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Re: A Paucity of Picture Books
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From: Sheila Welch <sheilawelch_at_juno.com>
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:37:34 -0500
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
This is a fascinating topic. Here are a few rather random comments.
I just read the post by Diane Muldrow and am pleased to learn that Golden Books are going strong. However, in shopping for grand kids, I haven't seen many of the new books with work by top illustrators. Maybe the big stores aren't as likely to carry these Golden titles because the classic and Disney titles sell better?
I can't imagine raising our children without the picture books that we knew and loved. We read and reread many Golden Books along with piles of other wonderful books such as those by Sendak, Russell Hoban, Bill Peet, Ezra Jack Keats, Tasha Tudor, John Burningham, Garth Williams, William Steig, etc. When the children were little (and we were poor), we went to the library every two weeks. It isn't surprising that one child is now a librarian who's written a nonfiction book and another has been published in Cicada.
Recently, I answered some questions that were sent to me by a high school student who hopes to be an author. One of her questions was "Where do you see the book illustrator field in ten years?" I answered, "The constantly evolving, digital technology is changing the whole world of book publishing. With print-on-demand books, e-book readers, iPads, etc., readers have a range of options for gaining access to printed matter and art work. I think that many digital picture 'books' will be made for kids with audio, animation, and numerous interactive elements. These are already becoming available and will probably replace a lot of traditional picture books. However, my guess is that some books -- especially picture books -- will still be printed on paper in ten years."
Maybe that last sentence is wishful thinking. The economics of the whole business is interesting. A few months ago, I received a letter from an editor at one of the top publishing houses in response to my submission of a picture book manuscript/dummy. She said, "This is quite lovely (the art especially), but I feel it's too slight for a 32-page picture book at a $16.99 price point." The story is intended for toddlers through first graders and is only 72 words long. So what am I doing? I've decided to do the final art and submit it to MeeGenius, an Internet company that publishes apps for kids to read on iPad or their mom's iPhone. These "books" sell for $1.99 from the iTunes store.
Sheila Kelly Welch Author/Illustrator Author of: Little Prince Know-It-All (published by Golden Books Road to Reading)
On Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:44:40 -0500 Jane Hertenstein writes: maybe it's time to bring back the Golden Books and have them available at supermarket checkouts
----- Original Message -----
From: sstantoine_at_aol.com To: ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 9:37 AM Subject: Re:
A Paucity of Picture Books
I was fascinated to read the NYT article, not because I agreed with its argumentation, but because I have lately found myself doing just what the article described. My children are 3 and 7. We have shelves loaded with picture books--both classics and contemporary--but when my older daughter began reading, I found my book buying habits changing for both children. I thought more about the costs of a new picture book as weighed against its longevity and versatility. Think of all the hours of pleasure we could get out of a collection of Frog and Toad or Zelda and Ivy--what a portable little treasure to cart around on subway rides and to waiting rooms--and look at all the ways it could be used: read alone by big sister, read out loud to both sisters, read out loud by big sister to little sister, etc. Honestly, I'm embarrassed to describe this kind of cost-benefit calculation applied to art and story--ack! But I think it's fair to say that picture books are a bigger commitment of money and shelf space, and therefo re they undergo extra scrutiny before being placed in a shopping bag. Do we REALLY want to read this book again and again? Does the text REALLY measure up to the artwork? Many times yes, many times no. Even the kids know the difference. I remember when I finished reading WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE to my younger daughter for the first time. She was about 2 1/2, and when I finished reading she looked at me with wide eyes and declared, "Now THAT is a really good book." Needless to say, that's one we own!
Sara St. Antoine author/editor Cambridge, MA
Regarding the NY Times article, below is the letter I sent to the NYT in response:
=====
Dear New York Times,
I was puzzled by the article "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children" (7 October 2010). While the assertion that parents are prematurely pushing their kids to chapter books may be true in some instances, the more obvious explanation for picture book sales dropping is the current recession. I strongly suspect that picture book circulation in public libraries is far up.
Picture books do offer a wonderful interplay between language and image, and strengthen the neuronal connections in the brain which enable children to extrapolate from context and learn from their environment.
Additionally, the article author should be very careful about precisely what is being said: it appears that the cited discussion on urbanbaby.com asked for books to *read to* a 5-year-old, not what a child should be reading. My children loved having books of a similar complexity read out loud to them at that age. There is a difference between being read to and reading it oneself.
Sincerely Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Director, Early Literacy Projects Madison, Wisconsin
=====
I think the author of that article took the standard "Look at these uptight parents" article and related it to a probably-true but-also-somewhat-standard doom-and-gloom scenario from the publishing industry and equated the two together. Sloppy writing!
