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Lengthy Acknowledgments and Other Front Matter
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 14:00:48 -0500
One other aspect of book production today is increasingly noticeable in nonfiction as well as in fiction: lengthy acknowledgments at the beginning of many of the books.
Like all other "front matter" completely unnecessary to a young browser or reader, densely formatted sentences thanking people, places, etc., are impediments. Occasionally even dedications themselves morph into long sentences, paragraphs and even more.
I'm not referring to documentation which certainly belongs at the back of the book, but rather to personal thank yous and the like.
There are many examples. A recent one baffles me. At the beginning of
"Shoeless Joe & Me" by Dan Gutman there is a dedication page on which the author thanks the "great kids, teachers, and librarians at the schools I visited in 2001." OK. A bit odd, but, well, OK. Turn that page, and you'll discover three pages of acknowledgments, including state-by-state listings of schools and towns where the author was hosted. Who is this for? It would be strange to see this even if it were located at the end of the book. At the beginning, it merely makes the author appear either naive, or baldly entrepreneurial. Why is it there?
I encourage editors to remember - if the authors don't or don't want to - that kids don't care at all about lengthy front matter. More than anything, that kind of material deters, discourages, or even completely stops children from diving into a book.
Ellen Raskin had a profound understanding of book design. She used to say something to the effect that a book is a package a child is invited to open. The child can be intrigued by the "wrapping," encouraged by the end pages, the dedication, and title page, and finally - the story. Kevin Henkes understands that. Examine Ellen and Kevin's picture books and their novels, too. Each of their books is exemplary in many ways, including overall design and page layout. No cumbersome off-putting front matter to be seen.
- Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A noncirculating children's and young adult literature library for adults School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Fri 26 Apr 2002 02:00:48 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 14:00:48 -0500
One other aspect of book production today is increasingly noticeable in nonfiction as well as in fiction: lengthy acknowledgments at the beginning of many of the books.
Like all other "front matter" completely unnecessary to a young browser or reader, densely formatted sentences thanking people, places, etc., are impediments. Occasionally even dedications themselves morph into long sentences, paragraphs and even more.
I'm not referring to documentation which certainly belongs at the back of the book, but rather to personal thank yous and the like.
There are many examples. A recent one baffles me. At the beginning of
"Shoeless Joe & Me" by Dan Gutman there is a dedication page on which the author thanks the "great kids, teachers, and librarians at the schools I visited in 2001." OK. A bit odd, but, well, OK. Turn that page, and you'll discover three pages of acknowledgments, including state-by-state listings of schools and towns where the author was hosted. Who is this for? It would be strange to see this even if it were located at the end of the book. At the beginning, it merely makes the author appear either naive, or baldly entrepreneurial. Why is it there?
I encourage editors to remember - if the authors don't or don't want to - that kids don't care at all about lengthy front matter. More than anything, that kind of material deters, discourages, or even completely stops children from diving into a book.
Ellen Raskin had a profound understanding of book design. She used to say something to the effect that a book is a package a child is invited to open. The child can be intrigued by the "wrapping," encouraged by the end pages, the dedication, and title page, and finally - the story. Kevin Henkes understands that. Examine Ellen and Kevin's picture books and their novels, too. Each of their books is exemplary in many ways, including overall design and page layout. No cumbersome off-putting front matter to be seen.
- Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A noncirculating children's and young adult literature library for adults School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Fri 26 Apr 2002 02:00:48 PM CDT
