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[CCBC-Net] wine in new bottles
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From: Miriam Lang Budin <miriammeister>
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:44:19 -0400
As what one of my young colleagues diplomatically calls a "seasoned" librarian, I have a knee-jerk, negative reaction to a lot of re-formatted material. I loathe the Disney simplifications of those wonderful Ernest Shepard drawings. I can't understand why--when Beatrix Potter deliberately desinged her books to be "small enough for little hands"--publishers have brought them out in giant compilations. Et cetera.
But sometimes the old wine is fine in the new bottles. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR makes a wonderful board book. The little fingers on those
"little hands" can actually poke through those little holes without tearing the pages. And I agree that Rosemary Wells' adaptations of BLACK BEAUTY and LASSIE-COME-HOME work exceptionally well: telling the heart of those stories while excising sermonizing and/verbiage that gets in the way of readers' enjoyment.
This reinforces one of my old-fashioned beliefs about book selection. * Nothing* can replace the hands-on examination of a book. It's the only way to know for sure whether a well-known, well-loved (or possibly previously neglected) book works well its new package or whether it's become rancid.
Miriam
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:44:19 -0400
As what one of my young colleagues diplomatically calls a "seasoned" librarian, I have a knee-jerk, negative reaction to a lot of re-formatted material. I loathe the Disney simplifications of those wonderful Ernest Shepard drawings. I can't understand why--when Beatrix Potter deliberately desinged her books to be "small enough for little hands"--publishers have brought them out in giant compilations. Et cetera.
But sometimes the old wine is fine in the new bottles. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR makes a wonderful board book. The little fingers on those
"little hands" can actually poke through those little holes without tearing the pages. And I agree that Rosemary Wells' adaptations of BLACK BEAUTY and LASSIE-COME-HOME work exceptionally well: telling the heart of those stories while excising sermonizing and/verbiage that gets in the way of readers' enjoyment.
This reinforces one of my old-fashioned beliefs about book selection. * Nothing* can replace the hands-on examination of a book. It's the only way to know for sure whether a well-known, well-loved (or possibly previously neglected) book works well its new package or whether it's become rancid.
Miriam
-- Miriam Lang Budin Chappaqua Library, NYReceived on Thu 20 Jul 2006 01:44:19 PM CDT
