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Re: A Paucity of Picture Books
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From: leonardsma_at_aol.com
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:59:07 -0400
Of course the thing about really good picture books is that you DON'T rea d them just once. You read them again and again, GOODNIGHT MOON being the ultimate example. If you "amortize" a picture book purchase on that basis , it turns out to be quite a bargain. The real problem for adult shoppers is not having enough guidance as they make their selections in stores. Th e default options are (1) to buy a remembered and loved book, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that--except it does nothing to encourage th e chains to stock a wide variety of newer books and thus ultimately result s in more limited stock selections and to more muddled articles like the one in the Times; and (2) to reach for a celebrity book (because it's "au thor" is funny on television or whatever). The latter is unfortunate only because those books are rarely good and do make the person who paid the $17 wonder whether it was worth the price, which in fact it was not.
Leonard
Leonard S. Marcus 54 Willow Street, #2A Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
T 718 596-1897 E leonardsma_at_aol.com W www.leonardmarcus.com
Message-----
From: bookmarch_at_aol.com To: dipesh@navsaria.com; ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu Sent: Fri, Nov 5, 2010 7:02 am Subject: Re:
A Paucity of Picture Books
I share the sense that the NYT article was limited and that the picture bo ok is magnificent as both an artistic platform and a way of bringing child ren in to books and reading. However I also think there is a specific prob lem the picture book faces which is not just a function of the cycle of tr ends and the ups and downs of demographic curves (YA boomed when teenagers as a cohort formed an ever larger % of the population, a bulge that has passed). Because new picture books are of necessity hardcover (paperback picture books are so slim they disappear), a parent faces a relatively hi gh cost (say $16) for a relatively short immersion experience (32, 40, 48 pages plus the effort the parent puts into engaging the child spread by spread). That is a tough purchase one, by one, by one. It becomes much mo re appealing to buy a new picture book when you already have shelves full of others -- as libraries and some fortunate parents do. Then you are not just spending $16 for 32 pages, you are adding one more choic e to a rich set of options. The new 3 Billy Goats Gruff is a fun pair with an older one, a nonfiction book on goats (or bridges for that matter), a silly rhy mes book on trolls. I wonder if publishers, and bookstores, might need to offer new picture books in something like a subscription model -- where the buyer gets, say, 5 -- two classic paperbacks, one new hardcover, one book of poetry, one nonfiction -- for some lower set price. While the par ent is spending more than $16, she is now populating shelves of a home lib rary with great choices that can be used in many ways. She gets over the "can I spend so much for so little" barrier.
Marc Aronson
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:59:07 -0400
Of course the thing about really good picture books is that you DON'T rea d them just once. You read them again and again, GOODNIGHT MOON being the ultimate example. If you "amortize" a picture book purchase on that basis , it turns out to be quite a bargain. The real problem for adult shoppers is not having enough guidance as they make their selections in stores. Th e default options are (1) to buy a remembered and loved book, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that--except it does nothing to encourage th e chains to stock a wide variety of newer books and thus ultimately result s in more limited stock selections and to more muddled articles like the one in the Times; and (2) to reach for a celebrity book (because it's "au thor" is funny on television or whatever). The latter is unfortunate only because those books are rarely good and do make the person who paid the $17 wonder whether it was worth the price, which in fact it was not.
Leonard
Leonard S. Marcus 54 Willow Street, #2A Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
T 718 596-1897 E leonardsma_at_aol.com W www.leonardmarcus.com
Message-----
From: bookmarch_at_aol.com To: dipesh@navsaria.com; ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu Sent: Fri, Nov 5, 2010 7:02 am Subject: Re:
A Paucity of Picture Books
I share the sense that the NYT article was limited and that the picture bo ok is magnificent as both an artistic platform and a way of bringing child ren in to books and reading. However I also think there is a specific prob lem the picture book faces which is not just a function of the cycle of tr ends and the ups and downs of demographic curves (YA boomed when teenagers as a cohort formed an ever larger % of the population, a bulge that has passed). Because new picture books are of necessity hardcover (paperback picture books are so slim they disappear), a parent faces a relatively hi gh cost (say $16) for a relatively short immersion experience (32, 40, 48 pages plus the effort the parent puts into engaging the child spread by spread). That is a tough purchase one, by one, by one. It becomes much mo re appealing to buy a new picture book when you already have shelves full of others -- as libraries and some fortunate parents do. Then you are not just spending $16 for 32 pages, you are adding one more choic e to a rich set of options. The new 3 Billy Goats Gruff is a fun pair with an older one, a nonfiction book on goats (or bridges for that matter), a silly rhy mes book on trolls. I wonder if publishers, and bookstores, might need to offer new picture books in something like a subscription model -- where the buyer gets, say, 5 -- two classic paperbacks, one new hardcover, one book of poetry, one nonfiction -- for some lower set price. While the par ent is spending more than $16, she is now populating shelves of a home lib rary with great choices that can be used in many ways. She gets over the "can I spend so much for so little" barrier.
Marc Aronson
---Received on Fri 05 Nov 2010 08:59:07 AM CDT
