the adult section. The book was cited on many Best Books of the Year lists for children and teens, and it won the 1996 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. So far as I could see, however, book stores generally stocked it in adult sections.
2) "Watership Down" by Richard Adams was first published for children in England in 1972, where it won the Guardian Award. It became a crossover book ? literally! ? when it crossed the Atlantic, as it was published for adults in the United States, and was a bestseller in this market as well. I find that most adults in the U.S. that I talk to about "Watership Down" are surprised to learn it was a children's book in England. For lack of a better term, we'll call this type an "international crossover."
3) "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" by J.K. Rowling, was first published in England as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in 1997. Last year the U.S. edition was published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. This is an example of
"crossover by popular acclaim." So many adults who don't normally read children's books have read and loved "Harry Potter" that in England, they have now issued it in a special edition for adults, with a more sophisticated jacket intended to make adult readers feel less conspicuous when they buy it or read it in public.
I know many of you are anxious to discuss "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone," as this discussion l was actually launched last week. Thanks for being patient and holding off till June 1. Please feel free to continue that discussion now.
Last week, the U.S. editor of "Harry Potter," Arthur A. Levine, made some comments about the book. I'm hoping Arthur will want to contribute to the discussion this month, as well, seeing as how "Harry Potter" is such a phenomenon in the publishing world. Arthur, we'd love to have your perspective as the publisher in terms of the book's "crossover by popular acclaim" status.
Kathleen T. Horning (khorning at facstaff.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 608&3930 FAX: 608&2I33
Received on Tue 01 Jun 1999 02:35:32 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 14:35:32 -0500
Thanks, Fran, for letting us know about J.K. Rowling's appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show. I'm sure there are many people who are programming (or learning how to program!) VCRs as a result.
Our topic this month is "Crossover Books," that is, books that are specifically marketed to both a child and an adult audience. This may lead us eventually into a discussion of children's books adults enjoy (even those who don't normally read children's books) and crossover readers, such as SF aficionados, but for now let's consider the books that fit the narrower definition.
In earlier times, before books were divided into categories defined by intended audience, crossover books were such an ordinary occurrence that there wasn't even a term for it. Historian Anne Scott McLeod has pointed out that this was due mainly to limited light sources prior to the widespread use of electricity. Out of necessity, families who read, read aloud, and from the same book which was meant to entertain and/or enlighten both children and adults.
Interestingly, the very first book to win the Newbery Medal, "The Story of Mankind" by Hendrick Willem van Loon, was what we would today call a true crossover book. It was a runaway bestseller from the time it was first published, marketed to a wide audience and popular with adults and children. The news that it had won a newly established award for distinguished writing for children was met with widepread enthusiasm, rather than embarrasment or outrage on the part of adult readers who had enjoyed it. Ironically, a special children's edition was published several years after it won the Newbery!
Today, crossover books are much less common and much more of a phenomenon. We have chosen three books to discuss this month that represent the different types of crossover publishing we see today. These are:
(1) "The Middle Passage" by Tom Feelings. (Dial, 1995). This is an example of a true (i.e. intended) crossover book in that the publisher, Dial, promoted it for both children and adults. In libraries, you may find it in either or both the youth section and the adult section. The book was cited on many Best Books of the Year lists for children and teens, and it won the 1996 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. So far as I could see, however, book stores generally stocked it in adult sections.
2) "Watership Down" by Richard Adams was first published for children in England in 1972, where it won the Guardian Award. It became a crossover book ? literally! ? when it crossed the Atlantic, as it was published for adults in the United States, and was a bestseller in this market as well. I find that most adults in the U.S. that I talk to about "Watership Down" are surprised to learn it was a children's book in England. For lack of a better term, we'll call this type an "international crossover."
3) "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" by J.K. Rowling, was first published in England as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in 1997. Last year the U.S. edition was published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. This is an example of
"crossover by popular acclaim." So many adults who don't normally read children's books have read and loved "Harry Potter" that in England, they have now issued it in a special edition for adults, with a more sophisticated jacket intended to make adult readers feel less conspicuous when they buy it or read it in public.
I know many of you are anxious to discuss "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone," as this discussion l was actually launched last week. Thanks for being patient and holding off till June 1. Please feel free to continue that discussion now.
Last week, the U.S. editor of "Harry Potter," Arthur A. Levine, made some comments about the book. I'm hoping Arthur will want to contribute to the discussion this month, as well, seeing as how "Harry Potter" is such a phenomenon in the publishing world. Arthur, we'd love to have your perspective as the publisher in terms of the book's "crossover by popular acclaim" status.
Kathleen T. Horning (khorning at facstaff.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 608&3930 FAX: 608&2I33
Received on Tue 01 Jun 1999 02:35:32 PM CDT
