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Last year, I started a series of infographics about YA book covers, mostly as a tongue-in-cheek reaction to the Wall Street Journal’s “Darkness in YA” controversy. But the further I got into compiling statistics, the more alarmed I became at the covers’ monochrome approach to models. All total, I found 224 white girls— and only nine of any other race or ethnicity.

Nine. As compared to at least 30 white girls in fancy dresses.

For the nearly half of Australia’s adult population who lack minimum literacy skills, reading for pleasure may not be possible. This not only prevents them from partaking of one of life’s great joys – a ‘good read’ – but means that they are unable to access sources of knowledge and learning through reading. The National Year of Reading is highlighting the joy of reading and the benefits of fostering a love of books. It is also bringing into focus the role of Australian libraries in working with communities to encourage reading and to promote literacy. 

 

My current work, The Pink and Blue Projects are the topic of my thesis. This project explores the trends in cultural preferences and the differences in the tastes of children (and their parents) from diverse cultures, ethnic groups as well as gender socialization and identity. The work also raises other issues, such as the relationship between gender and consumerism, urbanization, the globalization of consumerism and the new capitalism.

The final step was to publish the trailers and so the children put them on their individual blogs along with a written overview of the project. Since these are private we also put them on a public blog and so you are encouraged to head overthere where all the trailers are available along with excerpts from the children’s blog posts (a few of which are above). And for those of you who want just a taste, here’s a montage:

On the eve of the 49th annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair, an international crowd of just under 400 turned out for the second Tools of Change Bologna, an espresso-fueled daylong conference held Sunday at the Palazzo dei Congressi, on the fairgrounds. Apps vs. e-books? HTML5 vs. EPUB 3? Apple vs. Android? The questions were many, and the answers—discussed in four keynote addresses and nearly two dozen breakout sessions—perhaps fewer. Integrity of e-products, especially those intended for children, was a recurring theme (“Digital is just another format,” said Andrew Sharp of Hachette Children’s UK at one of the afternoon panels. “Hold true to your current ideals”), as was the array of digital options available to publishers, each with their advantages and disadvantages in terms of development costs, pricing, competition, and more.