Almost a third of school-age children are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. But they will still struggle to find characters who resemble themselvesBooks can show us the world both as it is, and as it could be – “mirrors and windows”, as the author Malorie Blackman notes. For children, they are currently falling short on both counts. In the pages of a picture or chapter book, readers have their experience affirmed or glimpse exciting new possibilities: mastering a fear of the dark, or travelling through space. Yet a young black or Asian child picking up a book today is more likely to encounter a rabbit than a protagonist who looks like them, says the expert who has led a new review of representation, Reflecting Realities. This is astonishing in an age when 32% of school-age children are from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds; and is bad news not only for them but for all young readers. Publishers are offering a dated, narrow and skewed picture of the complex, diverse, interconnected world around them.Don’t blame Beatrix Potter. This is not a historic, cumulative problem; the new research covers only books published in 2017. The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education asked publishers to submit titles with BAME characters and received fewer than 400, set against the roughly 9,000 books published for children aged three to 11. Quality and sheer variety are as important as quantity. Only 1% of titles featured a BAME lead character; in a quarter of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of digital books show impressive signs of growth, but some booksellers still face an uncertain future. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Already the world’s largest global trade exhibition for the news publishing and media industry, the World Publishing Expo is expanding the conferences and seminars that accompany the event, making it even more attractive for the thousands o ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“You don’t understand,” the three-time, big-six published author told me. “Books aren’t designed for you, the customer. Today, non-fiction books are business cards--for speaking, consulting, and deals.” I was meeting this friend for dinner in New York City and had mentioned a trend I had... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales soared by more than £2m last week as a bounty of new books hit the shelves on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Specsavers has succeeded Galaxy as the headline sponsor of the National Book Awards, signing a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thriller writer Andy McNab is to spearhead the Reading Agency’s 2013 Six Book Challenge,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every minute, a title is added—5150 rue des Ormes, I Hate Hockey, L’envers de l’assiette, À fleur de peau; every hour, a new author is categorized—Patrick Senécal, François Barcelo, Laure Waridel, Martine Latulippe; every day, a new publisher signs on—Alire, Baraka Books, Écosociété, Québec... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A controversial account of the US Navy SEAL raid that resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new printed book celebrates all of the quirky flaws of the world’s most famous ebook. Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Zealand is taking centre stage at the world's largest book and content fair in Frankfurt as this year's guest of honour. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just four days after a federal judge approved a settlement in the ebooks price fixing case, HarperCollins has already started discounts. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German book chains Weltbild and Hugendubel have reacted swiftly to Amazon's announcement... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of the country's top publishers has turned to a man from the editorial side to run its business. Michael Pietsch, the editor of Keith Richards' Life, David Foster Wallace's The Pale King and the many novels of James Patterson, has been named CEO of Hachette Book Group. Mr. Pietsch has headed... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ed Wood, editor of We Love This Book, is to join Sphere as senior editor for men's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wow. Judge Denise Cote certainly knows how to put a spring in the step of mega corporations. Mere days have passed since she ordered HarperCollins to let retailers to set their own ebook prices, and yet already Kindle bestsellers from that publisher are selling for around $9.99 -- in some cases... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I doubt the most brilliant novelist in the world could have created a more skewering satire of Naomi Wolf’s career than her latest book, Vagina: A Biography. One the most prominent feminists in the country writes about her failure to see Technicolor after having sex—“the colors were just... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2012-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A judge has approved an ebook price-fixing settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and three book publishers. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a move that could reshape the publishing industry, a federal judge has approved a settlement with three of the nation's largest book publishers over alleged collusion in the pricing of ebooks. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A dozen years ago, Bob Ticehurst, then 22, quit his day job as an accountant, moved into his parents’ basement in Arlington, Mass., and became one of the first used-book sellers on Amazon’s Marketplace. Since then “MarineBob,” his original handle, has grown his online used-book business under... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British crime writer R.J. Ellory is the latest author to be caught out writing glowing online reviews of his own work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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