The crisis in reading for pleasure among children is dominating discussions at this week's Bologna Children's Book Fair, "with a focus on shorter books and illustrated titles for younger readers to help address the issue, as well as a call for pan-industry action," the Bookseller reported.
Noting that Bologna is "a time to celebrate the breadth of children's talent," Cally Poplak, managing director and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books and Farshore, cautioned: "This year, I don't think we can ignore the reading crisis in our market.... I'm looking forward to discussing with publishers worldwide solutions to these challenges to ensure we have a passionate audience of readers of all ages for our authors and illustrators for years to come."
Claire Wilson, RCW agent and president of the U.K. Association of Authors' Agents, added: "Children's publishers are always champions of reading across any format. The message I am hearing is that for readers of any age, meeting them where they are is the key. If attention spans are shorter and reading confidence has dropped, it is our job to create books that will appeal in that context, so we don't lock a generation of readers out of the chance to discover the life-changing power of reading."
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| Miriam Robinson (photo: Laura Edwards) |
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Miriam Robinson has been appointed head of strategy at the Booksellers Association of the U.K. & Ireland, effective June 5. She will succeed Alan Staton, who is retiring after more than 20 years with the BA. The Bookseller reported that Robinson began her book world career 17 years ago as a bookseller at Foyles' flagship store on Charing Cross Road. Since leaving Foyles in 2014 and embarking on a freelance career, she has worked with publishers and literary organizations as a marketer, brand consultant, creative facilitator, event chair, and programmer.
BA managing director Meryl Halls said: "I couldn't be more thrilled to be welcoming Miriam to the BA team. She's someone I've worked with and admired for many years, and we are very excited to bring her unique skill set to our work with booksellers across the U.K. and Ireland. Miriam already knows the industry, knows many of our members and is a highly respected and influential player in our trade. I know she will bring her trademark energy, rigor, creative thinking and compassion to the role and, while we will take a long time to stop missing Alan Staton, from whom Miriam takes over in June, I can think of no one better qualified to do so."
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A maple-leaf bookmark initiative has been launched by a group of independent Canadian publisher-distributors to give booksellers a way to let customers know which books are Canadian-authored, Quill & Quire reported, adding that the design is simple: a white bookmark with a red maple leaf and the words "Canadian author" above.
Nimbus publisher Terrilee Bulger said Jim Lorimer of Lorimer Books first saw the bookmarks at indie bookstore Cedar Canoe Books, Huntsville, Ont., over the holidays. The bookshop has been using them to identify Canadian-authored titles for more than two years.
Lorimer "noticed just how good it looked," Bulger said, "and how well the books stood out over the other books--that they were obviously Canadian--so then when we were trying to think of a way for bookstores to be able to do the same thing as grocery stores to flag Canadian products, this was the idea that he brought forward, because it was just so effective at showing what books are actually from here." --Robert Gray