We’re about a month-and-a-half away from the release of The Book Tree (Second Edition), and here at Canon, we’re all excitedly looking forward to watching this book make its way into new homes, schools, and libraries. But some of you may be scratching your heads and wondering, “What’s all the fuss?” or worse, “Why should I be interested in some stuffy reference book?” So, we’ve put a few questions to authors Elizabeth McCallum and Jane Scott, asking them to explain where their vision comes from and what excites them about children’s books.
What first sparked your interest in children’s literature, and what led you to turn that interest into a reference book?
Our love of children’s literature developed over many years of bedtime stories. Our family has always been a reading family, and we have enjoyed many wonderful stories together. We discovered first hand the value of reading books aloud, not only to develop vocabulary and build cultural literacy but perhaps more importantly to build memories and community within the family. Children who are read to from their earliest years are much more likely to see the value of reading good books themselves.
However, as teachers, we began to notice that young people aren’t reading any more—for fun that is. As a result, our culture is filled with literature-starved children who are ill-prepared to meet the challenges of life with intelligence, creativity, and humor. We decided that part of the problem is because many children are not finding good books that meet their specific interests. Sadly, inferior and often shocking youth fiction reigns, and good books are frankly hard to find at the local library or bookstore. There is a trend in current youth fiction to dumb down plots and characters and appeal to the basest instincts. Unfortunately, many parents give up the battle and adopt an “at least they’re reading” attitude.
We wrote The Book Tree for young people who need some good recommendations to get them on the road to reading good books for pleasure—and keep them going! Our goal was to recommend high quality literature and describe each selection in such a way as to spark interest in potential readers. We hope children will browse through our guide to find books that sound like fun to read.
As you mention in the preface, The Book Tree is not a list of the “only books worth reading,” but merely “some of the books that [you] have especially enjoyed.” What makes a book one of your favorites?
We enjoy books that are well written, attractively illustrated (if pertinent), and engaging—that is, they are likely to engage children’s hearts and imaginations. We especially love books with a comic element.
You mention on your website that, in your reviews, you “imitate the author’s style.” How do you go about doing that?
Style refers to the author’s personality. We attempt to imitate his or her style of writing with our wording and sentence structure so that young people get an authentic feel for the book’s flavor. It’s not our intention to provide a dry overview of a story. Rather, we hope to engage children’s interest in reading books that appeal to them.
In The Book Tree you review a lot of fiction, but you also recommend a good number of biographies. What kind of balance do you aim for?
Children should certainly be encouraged to read biographies since this type of book teaches them about a particular culture or time period and provides them with exemplary role models. However, although our book does include poetry and biographies, we focus mainly on fiction. Our goal is to stimulate a love of reading, and children develop that love primarily by reading stories.
How has your reviewing perspective changed over the years?
Our perspective has remained essentially unchanged, although it has become increasingly difficult to find good children’s books. There are so many worthless and downright immoral books written for children today. We exhort young people and their parents not to be discouraged by the poor quality of many popular books in bookstores today because there are many excellent books still available. We hope The Book Tree will help children weed out poor fiction and reach for wonderful “fruit” that the whole family will enjoy.