A quick trawl though my twitter feed looks like an advert for Waterstones' 'buy one get another one half price' offer. It's good news for the few authors involved (and I have to admit I have personally benefitted from this) and their publishers but not so good for he young readers who are struggling to find the kind of book that will get them into reading. Or indeed the kind of book whose author sticks their neck out to tackle a subject that's not 'in at the moment'.
I'm not blaming the teachers. They can't be expected to know what's being published and, without the experts of yore to give guidance, what are they to do? I get the feeling that the teachers posting so passionately about the books they're about to recommend to their class, have shelled out for the books themselves, so no wonder they are drawn to the special offer table.
I think it's a sorry state of affairs. I've read at least five books these last couple of weeks that reluctant readers would love. They're seriously good books that deserve to be in every school library in the country. But how to get them into children's hands? Any ideas, anyone?
Saviour Pirotta's latest picture book, The Unicorn Prince, is illustrated by Jane Ray and published by Orchard Books. His next instalment in the Ancient Greek Mysteries series will be published on the 4th of October 2018. It's called Shadow of the Centaurs and aimed at 9 - 12 year olds.
Follow Saviour on Twitter @spirotta.com. His website is at www.spirotta.com.
4 comments:
Post the titles! There are still some librarians in the US who would be glad of recommendations, and UK teachers might read blogs or Twitter.
Thanks for the comment, Ms. Yingling. Will post a list.
It might well be worth looking at all the reviews in the Awfully Big Blog Reviews section too, Ms Yingling - and any other interested people.
You get to it through the button at the top of ABBA's left-hand column. Saviour is there as a reviewer too! (Not sure the Awfully Big Reviews button is evident when you're reading on a phone or small tablet.)
A desire to be part of 'something' - be it the latest book buzz or simply to follow a choice validated by 'the herd' - seems to be a powerful human instinct in many walks of life. I'd guess that economic imperatives play a big part in this concentration of spending on a limited number of authors, too. Schools are forced to dip into parents' pockets for all sorts of educational materials these days. Authors are rivals for that precious pot of money, so maybe it's inevitable that only perceived A-listers get to compete. All of which is terribly sad for the kids, and demoralising for 'outsider' writers. Like you say, there are so many great books out there which could help to encourage Reading for Pleasure and support schools' drive for diversity and inclusion.
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