Peace and Prosperity, Dipesh
Received on Fri 05 Nov 2010 01:37:34 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:37:34 -0500
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
This is a fascinating topic. Here are a few rather random comments.
I just read the post by Diane Muldrow and am pleased to learn that Golden Books are going strong. However, in shopping for grand kids, I haven't seen many of the new books with work by top illustrators. Maybe the big stores aren't as likely to carry these Golden titles because the classic and Disney titles sell better?
I can't imagine raising our children without the picture books that we knew and loved. We read and reread many Golden Books along with piles of other wonderful books such as those by Sendak, Russell Hoban, Bill Peet, Ezra Jack Keats, Tasha Tudor, John Burningham, Garth Williams, William Steig, etc. When the children were little (and we were poor), we went to the library every two weeks. It isn't surprising that one child is now a librarian who's written a nonfiction book and another has been published in Cicada.
Recently, I answered some questions that were sent to me by a high school student who hopes to be an author. One of her questions was "Where do you see the book illustrator field in ten years?" I answered, "The constantly evolving, digital technology is changing the whole world of book publishing. With print-on-demand books, e-book readers, iPads, etc., readers have a range of options for gaining access to printed matter and art work. I think that many digital picture 'books' will be made for kids with audio, animation, and numerous interactive elements. These are already becoming available and will probably replace a lot of traditional picture books. However, my guess is that some books -- especially picture books -- will still be printed on paper in ten years."
Maybe that last sentence is wishful thinking. The economics of the whole business is interesting. A few months ago, I received a letter from an editor at one of the top publishing houses in response to my submission of a picture book manuscript/dummy. She said, "This is quite lovely (the art especially), but I feel it's too slight for a 32-page picture book at a $16.99 price point." The story is intended for toddlers through first graders and is only 72 words long. So what am I doing? I've decided to do the final art and submit it to MeeGenius, an Internet company that publishes apps for kids to read on iPad or their mom's iPhone. These "books" sell for $1.99 from the iTunes store.
Sheila Kelly Welch Author/Illustrator Author of: Little Prince Know-It-All (published by Golden Books Road to Reading)
On Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:44:40 -0500 Jane Hertenstein writes: maybe it's time to bring back the Golden Books and have them available at supermarket checkouts
----- Original Message -----
From: sstantoine_at_aol.com To: ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 9:37 AM Subject: Re:
A Paucity of Picture Books
I was fascinated to read the NYT article, not because I agreed with its argumentation, but because I have lately found myself doing just what the article described. My children are 3 and 7. We have shelves loaded with picture books--both classics and contemporary--but when my older daughter began reading, I found my book buying habits changing for both children. I thought more about the costs of a new picture book as weighed against its longevity and versatility. Think of all the hours of pleasure we could get out of a collection of Frog and Toad or Zelda and Ivy--what a portable little treasure to cart around on subway rides and to waiting rooms--and look at all the ways it could be used: read alone by big sister, read out loud to both sisters, read out loud by big sister to little sister, etc. Honestly, I'm embarrassed to describe this kind of cost-benefit calculation applied to art and story--ack! But I think it's fair to say that picture books are a bigger commitment of money and shelf space, and therefo re they undergo extra scrutiny before being placed in a shopping bag. Do we REALLY want to read this book again and again? Does the text REALLY measure up to the artwork? Many times yes, many times no. Even the kids know the difference. I remember when I finished reading WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE to my younger daughter for the first time. She was about 2 1/2, and when I finished reading she looked at me with wide eyes and declared, "Now THAT is a really good book." Needless to say, that's one we own!
Sara St. Antoine author/editor Cambridge, MA
Regarding the NY Times article, below is the letter I sent to the NYT in response:
=====
Dear New York Times,
I was puzzled by the article "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children" (7 October 2010). While the assertion that parents are prematurely pushing their kids to chapter books may be true in some instances, the more obvious explanation for picture book sales dropping is the current recession. I strongly suspect that picture book circulation in public libraries is far up.
Picture books do offer a wonderful interplay between language and image, and strengthen the neuronal connections in the brain which enable children to extrapolate from context and learn from their environment.
Additionally, the article author should be very careful about precisely what is being said: it appears that the cited discussion on urbanbaby.com asked for books to *read to* a 5-year-old, not what a child should be reading. My children loved having books of a similar complexity read out loud to them at that age. There is a difference between being read to and reading it oneself.
Sincerely Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Director, Early Literacy Projects Madison, Wisconsin
=====
I think the author of that article took the standard "Look at these uptight parents" article and related it to a probably-true but-also-somewhat-standard doom-and-gloom scenario from the publishing industry and equated the two together. Sloppy writing!
Peace and Prosperity, Dipesh
Received on Fri 05 Nov 2010 01:37:34 PM CDT
