FairProspects Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Very interesting article in the NYT. Could this be a result of the push for high-stakes testing as well? Are parents driving the change? Are the authors/publishers of picture books just producing such dribble that no one wants to buy it? Thoughts? Picture books no longer a staple for children Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Whoa! That is depressing. I have been wary of the whole push them to read earlier and earlier thing (I tend toward the better late than early philosophy :001_smile:). But beyond that, they are moving kids from concrete to abstract too quickly. Concrete learning is so important. I have had a similar discussion with other moms about mathematics. We used manipulatives as long as possible (real life objects, my kids hated the rods-things), and then kept representational (not sure that is the right word - pictures, graphs, stories) after that. IMO, there is no benefit in rushing from concrete to abstract. I would love to hear what other moms on here think about this. In the interest of disclosure, yes, I am on the unschoolish side of the spectrum. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 I think there are tons of brilliant picture books out there - but any sweep through a Barnes and Nobles and you wouldn't know it. There is such TRASH out there and that's what is on the major displays. It's Disney junk, movie tie in dribble and twaddle beyond twaddle. Go figure - kids are smart enough to turn up their noses at that stuff. Maybe more parents just see those books as useless and don't want to buy them. That part is encouraging, but for real authors/illustrators it's so sad. I personally think picture books are wonderful and regularly feed them to my 3rd and 4th grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 That makes me very sad! :crying: Reading picture books to my children is one of the best memories of my life! And they loved them, too. ;) Oh my goodness. All the more reason to save the very best of them. I so dislike the push to do everything sooner: AP's in high school, reading by kindergarten....now put your picture books away: you're a big boy/girl! There needs to be a Linus emoticon, dragging his blanket behind him and exiting.... And the "chapter books" that the kids I tutor bring home with them from school--ugh. With the exception of Henry and Mudge, which I adore, they are sooooooo awful. I can barely stand to smile and encourage while a child reads one aloud. Mind-numbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick_Mom Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 They're not languishing at my house. ;) My kids are "past" picture-book stage (can you ever *really* be past picture-book stage? -- I still love them), but I still buy copies of classic picture books at library book sales, thrift shops, etc. I tell myself that they're "for the [future] grandkids" -- but they're really for me. ;) So sad that reading has become a race and kids no longer have time to savor the beauty of a picture book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 No. They have been put to a whole new use here. We give books like Geraldine McCaughrean's Gilgamesh to my dh so he can keep pace on the dinner conversations without losing too much sleep. We will give him Rosemary Sutcliff's retellings with Alan Lee's illustrations for when my dd does The Iliad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 My middle son is a great reader and capable of reading chapter books, but he is very visual and isn't interested in pages with just words. We have a huge collection of really wonderful picture books about everything under the sun, as well as great non-fiction books with excellent illustrations and photographs. I just keep him well supplied and figure he will move on to chapter books when he is ready. I love picture books with rich language such as the ones by William Steig. However, it is challenging to find those really wonderful picture books when browsing the average book store... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 I would guess the economy is a big part of it. They touched on it a little in the article, commenting that some picture books cost as much as $18 each. And right now, there aren't a lot of people who can spare almost twenty bucks for a picture book. Not when you can get a truckload for free from the library and return them at around the time your kids start to get bored with them. I agree that if publishers want to see increased sales, they need to cut prices by quite a bit. We have mountains of picture books at my house, but we got most of them from thrift stores and garage sales. We simply would not be able to have a decent selection for our dd if we bought them all new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 It is the cost. We have hundreds of picture books. We rarely buy hard-cover picture books. We buy soft-cover, we buy used, we buy remaindered books, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.