The Reading Journey

Booksellers play an important role in connecting children to great literature and I am always amazed at how widely read they are and their depth of knowledge on  new and classic publications. This week, Holly Cooper, from Petrach’s Book Shop, shares her experience in matching books to readers and suggests some personal and popular favourites.

A certain look appears on the faces of children as they enter a bookshop. It’s a look that will never stop bringing me joy, no matter how many years I spend behind the counter. It’s a look of awe, of anticipation, of elation. It never fails to make a bookseller smile, because we know that wherever they may be in their short yet full-to-the-brim lives, there will be a book just for them.

There are the babies, who, admittedly, care more about how the book tastes than the contents. Their parents look at us apologetically, but of course we don’t mind: ingestion of books still counts whether they’re being read or being eaten.

Then there’s the toddlers, whose wide little eyes light up at the sight of a book all about their latest obsession: ballerinas, tractors, dinosaurs, farts. This look is often followed up by one of desperation, claiming that this one book is all they’ve ever wanted in their entire lives. Yes, even more than that Lego set they saw earlier.

There are the kids who are new to reading independently, who may still hesitate over the tricky words, but are learning that their imagination is their most powerful tool. These children are discovering that books will always be among their most treasured friends.

There are the schoolkids who come in with their own savings, so excited to be able to buy a book all of their own with the money they earned mowing mum and dad’s lawn. They hand over their crumpled $20 note, and in that moment, that book becomes the first thing that’s properly theirs. 

Then there are the young adults, who have big futures and even bigger emotions. Don’t we all remember the feeling of being so utterly convinced that our favourite authors were the only ones to really understand us? Of course, we now take comfort knowing that every emotion we’ve ever felt has been felt and written about by someone before.

Some personal favourites:

All of the Factors Why I love Tractors by Davina Bell, Harper Collins.

For younger children this is a fabulous rhyming story with glorious illustrations, an absolute go-to for reading aloud to kids.

Cat on the Run by Aaron Blabey, Scholastic Australia.

Perfect for lower primary from the author of the amazing Bad Guys series, the first in a brand new series that is just as funny as Bad Guys but with the Cat of Death as the central character.  What’s not to love?

Millie Mak the Maker by Alice Pung, Harper Collins.

Targeting upper primary readers, this is a beautiful story from one of Australia’s most loved authors.  Mille Mak has a superpower - she can turn everyday things into something new!

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden, Pan Macmillan.

For young adult readers this is an oldie but a goodie and one my personal favourites. A brilliant action-packed start to a series that has remained in print for over thirty years, and for good reason.

Perhaps, as children, we don’t understand how the trajectory of our lives will be mapped out by the books we read. They become our secrets, our confidantes, and our homes. These books will always fill us with a sense of nostalgia when we re-crack those spines and breathe in their glorious old book mustiness. 

So here’s to you, kids. May you always find wonder within the pages of books, and may you all continue to bring joy to those of us behind the counter. What a magical journey you have ahead of you.

Holly Cooper
Bookseller and lifelong bookworm.
Petrachs' Book Shop: https://www.petrarchs.com.au/ 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/petrarchs
https://www.instagram.com/petrarchs
https://www.instagram.com/hollyoftherain 

Editor’s note: Love Your Bookshop Day is on the horizon, celebrated this year on Saturday October 7. Head to a bookshop near you and tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience booksellers have to help connect young readers to great books. Keep bookshops alive!

A Story Shared

Having just had a birthday and received a book (or two ;-) as part of the celebration, I can relate to Emma’s post this week. The choosing of the book gift says as much about the giver as it does about the recipient - serendipity in action!

Connection comes from strong relationships and shared experiences. And what better shared experience than a story? I’ve been wondering lately about stories and about books, and specifically about what it is about stories that draws in different individuals, in different ways. I’ve written here before about how much I love going to my local bookstore in the lead up to Christmas. It’s my favourite bit about that crazy time of year, the choosing of the books. I get a similar buzz when birthdays are drawing near, choosing the ‘right book’ is something of a ritual. Matching the book to the reader, somehow testing your knowledge of the recipient. It’s something of a challenge - how well do you know their interests, their reading preferences and levels, even their beliefs and values to a degree? It really does help to know your reader well, in order to match them to the perfect story. And when you give that gift of a story, you are sending such a powerful message to the recipient. You’re saying: I know you. I care about you. I’ve thought about you. And, I hope that this story works for you.

Creative Commons Zero - CC0 Source: Hippopx

But what about a shared story experience? Recommending a story that you personally really enjoyed? That’s taking that concept to the next level. Then you’re saying: I know you. I care about you. I’ve thought about you. And…. I trust you with this story. 

George Hodan, Flower and Book @ PublicDomainPictures

I’ve gone through the Christmas and birthday gifting process for years now, painstakingly choosing books for family and friends. Identifying and predicting their respective reading preferences along the way. Carefully considering their different personalities to match to the stories. Probably inadvertently shaping my own children as readers, to a degree. But more recently, as they shift from Young Adult Fiction, into Adult Fiction, I’m considering my own stories with a different lens: would they enjoy this storyline too? Is this an opportunity for a shared experience? Are the themes too adult? Is the content accessible? It seems that as a family, we’ve reached a stage now where some of our preferences are re-aligning after something of a transitionary period! We once again enjoy some of the same stories, be it a novel, an audio book, a podcast, a movie.  Although, judging by the most highly featured genres, on the respective bedside tables (the universal holding zone for books to be read), the opportunities for shared book experiences may be somewhat limited…but I’ll definitely be making the most of the ones that are there!

