CCBC-Net Archives
"older" children's poetry for adults?
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Joyce Sidman <joyce.sidman_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:17:22 -0500
Nancy,
What an interesting and important point! I think many poets--and novelists--are not writing just for children when they write. In fact, I once heard Rainbow Rowell remark that she is careful never to say she
"writes for teens" because that would mean that she doesn't write for everyone else, which she does. So many poetry books--like HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY (Marilyn Nelson), CROSSING STONES (Helen Frost), and ROOTS & BLUES
(Arnold Adoff)--are great reading for any thoughtful person, young or old. What are the reasons they never reach adults? Here are a couple possibilities: 1) Many adults would never think of reading poetry, and 2) These books are not marketed to adults.
I can't really address why most adults don't read poetry--it is denser than prose and not to everyone's liking--but I do think many adult readers would enjoy books like the those I mentioned above, which are full of intelligence, emotion, and vivid details. If only adults were exposed to them! I can't count the number of times adults have come up to me holding one of my poetry books and exclaiming, "I know this is for children, but I picked it up because my child was reading it, and it's just so interesting!" I guess all children's authors have heard this at one time or another.
In the case of WHAT THE HEART KNOWS, I was very fortunate. Given its subject matter, Houghton Mifflin made a deliberate choice to design the book to appeal to adults as well as children, and I think they were successful. The term they used was "gift book." Would a different cover have appealed a bit more to teens? Perhaps. But the "gift" look of the book gave it a chance at wider readership.
As with some YA crossover novels, I wonder if "older" poetry books could be released with two covers, one for the teen market and one for adults?
Would love to hear others' thoughts on this.
Joyce
> During this past decade adult readers have discovered the amazing quality
> of young adult books. We have "cross-over" novels; I ask if there are ways
> to make known the quality of young adult poetry?
>
> Nancy Bo Flood
>
>
>
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Fri 25 Apr 2014 07:17:50 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:17:22 -0500
Nancy,
What an interesting and important point! I think many poets--and novelists--are not writing just for children when they write. In fact, I once heard Rainbow Rowell remark that she is careful never to say she
"writes for teens" because that would mean that she doesn't write for everyone else, which she does. So many poetry books--like HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY (Marilyn Nelson), CROSSING STONES (Helen Frost), and ROOTS & BLUES
(Arnold Adoff)--are great reading for any thoughtful person, young or old. What are the reasons they never reach adults? Here are a couple possibilities: 1) Many adults would never think of reading poetry, and 2) These books are not marketed to adults.
I can't really address why most adults don't read poetry--it is denser than prose and not to everyone's liking--but I do think many adult readers would enjoy books like the those I mentioned above, which are full of intelligence, emotion, and vivid details. If only adults were exposed to them! I can't count the number of times adults have come up to me holding one of my poetry books and exclaiming, "I know this is for children, but I picked it up because my child was reading it, and it's just so interesting!" I guess all children's authors have heard this at one time or another.
In the case of WHAT THE HEART KNOWS, I was very fortunate. Given its subject matter, Houghton Mifflin made a deliberate choice to design the book to appeal to adults as well as children, and I think they were successful. The term they used was "gift book." Would a different cover have appealed a bit more to teens? Perhaps. But the "gift" look of the book gave it a chance at wider readership.
As with some YA crossover novels, I wonder if "older" poetry books could be released with two covers, one for the teen market and one for adults?
Would love to hear others' thoughts on this.
Joyce
> During this past decade adult readers have discovered the amazing quality
> of young adult books. We have "cross-over" novels; I ask if there are ways
> to make known the quality of young adult poetry?
>
> Nancy Bo Flood
>
>
>
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Fri 25 Apr 2014 07:17:50 PM CDT
