03.26.07
The Horn Book LXXXIII/2: Thoughts
This was a really good issue of The Horn Book. It had a bunch of reviews of books that sound fantastic. I was most interested in the featured review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I’ve been eying this book at work for a while now since it is so unique and seems absolutely fascinating, and after reading Roger Sutton’s review I absolutely can’t wait to read it! Jacqueline Woodson’s Zena Sutherland lecture was both interesting and heartwarming. She is quite an interesting author. I found the interview with George M. Nicholson to be an intriguing look back at children’s book publishing history and the article about the McKissacks did a great job of highlighting a marvelous body of work and the history behind it. I was amused by the article concerning young adult literature, primarily because it made predictions that didn’t turn out to be true (although in all other respects it was a fantastic article), and I find it interesting that American Born Chinese seems to have taken everyone so very much by surprise! The “Recommended Reissues” column was great this time. I have to agree with Terri Schmitz that the tampering being done to classics is positively horrifying. I can’t even believe what they’re doing to the “Little House” books! Oh, wait, these are the same publishers who changed the order of the Narnia books. Yes, yes I can believe it. It just makes me want to vomit. How can they possibly think it’s ok to do these things to classics? Anyway, this was a wonderful issue and I enjoyed it very much!