Reading tasks

A. Understanding the main points Answer these questions

1. What main problems did the children's literature face before 1997?

This was the time when the children's departments of publishing houses appeared to be quiet backwaters.

2. Were Madonna's books for children successful or not?

Yes, Madonna's books for children were successful because they were published on the rise and due to her publisher Nicholas Callaway who paid tribute to J.K Rowling.

3. What celebrities do you know who penned a tale both in Russia and abroad?

They are Prince Charles, Sara Ferguson*, Sir Paul McCartney,Carl Hiaasen, Jeanette Winterson and Elmore Leonard are among long list of writers who have written for both markets.

4. What exactly constitutes the Harry Potter phenomenon? The figures as awesome as the plots are imaginative.

* Sara Ferguson married Prince Andrew 1988, who later separated for her insulting behaviour.

awe — respect combined with fear and reverence awesome — causing awe reverence — deep respect

5. What is the most effective way to bring teenagers into the bookshops?

The children will still buy when they're 12 plus if the same books displayed in both the children's and adult's sections of the shop

Understanding details

Say if these statements are Т (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.

1. The children's departments of publishing houses have never been quiet backwaters..

2. In the past twenty years the public perception of children's books has changed significantly.

3. Publishers have suggested that they look at music retailing as a better model for how teenagers buy things, grouping together titles alphabetically, rather than by theme.

B. How the text is organized

These phrases summarize the main idea of each paragraph. Match each one with the correct paragraph.

a) There are different opinions about the reasons why celebrities write books.

b) Teachers must have an excellent knowledge of children's literature.

c) The future of children's literature looks optimistic.

d) Children's books attract both kids and adults.

e) Authors like J.K. Rowling helped change the public attitude to children's books.

THE PLACE OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE ON TODAY'S BOOKMARKET

Once upon a time, complains a children's book writer, whenever she went to parties and was asked what she did for a living, she would receive the same response: "When are you going to write a real book?" This was the time when the children's departments of publishing houses appeared to be quiet backwaters. Advances for books were low, marketing budgets were almost non-existent and ambitious editors considered the children's department a stepping stone to success elsewhere in the industry.

That was pre-1997, before the world "phenomenon" was inextricably attached to the magical name of Harry Potter. Without doubt, the launch of the neophyte wizard kick-started the children's book publishing industry turning the quiet backwater into a raging torrent. In the past seven years the public perception of children's books has changed significantly. Thanks in huge measure to authors such as J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, who in 2001 became the first children's author to win the Whitbread Book of the Year award. "Children's books are being treated with renewed respect ", says Francesca Simon, creator of Horrid Henry, the primary school antihero.

What exactly constitutes the Harry Potter phenomenon? The figures are as awesome as the plots are imaginative. Number five in the series, Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix, sold 1.8 million copies in its first 24 hours on the market. An average 220 copies were bought every minute at Tesco supermarkets around the country. Online retailer said the novel had broken internet sales records, with more than 1.3 million advance orders worldwide. The delivery of the book is the largest distribution of any single item in e-commerce history. Publisher Bloomsbury is planning 15 new editions of the Potter books, including ancient Greek and Scottish and Irish Gaelic translations of the first book.

As the children's book market has boomed, an increasing number of celebrities on both sides of the Atlantic have found their muse and penned a tale — with varying degrees of success. When Madonna's first children's book was about to be published, her publisher, Nicholas Callaway paid tribute to J. K. Rowling. "Everyone owes a

great debt to Harry Potter for introducing a new generation worldwide to the magic of children's books", he said. "Internet in children's books is on the rise and thankfully we are part of that trend." "The English Roses" was published simultaneously in more than 100 countries and in 30 languages. More than one million copies hit bookshops around the world, backed by a huge marketing blitz and it went on to become the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time. Madonna's second book for children, "Mr. Peabody's Apples", was launched in November 2003, the third, "Yakov and Seven Thieves" was published in June, 2004 and the fourth "The Adventures of Abdi" — later that year.

There have always been "celebrities" writing books for children, not least members of the royal family. Twenty years ago, Spike Milligan persuaded Prince Charles to write "The Old Man of Lochnagar" which is still in print.

Fifteen years ago Sarah Ferguson* revealed her own literary effort, "Budgie the Little Helicopter", again still in print. In 2003 she published "Little Red", a story about a doll that had enticing merchandising spin-offs. Earlier this year, it was announced that Sir Paul McCartney is penning a children's book, to be published by Faber & Faber. Writers who usually write for adults are turning their hand to children's fiction too: Carl Hiaasen, Jeanette Winterson and Elmore Leonard are among the long list of writers who have written for both markets.

Children's books agent Patricia White says that while some celebrity books are worthwhile, others are less so. "A good many of these books raise the profile of the celebrity and look like a PR exercise", she says. "In fairness, a number of celebrities donate the proceeds to their charities, which clearly is no bad thing. And if anything encourages kids to get pleasure from a book and gets them away from computer games, that must be a bonus". However, publishers are wise to the fact that celebrity authorship is not in itself enough to sell a children's book. "When Penguin published Madonna I think everybody really believed that they had a good book", says one. "The scenario wasn't": 'We've got all these words strung together, but it's by Madonna, so it'll be OK.' The cost of publishing is too expensive to be reckless like that".

A significant indication that the children's book market is hotting up is that literary agents who have never previously handled children's books are now agenting children's authors. It's a business after all. Kids' books now make up 16 per cent of the total book market. Caroline Horn of trade magazine "The Bookseller" says that despite the many different figures published about the market, publishers would agree that the children's books sector overall is very buoyant. "The fiction market for the 8 — to 12 — year — old sector is very strong. That's the core market for publishers, with adventure stories doing very well". It's worth remembering that a quarter of sales in 2003 were of Harry Potter titles. One of the effects of the Harry Potter phenomenon was to give publishers confidence. They realized that they didn't have to stick to the standard. It helped break down the barriers of length — that books didn't have to be only 30 000 words long — and it freed up writers to be more adventurous in their plots. They could deal with literature in a different way. The area that has grown the most recently is for 12 — to 16 — year — olds.

We've developed a fiction market for teenagers that we've not really had before. Publishers are realizing that children will still buy books when they're 12 — plus if the books are slowly coming round to the necessity of changing how they sell books to teenagers. Publishers have suggested that they look at music retailing as a better model for how teenagers buy things, grouping together titles by theme, rather than alphabetically. The way books are still displayed in bookshops — with an adult section, a children's section and a teen section, presented alphabetically, by author — doesn't help bring teenagers into bookshops. And when they get there, they don't really understand what books might work for them. One recent phenomenon you will find in bookshops is the same book displayed in both the children's and adults' section of the shop. Adults can now buy specially jacketed copies of Harry Potter, for instance. Children's fiction has always appealed to adults. "And it's nothing new", points out the children's laureate Michael Morpurgo, who has just reread Kipling's "Just So Stories".

"Part of what I'm doing as a children's laureate is to encourage not only children, but teachers as well", he says. One of the initiatives is to create a course on children's literature as a mandatory part of teacher training. Teachers can end up in schools never having read a

children's book, and as they are probably the single biggest influence on children's reading, they need to be given the tools and knowledge. This could have a big impact — like Harry Potter dropping into the popular cultural mainstream and changing the way kids relate to books.

The buzz around children's book increased when the position was created in 1999, to "recognize and highlight the importance of exceptional children's authors in creating the readers of tomorrow". Before the emergence of Harry Potter, there was a view that future generations would be lured more by increasingly sophisticated computer games than the world of books. The signs are, however, that children's books are alive and kicking, and growing up all the time.