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Elitism and Popularlity
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:25:43 -0500
Book reading as we understand it today was most certainly elitist during the centuries when so few people were literate in the reading and writing of the English language. Race, class and geographic region were significant factors making a difference as to whether or not one could become literate. That's also the reality today in our nation and throughout the world.
Perhaps people in the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Library Association are paying attention to whether or not this is a reliable study. Ruth posted the ALA president's statement published in the NYT on July 8, but I'm hoping for more, too, perhaps an analysis of the reliability of this study.
Karlan Sick just wrote that if one even read a few pages in a pop culture novel, s/he was counted as a reader for the purposes of the study. Did the study not take into account the increasing number of community book clubs across the nation? I've personally marveled at the many regional and city-wide "read it / share it" single book projects in all parts of the country: book clubs for adults (way beyond the Oprah type) and book discussions or clubs involving children and teenagers, such as those sponsored by Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon. The public libraries in Madison and Dane County (Wisconsin) host an annual evening for adult book clubs (anyone may come); usually the sold-out event has dozens of on-going community reading groups
"registering" by group name. The number of paperback books with discussion guides appended for adults and children alike seem to attest to prevalence of voluntary book groups, and so do books about book clubs. The Politics & Prose bookstore in N.W. Washington, D.C., is a literary center with an on-going stream of author speakers and a considerable amount of highly visible floor space devoted to stock for area book groups and interested browser-shoppers. Milwaukee's Woodland Pattern Book Center, an intellectually sophisticated literary arts center located in a lower income urban neighborhood, has an active schedule of readings, exhibitions, and live music. It seems to me that reading by adults across class, race, and geographic region is on the rise in our nation.
John Mason pointed out that numbers associated with the so?lled juvenile reading aren't down. However, the number of celebrity books published for children certainly is growing. Norma Jean and I agree that media representatives should grill such book creators who already have ready access to media attention as to exactly how they know so much about the alleged poor quality of children's books. Too bad interviewers of people with familiar faces and names haven't heard or read speeches by real writers. They might find out something about what it takes to work on multiple drafts of a book for children, even a 32-page book. Writing a book of any length for children typically takes much more than an afternoon sans appointments, or a week blocked off on the calendar. Perhaps dazzled members of the press might then be less apt to repeat the talking points celebrity authors of books for children (and adults) are ready to communicate whenever they're interviewed.
"Familiarity" of titles for any reason (main character, series brand names; and/or of celebrity personages) does succeed in transforming some books into run-away best-sellers and candidates for lunch box, clothing, spin-off amusements and, yes, even the big screen, even if they're only 32 pages long. We could examine many books adapted into films. Didn't the splendid film "Holes" assist a fine book to be sold and read even more than it had been after it won the Newbery Award and hit the NYT Bestseller List? Bearing the Caldecott seal in stores and libraries across the nation,"The Polar Express" became the genesis of window displays and related products, shopping bags, etc., for Christmas shoppers in the Dayton/Hudson department stores of the Midwest a few years ago. Was that pop culture? More important, did that level of visibility spoil or enhance its status as a seasonal classic?
Which transformations and ad campaigns suit us, we adults who value reading for ourselves and on behalf of the children in our personal and professional lives? Which transformations become part of Popular Culture? Which contribute significantly to literacy opportunities for young readers, regardless of race, class or geographic region? Now there's a study worth doing.
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 13 Jul 2004 10:25:43 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:25:43 -0500
Book reading as we understand it today was most certainly elitist during the centuries when so few people were literate in the reading and writing of the English language. Race, class and geographic region were significant factors making a difference as to whether or not one could become literate. That's also the reality today in our nation and throughout the world.
Perhaps people in the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Library Association are paying attention to whether or not this is a reliable study. Ruth posted the ALA president's statement published in the NYT on July 8, but I'm hoping for more, too, perhaps an analysis of the reliability of this study.
Karlan Sick just wrote that if one even read a few pages in a pop culture novel, s/he was counted as a reader for the purposes of the study. Did the study not take into account the increasing number of community book clubs across the nation? I've personally marveled at the many regional and city-wide "read it / share it" single book projects in all parts of the country: book clubs for adults (way beyond the Oprah type) and book discussions or clubs involving children and teenagers, such as those sponsored by Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon. The public libraries in Madison and Dane County (Wisconsin) host an annual evening for adult book clubs (anyone may come); usually the sold-out event has dozens of on-going community reading groups
"registering" by group name. The number of paperback books with discussion guides appended for adults and children alike seem to attest to prevalence of voluntary book groups, and so do books about book clubs. The Politics & Prose bookstore in N.W. Washington, D.C., is a literary center with an on-going stream of author speakers and a considerable amount of highly visible floor space devoted to stock for area book groups and interested browser-shoppers. Milwaukee's Woodland Pattern Book Center, an intellectually sophisticated literary arts center located in a lower income urban neighborhood, has an active schedule of readings, exhibitions, and live music. It seems to me that reading by adults across class, race, and geographic region is on the rise in our nation.
John Mason pointed out that numbers associated with the so?lled juvenile reading aren't down. However, the number of celebrity books published for children certainly is growing. Norma Jean and I agree that media representatives should grill such book creators who already have ready access to media attention as to exactly how they know so much about the alleged poor quality of children's books. Too bad interviewers of people with familiar faces and names haven't heard or read speeches by real writers. They might find out something about what it takes to work on multiple drafts of a book for children, even a 32-page book. Writing a book of any length for children typically takes much more than an afternoon sans appointments, or a week blocked off on the calendar. Perhaps dazzled members of the press might then be less apt to repeat the talking points celebrity authors of books for children (and adults) are ready to communicate whenever they're interviewed.
"Familiarity" of titles for any reason (main character, series brand names; and/or of celebrity personages) does succeed in transforming some books into run-away best-sellers and candidates for lunch box, clothing, spin-off amusements and, yes, even the big screen, even if they're only 32 pages long. We could examine many books adapted into films. Didn't the splendid film "Holes" assist a fine book to be sold and read even more than it had been after it won the Newbery Award and hit the NYT Bestseller List? Bearing the Caldecott seal in stores and libraries across the nation,"The Polar Express" became the genesis of window displays and related products, shopping bags, etc., for Christmas shoppers in the Dayton/Hudson department stores of the Midwest a few years ago. Was that pop culture? More important, did that level of visibility spoil or enhance its status as a seasonal classic?
Which transformations and ad campaigns suit us, we adults who value reading for ourselves and on behalf of the children in our personal and professional lives? Which transformations become part of Popular Culture? Which contribute significantly to literacy opportunities for young readers, regardless of race, class or geographic region? Now there's a study worth doing.
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 13 Jul 2004 10:25:43 AM CDT
