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Picture books often willfully ignore new technologial gizmos, creating a sweet but odd "old-fashioned oasis from the hustle of modern life," as the children's book author Erica S. Perl points out in this fabulous slideshow. In the new kids' book The Lonely Phone Booth, playwright Peter Ackerman imagines the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street in New York City left bereft by their disuse of a phone booth. If you are touched by the nostalgia that fills the books of Virginia Lee Burton (fabulous slideshow #2), author of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel,you will feel a pang as yappy cell phones drive the phone booth to neglect that includes peeling paint and cracked windows.
Our hero rises again when a storm knocks out the cell phone signals and the citizens of New York line up and discover that the land line on the corner still works. The ballerina finds out she got a part in The Nutcracker, a secret agent wishes his grandmother happy birthday, and a zookeeper rounds up wild animals on the loose. The phone booth is rewarded with a plaque and a respite from the dump. I don't quite share the impulse to sentimentalize this particular urban object, but Peter (who is a friend from college) manages a tone that appealed to my husband and me and our kids. The zippy illustrations by Max Dalton complement the story: The flower on the shelf of the refurbished phone booth at the end is an especially nice touch.
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The press is in an uproar over a Power Point presentation compiled by 22 year-old Karen Owen, a recent Duke graduate, assessing her sexual escapades with 13 male Duke athletes. This brings back misty water-colored memories from one-third of a century ago, when an MIT alternative weekly did the same thing. I never saw the text itself—in those days there were no personal computers on campus, let alone a World Wide Web—but was nonetheless impressed by the Harvard Crimson’s vigorous coverage helmed by Jonathan Alter, subsequently a distinguished Newsweek columnist, NBC News analyst, presidential biographer, and friend to yours truly. The Consumer Guide To MIT Men is not available online but Alter’s indelible stories from May 1977 are (here and here). The two authors of MIT’s 1977 guide were more comprehensive and consumer-minded than their Duke successor, assessing not 13 males but 36 and awarding each sexual partner up to four stars. Being an innocent freshman when this scandal broke (newly arrived in knee pants), I was deeply impressed by such pithy assessments as “‘I did it,’ he said. ‘Did what?’ I asked” and “scrawny but innovative.” I wonder at which American corporation “scrawny but innovative” is CEO today.
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The New York Times has a piece about the decline of the picture book, claiming that publishers are cutting back on the titles they offer and that booksellers are seeing declining sales. The Times blames this, in part, on parents pushing their youngsters into chapter books so that they can do better on standardized tests.
I share the Times’ enthusiasm for picture books with “lavish illustrations, cheerful colors and large print wrapped in a glossy jacket,” but I’m not sure I would blame their decline on helicopter parents making their 6-year-olds read Harry Potter. (For the record, my son is 7, and we’re reading it together, thank you very much.) It’s getting harder and harder to find quality books like the Times describes. If you go to Borders or Barnes & Noble, the children’s section has been overwhelmed by stuffed animals and puzzles, and many of the books that ARE for sale are themed to Dora and Diego or Sesame Street or whatever 3-D movie is in theaters this month. (The Times notes this phenomenon but presents it more as a result of the decline of the picture book than a cause.) It’s almost impossible to find some our favorite children’s authors there (Julia Donaldson, Loren Long, Karma Wilson, Chris Van Deusen—thank goodness for Amazon), and it's a waste of time to look.
Yes, independent bookstores do have better selections for children, but they can’t compete with Amazon on price. Kids books are upward of $17 or $18 in bookstores, but Amazon usually has them for $10 to $12. In our house, we hit the local library to test-drive a pile of books and then if one sticks, we’ll buy it. But that takes a considerable amount of time and effort, which is a luxury not every parent has.
Before the publishers go blaming hyper-driven parents for loading their kids down with big heavy books, I’d like to see them offering more quality books and fewer ripped-from-the-television-set titles, and working with retailers to make them a wee more affordable. And then let’s see what happens to sales.
Photograph by Justin Sullivan for Getty Images.
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—Republicans have clearly forgotten about the whole Monica Lewinsky thing: Many of them are speaking approvingly of Bill Clinton. Sean Hannity recently referred to him as "good old Bill". [New York Times]
—Post-election trials are set for two ethical violations of two democrats: Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California. [Washington Post]
—Samantha Geimar was thirteen years old when Roman Polanski had "unlawful sex" with her. She said on Larry King Live last night, "I am happy they didn't extradite him. I don't want to see him go to trial." [CNN]
—Gabrielle Gifford's upward trajectory might be starting to fall: what will this mean for Democrats? [Daily Beast]
—Puttenham, England has become known for more than being the lovely English countryside: it's become a quick stop for public sex, an act which is legal in the UK. [New York Times]
—The Sister Wives family will face trial in Utah for bigamy charges. This is the first time a family has been prosecuted for charges of bigamy without subsequent charges for more serious crimes. [TMZ]
—Katherine Heigl said in an interview promoting her latest film that she is aware of her "image problem". [Gawker]
Photograph of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush with sportscasters Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson by Frank Micelotta for Getty Images.
