CCBC-Net Archives
Picture Books: Week Two
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From: Kathleen T. Horning <horning_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:29:28 -0600
Thanks for all the thoughtful discussion in the past week that was inspired by the New York Times article about why we are seeing fewer and fewer picture books on the bookstore shelves, and available for library purchase. I think it's true that more parents are reading chapter books aloud to four, five, and six year olds, but I'm not sure it's an either/or situation. I think it's possible to have both.
The New York Times mentioned the high cost of picture books being a factor, and we've read some insightful comments on this listserv about price being a factor from the consumer side. But I also heard recently from someone in publishing who told me they are publishing fewer picture books because of the cost of the publisher's end. Picture books are more expensive to produce than chapter books, and yet they charge the same price, so the publishing companies see a smaller profit margin with picture books.
I am wondering if any of our colleagues in the publishing industry would care to comment on this. If you are finding this true, has the cost of producing picture books recently gone up? If so, why? Or is it simply that you are finding they are not selling well in bookstores? We recently discussed on this listserv the dwindling number of picture-book folktales, and I am wondering if this is part of the same phenomenon?
Lastly, can we expect to see a return to black-and-white or two- or three color picture books, as was standard prior to the 1980s? full-color picture books were a rarity when I was first starting out int he field, and they have now come to be the norm. Do you think that now that we have come to expect all picture books to have full-color illustrations, it's unlikely we'll see more picture books without full color?
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning_at_education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Mon 08 Nov 2010 12:29:28 PM CST
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:29:28 -0600
Thanks for all the thoughtful discussion in the past week that was inspired by the New York Times article about why we are seeing fewer and fewer picture books on the bookstore shelves, and available for library purchase. I think it's true that more parents are reading chapter books aloud to four, five, and six year olds, but I'm not sure it's an either/or situation. I think it's possible to have both.
The New York Times mentioned the high cost of picture books being a factor, and we've read some insightful comments on this listserv about price being a factor from the consumer side. But I also heard recently from someone in publishing who told me they are publishing fewer picture books because of the cost of the publisher's end. Picture books are more expensive to produce than chapter books, and yet they charge the same price, so the publishing companies see a smaller profit margin with picture books.
I am wondering if any of our colleagues in the publishing industry would care to comment on this. If you are finding this true, has the cost of producing picture books recently gone up? If so, why? Or is it simply that you are finding they are not selling well in bookstores? We recently discussed on this listserv the dwindling number of picture-book folktales, and I am wondering if this is part of the same phenomenon?
Lastly, can we expect to see a return to black-and-white or two- or three color picture books, as was standard prior to the 1980s? full-color picture books were a rarity when I was first starting out int he field, and they have now come to be the norm. Do you think that now that we have come to expect all picture books to have full-color illustrations, it's unlikely we'll see more picture books without full color?
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning_at_education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Mon 08 Nov 2010 12:29:28 PM CST
