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[CCBC-Net] Celebrity Books
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From: Olgy Gary <omgary>
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 16:12:35 -0600
Jim,
I loved reading your post and visiting the link you provided and reading Jane Yolen's thoughts on the matter. She was a speaker at one of our RMC-SCBWI Fall Conferences not too long ago and talked about this subject as well, so her quote in your post brought those memories back.
One of my concerns regarding celebrity books is whether or not we can give celebrity authors such as Madonna a clean slate to start out with. Regardless of how beautiful her "The English Roses" book may or may not be, how do I deal with offering that book to my child--ok, I'm talking as a mom here, not an educator, so guess ok for me to censor myself in what I let my kids read :-) --but how can I give my child a book authored by the same person who did things on TV, or published previous books, that were non-acceptable to my way of thinking? I guess I could always use Madonna's book as a talking point and read it to my child and then when questions come up I could separate the message from the messenger but...with so many other great books available, and more being published every year, why should I even bother getting into that mess? Even as a bookseller I'm not sure I would want to deal with old baggage attached to any one author, especially ones so well known as Madonna.
> So many celebrities are coming out with Childrens books!
I just read that Posh Spice is turning her back on the reality TV show she was going to do with her husband David Beckham so she can go ahead and write a book, http://tinyurl.com/3dnzpw
Back in 2003 we posted an article to the CCF site that asked this question of celebrity as authors, http://www.childrencomefirst.com/celebritiesasauthors.shtml The CCF article points to Michiko Kakutani, of the New York Times, who wrote an excellent article on this subject titled, "To Stars, Writing Books Looks Like Child's Play."
Kakutani mentions the very objection I have with some celebrity authors, mentioned above, when he says, "the problem is that these authors count on audiences being able to forget--or ignore---who they used to be. Madonna's previous venture into publishing was 'Sex'."
In the poll we placed in this article 82% have responded that they're not influenced by the author being a celebrity when they purchase books. I know that as a bookseller I fell for the glitz when these books first started coming out but it actually was the parents and librarians at the schools I served with the CCF Book Fairs who educated me on the subject! LOL. Celebrity books didn't sell anywhere near as much as those by authors such as Jane Yolen's. :-)
Olgy
------------------------------------------- Olgy Gary, Gen'l Manager
"children come first...because they're our greatest treasure!" http://www.childrencomefirst.com http://tinyurl.com/yk9tvq - Free CCF bulletin
Received on Tue 05 Jun 2007 05:12:35 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 16:12:35 -0600
Jim,
I loved reading your post and visiting the link you provided and reading Jane Yolen's thoughts on the matter. She was a speaker at one of our RMC-SCBWI Fall Conferences not too long ago and talked about this subject as well, so her quote in your post brought those memories back.
One of my concerns regarding celebrity books is whether or not we can give celebrity authors such as Madonna a clean slate to start out with. Regardless of how beautiful her "The English Roses" book may or may not be, how do I deal with offering that book to my child--ok, I'm talking as a mom here, not an educator, so guess ok for me to censor myself in what I let my kids read :-) --but how can I give my child a book authored by the same person who did things on TV, or published previous books, that were non-acceptable to my way of thinking? I guess I could always use Madonna's book as a talking point and read it to my child and then when questions come up I could separate the message from the messenger but...with so many other great books available, and more being published every year, why should I even bother getting into that mess? Even as a bookseller I'm not sure I would want to deal with old baggage attached to any one author, especially ones so well known as Madonna.
> So many celebrities are coming out with Childrens books!
I just read that Posh Spice is turning her back on the reality TV show she was going to do with her husband David Beckham so she can go ahead and write a book, http://tinyurl.com/3dnzpw
Back in 2003 we posted an article to the CCF site that asked this question of celebrity as authors, http://www.childrencomefirst.com/celebritiesasauthors.shtml The CCF article points to Michiko Kakutani, of the New York Times, who wrote an excellent article on this subject titled, "To Stars, Writing Books Looks Like Child's Play."
Kakutani mentions the very objection I have with some celebrity authors, mentioned above, when he says, "the problem is that these authors count on audiences being able to forget--or ignore---who they used to be. Madonna's previous venture into publishing was 'Sex'."
In the poll we placed in this article 82% have responded that they're not influenced by the author being a celebrity when they purchase books. I know that as a bookseller I fell for the glitz when these books first started coming out but it actually was the parents and librarians at the schools I served with the CCF Book Fairs who educated me on the subject! LOL. Celebrity books didn't sell anywhere near as much as those by authors such as Jane Yolen's. :-)
Olgy
------------------------------------------- Olgy Gary, Gen'l Manager
"children come first...because they're our greatest treasure!" http://www.childrencomefirst.com http://tinyurl.com/yk9tvq - Free CCF bulletin
Received on Tue 05 Jun 2007 05:12:35 PM CDT