Happy reading everyone. Because a story enjoyed, is a story worth sharing.

Emma Nuttall

Teacher, Avid Reader and Parent of readers

A Concerning Consequence of Censorship - Part 1

Paul Collins, successful publisher and author, draws on over 40 years in the industry to share his thoughts on some recent trends in publishing that have consequences on children's access to books. This is the first of a two part discussion that demonstrates Paul's passion and commitment to bring a breadth of reading experiences into the hands of young readers. It also prompts us to pause and think about how outside influences are controlling choice and access to books.

When children lose interest in reading, we need to look for reasons why.

I believe the Internet is the main contributor to this problem. Social Justice Warriors were once dim voices, which 99.9% of the world ignored. Now, alas, due to social media, they have a voice that is growing exponentially louder. Those of us who I like to think of as being the level-headed ones have become so browbeaten that we are losing our voice to combat the censorious pressure groups.

A book can now be whipped off the shelf because of a solitary complaint, as was Matthew Reilly’s Scarecrow at a Tasmanian school I visited. Mind you, we can also blame the downfall of libraries and librarians in schools for this. Parents used to see the librarian about such things, not the principal. They would be directed to the school council approved policy on library acquisitions. With regards to Scarecrow – it’s an adult book and not YA – so it would depend on the school council’s policy on stocking those kinds of books. Secondary schools usually have a committee that deals with these sorts of complaints and a set procedure for withdrawing a book, whereas these days most primary schools don’t even have a librarian, let alone a committee.

Australia’s censorship ‘rules’ are nowhere near as oppressive as those in the US, but when Australian educational publishers have a co-pub deal with a US publisher, they must adhere to their rules, rather than ours.

Take a look at some examples of political correctness and ‘inclusiveness’ that are turning many children’s books into dreary pap.

When I submitted The Vampire Kids to an educational publisher, it was rejected outright. The publisher obviously hadn’t read the book because she didn’t realise it wasn’t about vampires at all, rather it was about kids dressing up as vampires. But never mind that, it was about Halloween and in the US education school system that’s not on. (As an aside, I changed the title to Tricking, but in the US that’s prostitution so when it was finally published it was called Tricksters.) In another book I had children around a campfire, holding their hands out to warm themselves as I had done as a scout. The illustrator had to redraw the picture because the editor felt the kids were too close to the fire.

Meredith Costain wrote four Barbie books and one character was suntanned as she was an outdoor community worker. The US editor crossed that out and wrote in the margin ‘sun abuse’. In Errol the Peril she was told the kids could only set up their tent within sight of their grandparents’ farmhouse on their camping ‘adventure’ for safety reasons, and they weren’t allowed to light a campfire because they might burn themselves. In yet another book she was told that an adult male wasn’t allowed in a scene with kids unless they were related (despite statistics indicating that children are more at risk of sexual abuse from relatives than they are from strangers).

Two well known Australian illustrators were required to alter their work: one was asked to draw a nappy on the bare bottom of a toddler dancing under a sprinkler, while the other had to remove the udder from a cow. One has to wonder what the absurd reasoning is here. Perhaps nudity!

Try writing about dinosaurs and some publishers will point out that this evolutionary theory is controversial. Another no-no is challenging a teacher’s authority in the classroom. This also applies to bullies (definitely no fist fights in educational books!), or anger in general, as these are not positive traits. Some cultures associate owls with death, so stay well clear of our nocturnal friends, and forget Christian celebrations such as Easter and Christmas because not all children celebrate them.

Gone are all the good things in life such as lollies, popular soft drinks, fatty stuff like chips and hamburgers. No, they’re to be replaced with nutritional foodstuffs like yoghurt, kale and fish.

Whereas censorship was once confined to educational publishing, it’s now moved into the realm of trade publishing. Recently, Amélie Wen Zhao’s YA fantasy novel, Blood Heir, received great pre-publication reviews. But now the Twitterverse trolls (and to a lesser extent some Goodreads reviewers) have started in on her on grounds of racial insensitivity, forcing her to postpone publication of the book. There’s no room to go into this here, but you might like to read a critique by AJA Hoggatt, which basically debunks a lot of the criticism levelled at this book.

And all of this is happening in a world where kids can type ‘porn’ into a browser and watch the worst there is to offer. Where large numbers of computer games are all about mayhem and killing and where music from rappers exhorting the values of being anti-social and downright murderous can easily be streamed for free.

Censoring books to the point where children are not interested in reading them is only harming them more, as reading gives kids the skills to determine fake news, be thoughtful, empathetic, and to become more aware of the issues of the world. Without these skills kids are way more vulnerable on the Internet.

It's time to stop censoring reality! Next week discover a powerful force for championing kids' rights to read.

Paul Collins is the publisher at Ford Street Publishing, an independent Melbourne publisher. He also runs Creative Net Speakers’ Agency and is the author of over 140 books for children and young adults.

W: fordstreetpublishing.com
W: creativenetspeakers.com
W: paulcollins.com.au
T: @fordstreet
FB: https://www.facebook.com/fordstreet