CCBC-Net Archives
Author/Illustrator Notes
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Monica Edinger <monicaedinger_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 05:54:04 -0400
This is a topic of great interest to me. When it comes to historical fiction I've discovered that there are many adults who absolutely detest any sort of back matter arguing that it pulls them out of their enjoyment of the imaginary world. And kids, in my long experience as a classroom teacher, almost never read back matter unless required to do so. I think the tension here is interesting as it speaks to different reasons for reading. If you are reading a work of historical fiction for the story and not to be informed about the past perhaps you don't need anything further. But teachers indeed may use such a work more didactically and then back matter can be enormously useful.
I should say that I personally love back matter of all sorts. I always look at it, often more than once as I read, curious about the research and what is imagined and what is real. I've argued with those who don't like it that they simply don't have to read it, but they seem to feel that if it is there they have some sort of obligation to do so. I went into this in terms of historical fiction a couple of years ago for a Horn Book article: "After the End" (March/April 2011).
I'm now learning firsthand the issues around real estate. That is, I've got my first children's book coming out next year and know that there is only a small amount of space left for my author's note. Having worked on the book for a long time (a fictionalized account of a true story), I could spend most of it simply thanking the many who helped along the way, but I am keeping that to a minimum as my priority is communicating in that limited amount of space something about the research and, most of all, a sense of what is real and what is imagined. Whether the kids read it or not, at least it will set my mind at ease that I have been upfront and honest about this.
Rosanne, I think putting stuff online in a variety of ways is great and I'm sure helpful to educators.
Megan, I came across the outstanding "Between Fact and Fiction" bibliography a few weeks ago and did a blog post about it:
Monica
-- Monica Edinger 600 West 111th Street Apt 2A New York NY 10025 educating alice _at_medinger on twitter My Huffington Post Blog
Received on Fri 19 Oct 2012 05:54:04 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 05:54:04 -0400
This is a topic of great interest to me. When it comes to historical fiction I've discovered that there are many adults who absolutely detest any sort of back matter arguing that it pulls them out of their enjoyment of the imaginary world. And kids, in my long experience as a classroom teacher, almost never read back matter unless required to do so. I think the tension here is interesting as it speaks to different reasons for reading. If you are reading a work of historical fiction for the story and not to be informed about the past perhaps you don't need anything further. But teachers indeed may use such a work more didactically and then back matter can be enormously useful.
I should say that I personally love back matter of all sorts. I always look at it, often more than once as I read, curious about the research and what is imagined and what is real. I've argued with those who don't like it that they simply don't have to read it, but they seem to feel that if it is there they have some sort of obligation to do so. I went into this in terms of historical fiction a couple of years ago for a Horn Book article: "After the End" (March/April 2011).
I'm now learning firsthand the issues around real estate. That is, I've got my first children's book coming out next year and know that there is only a small amount of space left for my author's note. Having worked on the book for a long time (a fictionalized account of a true story), I could spend most of it simply thanking the many who helped along the way, but I am keeping that to a minimum as my priority is communicating in that limited amount of space something about the research and, most of all, a sense of what is real and what is imagined. Whether the kids read it or not, at least it will set my mind at ease that I have been upfront and honest about this.
Rosanne, I think putting stuff online in a variety of ways is great and I'm sure helpful to educators.
Megan, I came across the outstanding "Between Fact and Fiction" bibliography a few weeks ago and did a blog post about it:
Monica
-- Monica Edinger 600 West 111th Street Apt 2A New York NY 10025 educating alice _at_medinger on twitter My Huffington Post Blog
Received on Fri 19 Oct 2012 05:54:04 AM CDT
