Winnona Park Elementary Cited in NY Times Regarding Languishing Picture Book Sales
Decatur Metro | October 8, 2010It’s so random when Decatur pops up in the national media spotlight.
Laura points out that Winnona Park Elementary School book fair organizer Ilene Zeff is quoted in the currently most popular article on the New York Times’ website about the recent decline in picture book sales across the country.
Still, many children are getting the message [that their parents wanted them to read chapter books instead of picture books]. At Winnona Park Elementary School in Decatur, Ga., a recent book fair was dominated by chapter books, said Ilene Zeff, who organized the fair.
“I’ve been getting fewer and fewer picture books because they just don’t sell,” Ms. Zeff said. “By first grade, when the kids go to pick out their books, they ask where the chapter books are. They’re just drawn to them.”
It’s also weird that I started reading this article a couple hours ago, thinking I might post it for general conversation, but then abandoned it in a moment of distraction.
Anyway, I yield to Dave (of Little Shop fame) as to whether there’s merit to the premise of the article. I just thought the Decatur reference was cool.
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Our school librarian (who I trust dearly) pushes picture books over early chapter books for kids. Picture books use more advanced vocabulary and encourage more imagination/processing than early chapter books. Both are great but don’t give up the picture books–the kids at our elementary school eat them up!
I agree. The Decatur reference was cool.
Little Shop has only been open for five years — not long enough to really notice a trend away from picture books — but there is nothing in the NYTimes article with which I disagree.
We’re big fans of picture books. They dominate the front of our store and people do tend to linger there. It is the most colorful and probably most creative section of the shop. Great picture books that use rhythm and repetition are effective at teaching kids how to read. (Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is easily the best selling book in the history of Little Shop.) We regularly recommend longer picture books to parents of early readers as great books to read to their kids. Just this evening a second grade teacher at the Museum School (a charter school in Avondale Estates) purchased an armload of picture books for her classroom.
Dave
For those of you who aren’t already in love with Pete the Cat:
That cat is so overrated. Don’t get me started. The kids are cute tho.
One more point … Graphic novels have increased dramatically in popularity in the past five years. One can think of them as sophisticated picture books. The better ones not only feature superb art but also great storytelling.
Agreed–except, comic books are sophisticated picture books; while graphic novels are, generally, sophisticated comic books. (The bridge between the two–though not exclusively–I’m thinking comprises Elfquest, Watchmen, Sandman, and everything with a connection to manga.)
Oh, and, damn it’s cool that kids are interested in reading–they get massive amounts of images every day, let them create their own while reading.
They can say what they want, But if they come for my copy of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.
My family just enjoyed visiting with Mo Willems (writer of the Knufflebunny series) at the Decatur Library the other evening. Mo Willems writes a great series of chapter books that are also picture books. They were affordably priced at $9 and have the pleasing pciture book quality of a hardbound book with big pictures. I sure wish they would make more hybrid books like these!
I predict that picture books will some day save the world.
There’s been a lot of public commentary and outcry on the web in the past 24 hours regarding this article. Apparently, the mom who “forces” her kids to read big kid books feels her comments were taken out of context (http://zenleaf.amandagignac.com/2010/10/when-quotes-are-taken-out-of-context.html), and our own Ilene Zeff was dismayed that her published comments did not fully represent her thoughts on the issue.
Little Shop is the book fair vendor for Winnona Park, and I work closely with Ilene to bring books that students of all grade and reading levels will want to read. We send picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and a considerable number of non fiction titles. Whether picture or chapter book, roughly 90% of the inventory is always paperback, unless there’s something big (and coveted) in hardcover like a new Wimpy Kid or Percy Jackson, or in the picture book arena, a new Skippy Jon Jones or Fancy Nancy. This makes the fair affordable for everyone, but especially those kids who may not have many books at home. The way we see it, those kids can either go home with one book that costs $18.99 or 3 or 4 books that cost $5.99 each.
If you read the Times piece, you’d think we didn’t send or sell picture books to Winnona Park. This is not because of anything Ilene said or didn’t say. We do send picture books but they are most often paperback classics like Blueberries for Sal, anything by Kevin Henkes, Bread and Jam for Frances. It is rare that, when a book fair ends at the WP, there are any of these books left. Students, parents, and teachers- they gobble these wonderful treasures up.
I am happy to report that in our fine little town, picture books are alive and well.
*Whew* Thanks for that Diane!
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You mean the New York Times contorts the facts to push a hypothesis??? Shocking, just shocking.