plugging away

[ewein2412]

Doing our thing for SmartPop's Demigods and Monsters, which I have got an essay in. Sara and Mark have both reviewed the film The Lightning Thief here.

For a different view of things, try rachelmanija's furious and frankly baffled review of the film here (I enjoyed the review, and the comments, very much). I confess I would not have made it through the first of these books, let alone the first three, if I had not already signed up to produce the essay. The Adbooks listserv raved about Lightning Thief (as did the whole children's lit scene) and I had overly high expectations for it. I think this is yet another series that is RIGHT ON TARGET with its target audience--Sara adores these books--and I am way outside the target. I am always seriously bugged by this. It's not that I dislike the series--I just find it dull and samey. WHY??? And is my failure to connect with these hugely popular books related to my own books "missing the target"? Hmmm.

Incidentally, when I was doing a boatload of reading for the Children's Literature New England seminar in 2007, I kept notes on the required books I'd read in order to be able to review them just before the lectures. I noticed that I was always trying to find good in everything I read, some redeeming thing to say about the book that was positive, even if I didn't really like it. And I realized that in fact I was fooling myself--for me, there is no in between. I either like the book or I hate it. The reaction is polar. This is why I never give a star rating to children's books on my Goodreads reviews unless the author is dead! Best just to keep it to myself. I might meet the author some day.

Comments

[ewein2412]

the distinction between "reviewer" and "critic" is a very important one, and I hadn't really thought about it. My so-called "reviews" for Goodreads tend to be simply gut reactions--how much I liked something, what I liked about it. And, partly, I'm just putting them there for myself, because it makes me write down my reaction and I enjoy doing it (and having someone else organize things for me!). But they're not *proper* reviews--they fall short of all the qualities you mention.

What you say about "gateway" books is also a point well-taken, and I am always on the lookout for these as well, as Mark (the nine year old) is not much of a reader. I have gained a huge amount of respect for things like Horrid Henry, Mr. Gum, and "The Simpsons" comic collections simply because they get Mark reading. I'm sure I would have been very disdainful of Horrid Henry if I hadn't had small children reading them--I really do admire Francesca Simon for recognizing that gap and filling it. (Do you know these books? They are very Brit-centric, though the author is an ex-pat American. I don't think they've crossed the Atlantic, but they are hugely popular here. Not sure which side of the pond you sit on!)

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with these titles, but I certainly agree with you in principle!

The important thing to teach is a habit of love of reading --anything, everything.

Once a child is comfortable with reading and feels at home with his own kind of book -- then he can accept 'challenges'.