CCBC-Net Archives

[CCBC-Net] Celebrity Books

From: VAUNDA nelson <VNELSON>
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:07:14 -0600

Thanks to Linda Sue Park for her great comments in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette article. Vaunda Nelson

>>> James Elliott <libraryjim at embarqmail.com> 06/05/07 03:30PM >>>
So many celebrities are coming out with Childrens books! Everyone from Jamie Lee Curtis to John Lithgow to Madonna to Dolly Parton! The surprising thing is how many of them are actually GOOD -- ok, maybe not great, but good. I do think that if a child sees a book written by someone they admire, it may be just that one push into the world of reading. (or, more likely, if a parent sees a book by a celebrity they like, they just MIGHT be more prone to check the book out to read to their child.) We really cannot ignore that push.

Here is a link to a biting article on the subject:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04308/405539.stm

I really liked this quote:

Jane Yolen, a prize-winning children's book author, contends that "celebrity children's books eat up all the available oxygen ... I have over 250 books out, have won a great number of awards within the field, have been given four honorary doctorates for my body of work, but have never been on 'Oprah' or spoken to Katie Couric or gotten a $100,000 advance for my work.

"I am not complaining. I do very well by the ordinary parameters of the field. But I have been thinking about getting out my pointy bra and brushing up on my singing and dancing because there's no good pop music out there. And because -- you know -- if it's celebrity they want ...''


me again: One of the first celebrity books I became aware of was Julie Andrews (Edwards) with her book "Mandy" a good story similar to "Secret Garden". It wasn't as good as "Secret Garden" but it was pretty darn good. Because it was written by "Julie Andrews Edwards" I didn't recognize it as the actress at first. It actually had to be pointed out to me! (insert 'roll eyes' emoticon here!)

Jim Elliott North Florida

----- Original Message ----- From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman at education.wisc.edu> To: Subscribers of ccbc-net <ccbc-net at lists.education.wisc.edu> Sent: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 17:02:04 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [CCBC-Net] Celebrity Books

Today we begin our discussion for the first part of June:

I Can Do That! Celebrity Publishing

 From political figures to rock stars to movie stars, many of us have our G??favoritesG?? in the realm of celebrity publishing.

Do you think celebrity publishing does or should matter to librarians, teachers, and others committed to making the best literature possible available to young readers? If so, why?

Megan

-- 
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI  53706
608-262-9503
608-262-4933 (fax)
schliesman at education.wisc.edu 
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ 
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Received on Tue 05 Jun 2007 05:07:14 PM CDT