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From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 09:00:36 -0500
Several people have commented on the trend of reissuing full-size picture books in board book editions.
I want to call your attention to the article by my CCBC colleague Kathleen Horning that appeared in the March/April 1997 edition of Horn Book Magazine. In "Board Books Go Boom," Katy wrote:
"Perhaps unwitting consumers believe they are getting the exact same story when they choose the sturdier board book edition over an original picture book edition. Sometimes they are. The board book editions of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon and Ezra Jack Keat's The Snowy Day, for example, lose nothing but their original size and shape in their conversion from picture book to board book. And, as an added bonus, Goodnight Moon actually works well as a book for babies since it has many of the qualities of the most successful board books. The Snowy Day, on the other hand, is still a story better suited to three- and four-year-olds.... At least these children will get a complete, unabridged version of the original.
"Other board book consumers will not be so lucky. One may be tipped off to the changes in Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom because, even though the cover of the board book looks very much like the cover of the picture book edition, the title has been changed to Chicka Chicka ABC; indeed, the board book has only half the story of the original.... Upon hearing Chicka Chicka ABC for the first time, one twentymonth-old who was very familiar with the original book commented sadly,at the book's conclusion: "Boom boom?" I can't say for certain exactly what he meant, but his disappointment with the book's transformation was unmistakable."
This passage from Katy's article articulates two of the things that disturb me as well when I see board book editions of well-known (and no doubt well selling) originals: age-appropriateness and excising of text (and often illustrations, as Katy notes later in reference to the board book edition of Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You?) For adults and also children who know the originals well, many board books editions are a set-up for disappointment. But what about the consumer who is NOT familiar with the original. They are not getting the book that the title purports it to be, and they don't even know it. That doesn't seem quite fair (although they are certainly not paying the price of a full-size edition, either). And they are certainly are not getting the book that the authors and artists originally conceputalized and created.
I also worry that issuing so many books in board book editions will take the focus off the need for (and ultimately publication of) great original board books written and illustrated with babies and young toddlers in mind. Children need books like Joyce Carol Thomas's superb You Are My Perfect Baby; Helen Oxenbury's delightful, wordless Shopping Trip and its companion volumes, Sarah Hines-Stephens and Anna Grossnickle Hines's Bean and Soup books. Original board books, when they are done well, are baby and toddler friendly in every way, from their size to the clarity of their illustrations to the simplicity of their texts.
Am I being too snobbish? Isn't it terrific to put any book in the hands of a small child? On the one hand I think it is terrific. And its true that any board book allows a child to become familiar with how a book works, and sturdy board book editions stand up to small mouths and hands regardless of their content. But don't we want to engage babies with the books we share with them? Many parents, grandparents, and others buying books for babies and young children have no idea when they walk into a bookstore and head for the board book section (if they make it there past all the seasonal and tv-tie-ins they must navigate first in many children's book departments) that some of the books are espeically designed with very young children in mind. Maybe these books are singled out in the display and maybe not. But my guess is that often the adult consumer is drawn to a familiar title, or the appeal of the text in some of the books that are really aimed at older children and have only been issued in a baby-friendly physical format.
Those of us who care passionately about books and children and who have knowledge of books created for the young (whether we work in publishing; in a library, school or daycare center; or are simply self-motivated children's literature enthusiasts) are the ones who must work to assure that wonderful, original board books do not get lost midst the ever-growing number of board book editions that may or may not offer babies and toddlers the kind of book experience we ultimately want every child to have.
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 15 Aug 2002 09:00:36 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 09:00:36 -0500
Several people have commented on the trend of reissuing full-size picture books in board book editions.
I want to call your attention to the article by my CCBC colleague Kathleen Horning that appeared in the March/April 1997 edition of Horn Book Magazine. In "Board Books Go Boom," Katy wrote:
"Perhaps unwitting consumers believe they are getting the exact same story when they choose the sturdier board book edition over an original picture book edition. Sometimes they are. The board book editions of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon and Ezra Jack Keat's The Snowy Day, for example, lose nothing but their original size and shape in their conversion from picture book to board book. And, as an added bonus, Goodnight Moon actually works well as a book for babies since it has many of the qualities of the most successful board books. The Snowy Day, on the other hand, is still a story better suited to three- and four-year-olds.... At least these children will get a complete, unabridged version of the original.
"Other board book consumers will not be so lucky. One may be tipped off to the changes in Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom because, even though the cover of the board book looks very much like the cover of the picture book edition, the title has been changed to Chicka Chicka ABC; indeed, the board book has only half the story of the original.... Upon hearing Chicka Chicka ABC for the first time, one twentymonth-old who was very familiar with the original book commented sadly,at the book's conclusion: "Boom boom?" I can't say for certain exactly what he meant, but his disappointment with the book's transformation was unmistakable."
This passage from Katy's article articulates two of the things that disturb me as well when I see board book editions of well-known (and no doubt well selling) originals: age-appropriateness and excising of text (and often illustrations, as Katy notes later in reference to the board book edition of Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You?) For adults and also children who know the originals well, many board books editions are a set-up for disappointment. But what about the consumer who is NOT familiar with the original. They are not getting the book that the title purports it to be, and they don't even know it. That doesn't seem quite fair (although they are certainly not paying the price of a full-size edition, either). And they are certainly are not getting the book that the authors and artists originally conceputalized and created.
I also worry that issuing so many books in board book editions will take the focus off the need for (and ultimately publication of) great original board books written and illustrated with babies and young toddlers in mind. Children need books like Joyce Carol Thomas's superb You Are My Perfect Baby; Helen Oxenbury's delightful, wordless Shopping Trip and its companion volumes, Sarah Hines-Stephens and Anna Grossnickle Hines's Bean and Soup books. Original board books, when they are done well, are baby and toddler friendly in every way, from their size to the clarity of their illustrations to the simplicity of their texts.
Am I being too snobbish? Isn't it terrific to put any book in the hands of a small child? On the one hand I think it is terrific. And its true that any board book allows a child to become familiar with how a book works, and sturdy board book editions stand up to small mouths and hands regardless of their content. But don't we want to engage babies with the books we share with them? Many parents, grandparents, and others buying books for babies and young children have no idea when they walk into a bookstore and head for the board book section (if they make it there past all the seasonal and tv-tie-ins they must navigate first in many children's book departments) that some of the books are espeically designed with very young children in mind. Maybe these books are singled out in the display and maybe not. But my guess is that often the adult consumer is drawn to a familiar title, or the appeal of the text in some of the books that are really aimed at older children and have only been issued in a baby-friendly physical format.
Those of us who care passionately about books and children and who have knowledge of books created for the young (whether we work in publishing; in a library, school or daycare center; or are simply self-motivated children's literature enthusiasts) are the ones who must work to assure that wonderful, original board books do not get lost midst the ever-growing number of board book editions that may or may not offer babies and toddlers the kind of book experience we ultimately want every child to have.
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 15 Aug 2002 09:00:36 AM CDT
