How to use this Page

My husband sent me that today, but I hadn't seen the original one. Thanks for linking both. Pretty funny.

Damn, I think she deserved it. Does *nobody* remember that the Newbery is awarded by librarians?!

You're welcome, Jules.

Wendy: It was a nice apology, though, wasn't it?

Well, that's more like it.

Thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks for the link, loved the comic, although I did leave a comment about the sterotype of sensible shoes, I personally prefer heels or my red cowboy boots!

To me that cartoon is saying, 'Words are merely words.' In that what might seem offensive to someone now was probably itself a euphemism at one time or another... it's not the words that are the problem, it's the troubling issue of why we find them offensive in the first place...

Uh, I think it's the shape of the librarian's handbag which provides the punchline...

You guys are so smart! Thank you. I shouldn't try to read cartoons before coffee :)

Kelly, if you knew the amount of coffee I consume - and BTW, a pamphlet I picked up in my gynaecologist's rooms featured a Canadian study in which it was claimed that large amounts of coffee allegedly helps prevent a certain type of breast cancer...

"An established kid_lit blogger can be given the same weight as a print reviewer with 25 years experience—in some cases more weight, because an electronic review is so immediate."

My first question is: weight for whom? As a book publicist, I'm reluctant to ask that a positive blurb from a blogger be included on the cover of a book unless I can say without a doubt that that blog has SIGNIFICANT traffic.

I think blogs have weight in the blogosphere. I read lots of books I see recommended here and on similar blogs and that's because I've read enough of the blogmaster's material to know they have taste. So THAT might weigh more to me than a one line review from Kirkus or PW.

But I don't think the average reader is going to buy/read a book because they skimmed a back cover filled with blurbs from blogs. I think immediacy in blogging is both its grace and its downfall.

It's the same reason why book reviews are so hard to come by in the first place--POD has glutted the marketplace. Blogs have made it too easy for any yokel to post an opinion (which may or may not be as valid as one you'd find in a "respected" print source.

I'm going to shut up now.

I think that Brian makes some good points. But I think that there is another audience for blog book reviews, besides other bloggers. I know that some parents have a hard time finding the right books for their kids, given the huge number of books in the bookstores. I've observed that some of today's tech-savvy parents, who may or may not be bloggers themselves, are finding blogs that they rely on, and using them for book recommendations. And I think that there have to be librarians out there who are getting some of their input from blogs - they are certainly reading and writing blogs.

Thanks for raising an interesting and important topic.

My school district specifies the selection tools that are "acceptable" for collection development.

I know there are librarians reading my blog though and when I highlight a title that interests them they check out SLJ or Horn Book etc. if they need review support.

I have heard from parents and even former students who are in college now, commenting on the books I am talking about.

Authors are finding it harder and harder to get the word out about their books as newspapers cut back. Blogs are filling some of that void, I think.

This is still a new area but just as blogs have gained a certain acceptance in political discourse, literature blogs may too and a blurb from A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy may well be on some future dust jacket.

Hi all,

Thanks for your insightful comments. In the context of the whole Scrotumgate controversy, and the weight on-line reviewers are starting to gain, in my analysis I was really talking about the broader context of information dissemination, beyond local acquisitions.

I agree that in most libraries, print review still reigns supreme, but in publishing marketing departments, and for the general public who are seeking information on the web, a good on-line review can really broaden the base for a particular book.

More to the point, there are just many more streams of information feeding into a book's success besides one or two or six print reviews. And I think this will just keep on being the case. (Think My Space, things like John Green's Brotherhood 2.0, and the press coverage a book controversy will get you, to name a few...)

I know many authors who bemoan those reader reviews on Amazon, because it is so easy for someone to tear apart a book with no recourse. I also know a few kid_lit experts who go out of their way to post to those reviews because consumers do use them to make decisions.

And yes, there are definitely some front-runners in the blog-o-sphere that are becoming trusted sources of information in the cultural machine. You may not see their blurb on the front of a new book jacket, but you better believe that the press and other cultural literati are looking for early cues from sources like these.

It's a much more porous world than it used to be, which will make situations like we've seen these past two weeks all too common.

Again, thanks for the thoughtful discussion. It's one of the reasons I love reading blogs.

Kristen
pixie stix kids pix

Great discussion!

It also boils down to (for me) the blogger's credentials. Not that I would dismiss the blog of someone with no training in children's lit or librarianship or etc., but I read heavily those blogs of people who have studied children's lit or literature, literary criticism, writing, librarianship, etc. It might turn out that I think they have awful taste, and so be it. But this hasn't happen yet with some of my favorite blogs.

Good points from everyone. Thought-provoking discussion.

Thanks for sharing this perfectly articulated review of the "kerfuffle". I am so thankful to anyone who holds the NY Times to task for using the B-word.

Wow. That is one fabulous, thoughtful post. And I *love* the graph. Thanks for pointing it out.

Thank you thank you! Love her blog and that wonderful post.

Thanks for the link. And one positive thing to come out of all this...I have gotten to see one of my favorite words, kerfluffle, used more over the course of the last week or so then I can remember in recent history...

ITA that this is the single best post out there. concise, documented, objective.

But PSKP is such a typing tongue twister. I have yet to spell it correctly the first time. hence the pskp.

That's so true, Liz! I had to keep the blog open while I was writing so I'd get the name correct!

Hey Kelly,

Thanks for your kind words about the blog and the post. It took a good long time to write, and I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

Best,

Kristen
pixie stix kids pix

ps. Sometimes even I typo when writing the name.
;)m

Your hoodie idea is the best thing to come out of this whole debacle. I'd totally wear one.

Serious
Children's
Reading
Of
The
Ultimate
Magnitude

lbsblog -- haaaaaaaaaaaaah! Love your acrostic. I think that might be even better than my proposed "Scrotum and Boobies" neighborhoodie. Which of course, I now am obligated to buy. I think I'll go the t-shirt route this time -- the actual hoodies are pretty pricey.

AMEN sistah! I feel that after this whole thing I need to get out my pearls and buy some sensible shoes, somehow I I have been made to feel that I am not a real school librarian if I am wearing my red cowboy boots!

and kerfuffle - LOVE IT!

OK--here is what I find horribly shocking coming from the NY Times:

"But in the world of children’s books, winning a Newbery is the rough equivalent of being selected as an Oprah’s Book Club title."

You have GOT to be kidding me! Sure, because Oprah alone has all the book choosing qualifications of a slew of Newbery Committee members....

From our British Bed 'n' Breakfast's menu:

Spotted Dick
Bangers and Mash
Mushy Peas
Scrotumandboobies

Man that sounds good!

Sophie, I didn't get a chance to check this out earlier, but let me just say YOU ROCK! Clearly, we all need to be saying scrotum a lot more often. Keep up the great work.

Kristen
pixie stix kids pix