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From: michael santangelo <msantangelo13>
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 14:35:55 -0700 (PDT)
Recently, I heard from another children's librarian that there is going to be an animated version of Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series. I have to say I was ambivalent about this news. First, its great for Jon and his publisher, and they both deserve it. But, on the otherhand, it made me a little sad. I very much want children to continue to visualize literature for themselves; to picture a character's facial expressions or to picture the way in which a room is arranged using only the author's words and/or the child's own life experiences as tools. I always felt that Jon was attempting to get children to place themselves in those books and to see themselves as the fourth adventurer in the Time Warp books. Sometimes, I see popular culture as a force that does not allow this and that begs no effort on the part of the reader/viewer. In movie and television novelizations, things are pictured for the reader, so the room in the book matches the room on the television sitcom or a character's red hat is the exact red color that was in the movie; the reader is given no chance to imagine a different room or a different shade of red. If a famous child actress plays Amber Brown, is put on the covers of the reissues of all the Amber Brown titles, then, in fact, does the child actress not become Amber Brown for most of our readers. The reader need not take part. Pop culture, as in television and the movies, decided for you how to picture Amber Brown.
Visualizing and verbalizing are major parts of reading and strengthen imagination and thinking. They also although us to sympathize with our favorite characters, as we may place ourselves right along side them. Yet, popular culture reduces everything to commercially reliable stereotypes. Our YA book selector reminded me that many publisher's have begun to use more stereotypical, model looking kids on their covers. Not on the covers of tv/movie tie-ins, but on the covers of some well respected works. The industries of popular culture, in that they want to sell us more and more stuff, must rely on stock characters. We accept these characters, and, instead of seeing art as a vehicle for our own inclusion into a narrative, picture, or song, it appears to me that popular culture uses art forms to push exclusion, in order to get us to purchase more so as to try to be included. Instead of using your imagination to join Harry Potter at Hogwarts, why not buy this great Harry Potter bookbag to be a part of the story.
I want perhaps the survival of books without tie-ins. The only connection is not to any merchandise, but to the mind of the child. To be honest, there are fun things about popular culture, and I certainly take my part in popular culture. Yet, I personally believe that publishing needs to keep a safe distance from popular culture. It should set its own course, much like Ursula Nordstrom did. In looking over her letters, I saw few if any comments made referring to popular culture. Could a great book like Stevie be written using pop culture standards? Not only do publishers need to make risks, they need to take many risks. I don't know if the current market driven aspects of popular culture will allow for much risk taking.
Michael Santangelo Children's Librarian Brooklyn Public Library Pacific Branch
Received on Thu 08 Jul 2004 04:35:55 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 14:35:55 -0700 (PDT)
Recently, I heard from another children's librarian that there is going to be an animated version of Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series. I have to say I was ambivalent about this news. First, its great for Jon and his publisher, and they both deserve it. But, on the otherhand, it made me a little sad. I very much want children to continue to visualize literature for themselves; to picture a character's facial expressions or to picture the way in which a room is arranged using only the author's words and/or the child's own life experiences as tools. I always felt that Jon was attempting to get children to place themselves in those books and to see themselves as the fourth adventurer in the Time Warp books. Sometimes, I see popular culture as a force that does not allow this and that begs no effort on the part of the reader/viewer. In movie and television novelizations, things are pictured for the reader, so the room in the book matches the room on the television sitcom or a character's red hat is the exact red color that was in the movie; the reader is given no chance to imagine a different room or a different shade of red. If a famous child actress plays Amber Brown, is put on the covers of the reissues of all the Amber Brown titles, then, in fact, does the child actress not become Amber Brown for most of our readers. The reader need not take part. Pop culture, as in television and the movies, decided for you how to picture Amber Brown.
Visualizing and verbalizing are major parts of reading and strengthen imagination and thinking. They also although us to sympathize with our favorite characters, as we may place ourselves right along side them. Yet, popular culture reduces everything to commercially reliable stereotypes. Our YA book selector reminded me that many publisher's have begun to use more stereotypical, model looking kids on their covers. Not on the covers of tv/movie tie-ins, but on the covers of some well respected works. The industries of popular culture, in that they want to sell us more and more stuff, must rely on stock characters. We accept these characters, and, instead of seeing art as a vehicle for our own inclusion into a narrative, picture, or song, it appears to me that popular culture uses art forms to push exclusion, in order to get us to purchase more so as to try to be included. Instead of using your imagination to join Harry Potter at Hogwarts, why not buy this great Harry Potter bookbag to be a part of the story.
I want perhaps the survival of books without tie-ins. The only connection is not to any merchandise, but to the mind of the child. To be honest, there are fun things about popular culture, and I certainly take my part in popular culture. Yet, I personally believe that publishing needs to keep a safe distance from popular culture. It should set its own course, much like Ursula Nordstrom did. In looking over her letters, I saw few if any comments made referring to popular culture. Could a great book like Stevie be written using pop culture standards? Not only do publishers need to make risks, they need to take many risks. I don't know if the current market driven aspects of popular culture will allow for much risk taking.
Michael Santangelo Children's Librarian Brooklyn Public Library Pacific Branch
Received on Thu 08 Jul 2004 04:35:55 PM CDT
