This is an really interesting, if over-reaching, article on the decline in sales of picture books.
The author attributes this decline to parents pushing their kids too quickly into chapter books, but does little to examine other reasons that picture book sales have slumped.
One commenter, a librarian, ran stats on picture book circulation and found them up about 10%. Suggesting that picture books remain an important resource for families, jsut not one they will pay $18 for.
Now, I LOVE picture books, but I also have a hard time with the high price tag. I have noticed my local Borders carrying fewer and fewer paperback editions, except for the character driven books (Barbie's Whatever Adventure with Yo Gaba Gaba).
I really hope that kids are not pushed too quickly into chapter books, both because I think the visual literacy skills learned by decoding a picture book are critical and because the stunning art work is something to savor, not push through.
Read the article, and let me know what you think.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html
