Comments on: Book Magic

by: Juliet

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:06:52 +0000

A very good point, Sophie, about yesterday’s popular entertainment becoming today’s beloved classics (some of it, anyway.) Part of the reason I found Jack Zipes’s talk so dispiriting was that I had been looking forward to it keenly, having read some of his scholarly work on fairy tales. But there wasn’t a fairy tale in sight. He’s evidently feeling extremely strongly about the reading issue right now, especially what he sees as the Bush government’s inadequate response to the current crisis in literacy - he made the point that it’s more than functional literacy that is required to solve the wider social problem of a commercialised consumer culture.

by: Sophie Masson

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:20:16 +0000

I totally agree with Neil Gaiman too. I think Jack Zipes(and I’ve heard lots of people commenting on his speech, though I wasn’t there)is being terribly self-righteous. But he does generally have a very ideological approach to literature–and I think he also fails to take into account the fact too that what may initially have been dismissed as ‘’mere'’ mindless entertainment in their day–eg Shakespeare’s plays, Dickens’novels, and fairytales(which Zipes is supposed to be expert in)are now classics and totally embedded in our culture.

by: Juliet

Sat, 10 May 2008 03:14:45 +0000

My memories of this convention are full of bright colours. I read lots of wonderful picture books over the weekend, then drove up into the hills outside Melbourne, where we were surrounded by autumn trees in gorgeous array (because here in Oz it is that time of year.) Of course, I ended up buying books as well as talking about them! Being a grandmother provides a wonderful excuse for acquiring a new library of the best books for children. A big hit with the little girls was Ballet Sisters, written and illustrated by Jan Ormerod.

by: Satima Flavell

Sat, 10 May 2008 02:15:51 +0000

What a super convention, Juliet! I wish I’d been there. And what’s a convention without a little controversy?

Kids? Yes, just get them reading - be it comics, Harry Potter or the Encylopaedia Brittanica. My eldest son was slow to read, but when he was about eight he discovered picture books about dinosoars and volcanoes. Because these topics fascinated him, his reading net was cast ever wider and soon he was reading fictional works about them. Now in his forties, he reads voraciously - everything from Gaiman to Proust.

Mind you, I wish there’d been a Sean Tan around when my kids were little. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy his books on my own:-)

by: Kathleen Bolton

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:46:00 +0000

I’m with Gaiman on this. Not every book for children boasts Newberry Award-winning content. It’s ok to have “crap” books out there if it gets kids reading.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Juliet. It must have been fascinating!

by: Steph

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:23:53 +0000

GO NEIL! I love him. His words never cease to inspire me. (Any chance of an interview with him here?)

And I agree - The Arrival is amazing. I spent so long just pouring over the pictures on the ENDSHEETS…

by: Therese Walsh

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:39:27 +0000

Juliet, thanks so much for sharing this account with us. It’s interesting, the commercialism argument, but I really appreciate what Neil Gaiman had to say about the whole thing. And he’s right! After my kids were born, I went back to some of my favorite books as a child and found them really boring. Still, something about them then not only made my imagination take flight, it made that journey beloved.

I’ll check out Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. Thanks for the tip!