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[CCBC-Net] April Part 2: The Demise of the Picture Book?
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From: leonardsma at aol.com <leonardsma>
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:42:40 -0400
The UK situation is not especially new. When Sebastian Walker, the founder of England's Walker books, decided to open a US outpost in the early 1990s, it was because he reckoned that England represented only 15% of the potential market for the type of upmarket picture book he was interested in publishing (Oxenbury, Voake, Barrett, etc.). The US market was the big prize. That is why at the outset he hired an American art director, and why in 1992 he established Candlewick. A major reason for the contraction of the UK picture book market is that the Thatcher government decimated library budgets and no subsequent government has restored the funding.
Leonard
Leonard S. Marcus
54 Willow Street, #2A
Brooklyn, New York 11201
tel 718 596-1897
e-mail leonardsma at aol.com
web www.leonardmarcus.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu>
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Sent: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 1:31 pm
Subject: [CCBC-Net] April Part 2: The Demise of the Picture Book?
Dear CCBC-Net Community, As the month of April draws to a close, our discussion topic will focus on the potential demise of the picture book. In recent years, picture book publishing in the United States has seen declining numbers as publishers take advantage of the big market for fiction, especially young adult and fantasy. Despite this, the 2007 publishing year saw a number of picture books notable for their venturesome creativity. But with the 2008 Caldecott Award for the ?most distinguished American picture book for children? going to a groundbreaking novel, /The Invention of Hugo Cabret /by Brian Selznick/,/ we wonder: are we starting to see the demise of the picture books as a unique art form, or are we simply seeing that art form develop into something new? In the next ten days, we?ll talk about this distinct art form and where the future might take it. As food for thought, here is a timely article from The Economist that offers an economic perspective on this top ic. To begin our conversation, what changes have you noticed in picture book production recently? Is it an issue of form or function, or perhaps as this article suggests, an issue of production? Decline of the Picture Book Apr 3rd 2008 From /The Economist/ print edition Why Storytime May Be Ending for British Children THE children's book fair in Bologna this week was full of the bubble and squeak that such events elicit. But a serious sub-theme lurked: how to revive picture books, those lavishly illustrated creations that teach children to love books long before they can read them. Britons have been market leaders in the field since Kate Greenaway filled books with her delicately garbed girls in the 1880s and Beatrix Potter came up with Peter Rabbit 20 years later. Modern stars include Julia Donaldson, of ?The Gruffalo? fame, and Michael Rosen. But a growing number of writers and illustrators warn that British picture books are now in danger. All publishers find it hard to deal with cut-price internet selling, harder-nosed high-street booksellers and people's increasing reluctance to read. Picture books have a particular problem: they cost a bomb to produce, and unless they are seen and handled, their price can seem prohibitive. Sales in Britain dropped sharply last year, bookstores say, and so has shelf-space for them. So most picture books cannot be published for British readers alone?but the international market is less welcoming than it was. Americans are favouring home-grown talent, says Wayne Winstone, who sells children's books, and eastern Europeans and Asians are developing their own distinctive styles of illustration. Michael Rosen blames the obsession with synthetic phonics for reducing children's reading horizons to badly drawn leaflets. For Jane Ray, an illustrator, a ?culture of safety? among publishers has much to answer for. Not all are quite so gloomy. Booktrust, a charity, has launched the Big Picture campaign t o raise the profile of picture books. At the Illustration Cupboard, a London gallery, John Huddy reckons the market is correcting itself, rooting out inadequate contenders. Panicky book folk may be talking their business down?but new ways to sell cheaper products across borders must certainly loom. http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10978480 -- Tessa Michaelson, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706 Phone: 608-890-1332 Podcast: 712-318-9988 FAX: 608-262-4933 tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ _______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Mon 21 Apr 2008 03:42:40 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:42:40 -0400
The UK situation is not especially new. When Sebastian Walker, the founder of England's Walker books, decided to open a US outpost in the early 1990s, it was because he reckoned that England represented only 15% of the potential market for the type of upmarket picture book he was interested in publishing (Oxenbury, Voake, Barrett, etc.). The US market was the big prize. That is why at the outset he hired an American art director, and why in 1992 he established Candlewick. A major reason for the contraction of the UK picture book market is that the Thatcher government decimated library budgets and no subsequent government has restored the funding.
Leonard
Leonard S. Marcus
54 Willow Street, #2A
Brooklyn, New York 11201
tel 718 596-1897
e-mail leonardsma at aol.com
web www.leonardmarcus.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu>
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Sent: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 1:31 pm
Subject: [CCBC-Net] April Part 2: The Demise of the Picture Book?
Dear CCBC-Net Community, As the month of April draws to a close, our discussion topic will focus on the potential demise of the picture book. In recent years, picture book publishing in the United States has seen declining numbers as publishers take advantage of the big market for fiction, especially young adult and fantasy. Despite this, the 2007 publishing year saw a number of picture books notable for their venturesome creativity. But with the 2008 Caldecott Award for the ?most distinguished American picture book for children? going to a groundbreaking novel, /The Invention of Hugo Cabret /by Brian Selznick/,/ we wonder: are we starting to see the demise of the picture books as a unique art form, or are we simply seeing that art form develop into something new? In the next ten days, we?ll talk about this distinct art form and where the future might take it. As food for thought, here is a timely article from The Economist that offers an economic perspective on this top ic. To begin our conversation, what changes have you noticed in picture book production recently? Is it an issue of form or function, or perhaps as this article suggests, an issue of production? Decline of the Picture Book Apr 3rd 2008 From /The Economist/ print edition Why Storytime May Be Ending for British Children THE children's book fair in Bologna this week was full of the bubble and squeak that such events elicit. But a serious sub-theme lurked: how to revive picture books, those lavishly illustrated creations that teach children to love books long before they can read them. Britons have been market leaders in the field since Kate Greenaway filled books with her delicately garbed girls in the 1880s and Beatrix Potter came up with Peter Rabbit 20 years later. Modern stars include Julia Donaldson, of ?The Gruffalo? fame, and Michael Rosen. But a growing number of writers and illustrators warn that British picture books are now in danger. All publishers find it hard to deal with cut-price internet selling, harder-nosed high-street booksellers and people's increasing reluctance to read. Picture books have a particular problem: they cost a bomb to produce, and unless they are seen and handled, their price can seem prohibitive. Sales in Britain dropped sharply last year, bookstores say, and so has shelf-space for them. So most picture books cannot be published for British readers alone?but the international market is less welcoming than it was. Americans are favouring home-grown talent, says Wayne Winstone, who sells children's books, and eastern Europeans and Asians are developing their own distinctive styles of illustration. Michael Rosen blames the obsession with synthetic phonics for reducing children's reading horizons to badly drawn leaflets. For Jane Ray, an illustrator, a ?culture of safety? among publishers has much to answer for. Not all are quite so gloomy. Booktrust, a charity, has launched the Big Picture campaign t o raise the profile of picture books. At the Illustration Cupboard, a London gallery, John Huddy reckons the market is correcting itself, rooting out inadequate contenders. Panicky book folk may be talking their business down?but new ways to sell cheaper products across borders must certainly loom. http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10978480 -- Tessa Michaelson, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706 Phone: 608-890-1332 Podcast: 712-318-9988 FAX: 608-262-4933 tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ _______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Mon 21 Apr 2008 03:42:40 PM CDT
