Little Shop of Stories’ Diane Capriola writes in reply to our “Winnona Park Elementary Cited in NY Times Regarding Languishing Picture Book Sales” post…

There’s been a lot of public commentary and outcry on the web in the past 24 hours regarding [the New York Times] 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.

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It’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.