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From: mail_at_hoppingfun.com <mail>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 11:36:19 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, I was recently introduced to this list by an editor/friend, and I'm so glad I found you all! I'm a writer and editor specializing in children's science, though I've covered lots of other interesting topics, too. I think the challenges of science writing for kids are unique, as borne out by the rich level of this discussion?I'm really enjoying it. So much so, that I'm overcoming my cybershyness to join you.
Like Sneed, I've just finished writing two books about women's adventures in science--that's actually the name of the series--for Joseph Henry Press/National Academies of Science. These two books kept me from abandoning the field altogether and plunging full-time into my other passion, game inventing.
Like an earlier poster to this list, I had become burned out on leveled readers--most of them WMFH, with ridiculous deadlines, and grist for the Lexile mill that makes prose uniform and tidy and bland. (I find that Lexile can be especially deadly to science writing, since science words are "big words" and simpler substitutes usually just won't do.)
I'm guessing this mounting flood is part of the rush for more "content reading" (isn't all reading "content reading"?) to meet NCLB standards. Also, as I understand it, publishers pay big bookstore chains for shelf space, and so have to stock those shelves fully and quickly to meet the fees, though some of the series are more targeted at libraries and schools. I could be wrong, but the fact remains that the quickie WMFH series business is booming.
In contrast, JHP had never published a children's book and, I say, "Lucky them!" And lucky me. Their approach to this series was refreshing, thorough, professional, and high-quality. Besides royalties, the project included an expense budget for traveling to interview the scientists as they worked and thorough content reviews by several scientists, a science eductor, a reading teacher, and kids. The result is a set of biographies like no other in the children's department (and a forthcoming companion website). There are tons of inspirational bios of Marie Curie and company, as there should be, but JHP chose to focus instead on living, little known scientists in the prime of their career who have a compelling life story and science story to share.
JHP's reasons (the result of many focus groups with librarians, kids, and teachers) echo those that Maia cited when she asked her daughter about scientists. Readers get to know these scientists on a personal and first-name basis, as friends. I'm curious to know how the books will sell without a "name brand" on the cover, but the real reward was to rekindle my passion for science and for writing and, I hope, pass on some of that passion to readers.
Lorraine Hopping Egan Hopping Fun Creations Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France Space Rocks: The Story of Planetary Geologist Adriana Ocampo www.hoppingfun.com
Received on Thu 14 Jul 2005 10:36:19 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 11:36:19 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, I was recently introduced to this list by an editor/friend, and I'm so glad I found you all! I'm a writer and editor specializing in children's science, though I've covered lots of other interesting topics, too. I think the challenges of science writing for kids are unique, as borne out by the rich level of this discussion?I'm really enjoying it. So much so, that I'm overcoming my cybershyness to join you.
Like Sneed, I've just finished writing two books about women's adventures in science--that's actually the name of the series--for Joseph Henry Press/National Academies of Science. These two books kept me from abandoning the field altogether and plunging full-time into my other passion, game inventing.
Like an earlier poster to this list, I had become burned out on leveled readers--most of them WMFH, with ridiculous deadlines, and grist for the Lexile mill that makes prose uniform and tidy and bland. (I find that Lexile can be especially deadly to science writing, since science words are "big words" and simpler substitutes usually just won't do.)
I'm guessing this mounting flood is part of the rush for more "content reading" (isn't all reading "content reading"?) to meet NCLB standards. Also, as I understand it, publishers pay big bookstore chains for shelf space, and so have to stock those shelves fully and quickly to meet the fees, though some of the series are more targeted at libraries and schools. I could be wrong, but the fact remains that the quickie WMFH series business is booming.
In contrast, JHP had never published a children's book and, I say, "Lucky them!" And lucky me. Their approach to this series was refreshing, thorough, professional, and high-quality. Besides royalties, the project included an expense budget for traveling to interview the scientists as they worked and thorough content reviews by several scientists, a science eductor, a reading teacher, and kids. The result is a set of biographies like no other in the children's department (and a forthcoming companion website). There are tons of inspirational bios of Marie Curie and company, as there should be, but JHP chose to focus instead on living, little known scientists in the prime of their career who have a compelling life story and science story to share.
JHP's reasons (the result of many focus groups with librarians, kids, and teachers) echo those that Maia cited when she asked her daughter about scientists. Readers get to know these scientists on a personal and first-name basis, as friends. I'm curious to know how the books will sell without a "name brand" on the cover, but the real reward was to rekindle my passion for science and for writing and, I hope, pass on some of that passion to readers.
Lorraine Hopping Egan Hopping Fun Creations Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France Space Rocks: The Story of Planetary Geologist Adriana Ocampo www.hoppingfun.com
Received on Thu 14 Jul 2005 10:36:19 AM CDT
