I
covet little books. I wish I could explain why, but I have no idea.
The concept of producing a tiny tome with a story that fits its
format perfectly is one that really appeals.
When
I came across a book of collected chapbooks then, I was in
bibliophile's heaven. Chapbooks were produced cheaply on just one
sheet of paper, sold for a hapenny each by travelling salesmen
('Chapmen') and would often be the only books a child would own. Back
in the 1800s, these books would be filled with poems, fairy tales and
puzzles, and were a child's first indoctrination into the world of
literature.
My
ideal book format (for all books, not just children's) is the Beatrix
Potter collection, with its hard back and tiny pages. It was born out
of necessity, but inspired children the world over.
Which begs the question, with child book ownership now at an all time low, is it time to return to the model of chapbooks as a way to encourage children into reading? Shorter, cheaper books which can entertain and educate, and improve child literacy through fun stories and pictures?
Efforts
are made in this vein by educational publishers specialising in
dyslexia friendly books such as Barrington Stoke and Ransom
Publishing of course, with great success. Even thriller king James
Patterson has unleashed his basement full of ghostwriters onto the
scene with his experimental adult series Bookshots.
But is it enough to get the world reading again?
My
own foray into micro booklets is currently on
kickstarter – a whole choose-your-own-adventure style book
printed on a single concertina leaflet. Pick
Your Path manages to fit in a world of stories into just one
sheet of paper, due to some clever storytelling and text
manipulation. It's my effort to get people staring at books while
they wait for their bus, not their phones!
What
about you? Do you covet tiny tomes? Does size matter? Let me know in
the comments.
3 comments:
Great idea, Dan! I used to like little books. There used to be some little retellings of individual fairy stories when I was a child, hard backed, with yellow covers and I think, black and white illustrations. I loved them - they must have been cheap, because we didn't have much money and didn't have many books. Have never since been able to track them down, which is a shame, because I'd love to have one. There was something special about them being small.
I've always loved little books. The Beatrix Potter books, the I-Spy books that we took on journeys, and - slightly bigger - the Ladybird fairy tales that I used to buy for my children in the post office after collecting the child benefit! Last Christmas my daughter bought me The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius in a tiny hardback edition, and I love it. She chose it because it was small and we were all trying to travel light - which is another advantage. And I agree, Dan - little books definitely appeal to children and are easier to hold and less daunting.
Thanks for the feedback Sue and Ann!
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