I'm thrilled to share that my article, Board Books are for Babies, or Are They? The Art of Board Books and the Question of Intended Audience has just been released in the special edition of The Journal of Children's Literature in Education on Baby Books (54, pages 376–394 (2023)), edited by Clementine Beauvais. Here's my abstract:Within the medium of picturebooks is a category specifically targeted to the very youngest “readers”—board books. They are designed primarily for babies, infants, and toddlers, a preliterate audience from newborn to 3-years-old. And while board books are still technically picturebooks, their design and construction follows a different set of parameters from older picturebooks. The one thing they do share with their older siblings is that they are typically purchased by adults for child “readers,” a paradox that raises complicated questions about the actual intended audience of board books. Furthemore, while board books “help infants learn to recognize familiar objects and to develop basic concepts related to people, animals, possessions, familiar events, and daily routines” (Hughes-Hassell in Inside board books: representations of people of color. The Library Quarterly, The University of Chicago Press Journals, Chicago, 2010), there is a new trend in board books of older books adapted into the board book medium, or for educational, politically driven topics obviously not intended for child readers at all. With sales of board books increasing in recent years (Harbison in Category snapshot: the benefits of the board book boom. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/81736-category-snapshot-the-benefits-of-theboard-book-boom.html, 2019) it leaves one to wonder who are board books really for and what do these “readers” really want from them? This paper examines this new trend and what it says about the medium, from the perspective of a picturebook and board book creator as well as from an academic viewpoint.Go HERE to see the other excellent articles and read the entire edition.
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