Letters

Diantha McBride’s “Tough Love” (July 2009, pp. 28–30) was a fantastic article! But I’d like to make a few additions:
11. No more foldout pages, pop-ups, lift-the-flaps, or other gimmicks in picture books. Picture books are used primarily by preschoolers, aren’t they? So why publish a book that will be damaged within the first few circulations?
12. Children’s nonfiction can be longer than 48 pages. Many kids, especially boys, love nonfiction. And while it nice to have nonfiction in picture-book format for the younger set, there are plenty of middle-grade readers who will happily devour longer books on nonfiction topics.
13. Nonfiction with substance is a must. This is a corrollary to number 12. While I love the “Eyewitness”-style books as much as the next person, they are long on illustrations and short on information. They are great for browsing, but when you have a kid with a report, they really aren’t much use.
14. Enough already with the novels in blank verse! I know everyone says they are accessible to reluctant readers, but many reluctant readers I know are even more intimidated by the idea of poetry.
15. Publish one volume instead of several. Another corrollary to number 12. Instead of publishing individual 32-page volumes (“China: The Culture”; “China: The People”; “China: The Climate”; “China: The Animals”; “China: The History,” etc.), please publish one volume with those topics as chapters (which is really what they are).
Marie Lejeune, head of children’s services
Rochester Public Library, NH

Thank you for Diantha McBride’s “Tough Love.” I , too, have been ordering children’s books for school libraries for many years, and I heartily agree with all 10 of her suggestions to publishers. Better editing, more boy books, enough World War II books, indexing in nonfiction. I won’t purchase a book if I know that it is without an index and I tell my high school students not to bother using books that don’t have one. I still encourage a great deal of research using print, but I want them using the best available.

There are some excellent reference publishers, and I thank them for the research they do, so there is little time or space for anything inferior. And even at the high school level, photos and illustrations, in addition to good indexes, glossaries, and tables of contents, are very important in nonfiction. I point out these features when doing research skills development. Thank you again.
Marcia G. Dionne
Library media instructor
Winnisquam Regional
School District, Tilton, NH

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the July 2009 issue of SLJ. From the creative “Block Party” by Abbe Klebanoff to the “Tough Love” of Diantha McBride to, of course, “KT the Magnificent” by Nina Lindsay, I found myself thoroughly entrenched in the magazine. I was cheering McBride (“Yeah, and why aren’t there any middle school series about African-American boys?”), writing notes to myself (“Replace Baby Says by John Steptoe”), and listening to my workmate strategize a Lego program. All in all, a stellar edition.
Debra Alt, youth librarian
Homewood Public Library, IL