Sorry, Bookstores. Cleary Likes Me Best.
There was a rather nice article in the San Francisco Chronicle this past Saturday on Beverly Cleary's very first movie adaptation (tv adaptations don't count). Aside from some fabulous words on how she doesn't want to, "turn kids into consumers" (hence never marketing herself and her books to the gills) there is this rather interesting quote:
"I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children's literature," she says. "Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them."
Interestingly enough the movie will be based on Ramona and Her Father. Perhaps because her father loses his job this was deemed the most dramatic of the Ramona series. Read the article in any case.
posted by fusenumber8 @ 8:34 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I totally TOTALLY agree with Ms. Cleary.
Sixteen bucks for a children's book is about thirteen bucks too many.
On the other hand, advertising isn't all bad. A lot of kiddie lit writers aren't as well known as Cleary (like me!) and do need to steer the gatekeepers (oh! and kids! Right! Don't forget about them!) to their titles.
And so we link to Amazon, Powell's etc.
But, there is a wonderful cyber alternative called the World Catalog of Libraries---if youse kiddie lit writers are interested, you can see how it works via the links on my books page....cool, huh?
Z
TV adaptations don't count? C'mon... even when they star Sarah Polley? (Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine; it may be different -- especially when, as here, it wasn't done with a major network -- but not count?... like all the fuss about United 93 that never mentioned the made for TV Flight 93.) (And I always find it amusing to see what Sarah Polley was in as a child.)
While I'm glad that it appears that the movie is being made by people who care about the source material; and are looking at it with an eye towards what will work best for film; I think the Ramona books (and other almost series books) are most like TV, and would do better as a TV mini series. Fingers crossed that this it will be done well.
While there are some families & kids with enough $$ to buy all their recreational reading, that's not the majority. It's nice to see the nod to public libraries & their place in
Wasn't Sarah Polley in the television show of "Avonlea" rather than the film? In any case, I defend tv movies to my core. Hence the inclusion of "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas" on my Best Films listing.
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