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From: drabkin <arcanis>
Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 09:57:08 -0700
Maia wrote:
Maia, you certainly don't have to buy those titles! We don't. There are plenty of wonderful board books out there as well as all the unimaginative churned-out bits of cardboard you've described. Helen Oxenbury, Rachel Isadora, and of course, Rosemary Wells have done excellent board books -- you'd have to look pretty far before finding something more perfect in its own miniature way than the Max and Ruby books. There are others, too, which other people will undoubtedly mention, which are simple, imaginative, and appropriate for the age that uses them.
As for who buys them, and why -- libraries buy them to meet patron demand, and parents want them because toddlers can handle them, explore them, and turn the pages without damaging the books. We know that toddlers just learning to speak love being able to point to a recognizable picture of a simple object or animal, and identify it. They'll say, "Doggy!" and glow with pleasure. Board books are very good for this very early language experience. I think they're an excellent introduction to handling books on one's own -- babies and toddlers love being read to, need the experience of sitting in someone's lap while a book is being read to them, but then, many or most want to "read" a book themselves, imitating the adult. It's a valuable pre-reading experience, and is visibly much enjoyed by the toddler. (They love those books so much that ours inevitably have toothmarks all down the edges ...! )
Now, this may be a matter of opinion. We've been noticing that all too many picture books -- good picture books in their original format -are getting squeezed onto the pages of board books. This loses the details, it is unfair to the illustrator, and also, the language of the picture book text is generally more complex than the ability of the toddler to comprehend. Some books do well in both formats, but I think that's an exception.
Unless, of course, you're thinking of the all-too-many picture books that shouldn't be picture books to begin with? That's a whole different can of worms. Do we want to open it? (Personally, I'm increasingly annoyed by books that patronize preschoolers by assuming that they're too stupid to enjoy language. The world may have changed, but children have not, and preschoolers have always loved playing with words. They are also very good indeed at figuring out meaning from context -- which is the way they learn to speak in the first place.)
Marian Drabkin
Received on Sat 27 May 2000 11:57:08 AM CDT
Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 09:57:08 -0700
Maia wrote:
Maia, you certainly don't have to buy those titles! We don't. There are plenty of wonderful board books out there as well as all the unimaginative churned-out bits of cardboard you've described. Helen Oxenbury, Rachel Isadora, and of course, Rosemary Wells have done excellent board books -- you'd have to look pretty far before finding something more perfect in its own miniature way than the Max and Ruby books. There are others, too, which other people will undoubtedly mention, which are simple, imaginative, and appropriate for the age that uses them.
As for who buys them, and why -- libraries buy them to meet patron demand, and parents want them because toddlers can handle them, explore them, and turn the pages without damaging the books. We know that toddlers just learning to speak love being able to point to a recognizable picture of a simple object or animal, and identify it. They'll say, "Doggy!" and glow with pleasure. Board books are very good for this very early language experience. I think they're an excellent introduction to handling books on one's own -- babies and toddlers love being read to, need the experience of sitting in someone's lap while a book is being read to them, but then, many or most want to "read" a book themselves, imitating the adult. It's a valuable pre-reading experience, and is visibly much enjoyed by the toddler. (They love those books so much that ours inevitably have toothmarks all down the edges ...! )
Now, this may be a matter of opinion. We've been noticing that all too many picture books -- good picture books in their original format -are getting squeezed onto the pages of board books. This loses the details, it is unfair to the illustrator, and also, the language of the picture book text is generally more complex than the ability of the toddler to comprehend. Some books do well in both formats, but I think that's an exception.
Unless, of course, you're thinking of the all-too-many picture books that shouldn't be picture books to begin with? That's a whole different can of worms. Do we want to open it? (Personally, I'm increasingly annoyed by books that patronize preschoolers by assuming that they're too stupid to enjoy language. The world may have changed, but children have not, and preschoolers have always loved playing with words. They are also very good indeed at figuring out meaning from context -- which is the way they learn to speak in the first place.)
Marian Drabkin
Received on Sat 27 May 2000 11:57:08 AM CDT
