Have you all been following the story about Has Anyone Seen Christmas? Making it attractive is the rags to riches angle–the “small time publisher makes good” deal. It really is not all that mysterious. The husband knew a Barnes and Noble buyer who liked the book and agreed to offer it space on their Christmas table. From there, things took off. If the clips in this article are a fair representation, I can’t see what is so great about the book. (Look on pages 2 and 3 for the excerpts.) I find it interesting that in that article two people give opinions on the book, one has reasons for disliking the book and the other can’t tell why she likes it.
At The Book Bin in Northbrook, owner Janis Irvine said she and her staff “aren’t crazy” about Emit the Elf and his travels through a year’s worth of holidays before reaching Christmas.
“They’re trying to cover too much for little kids,” she said. “On the cover, there’s the Statue of Liberty, the Easter Bunny, an angel, a baby — it’s too much. There are so many great children’s books this year, and this one just doesn’t bubble up to the top.”
By contrast, children’s book buyer Sockol-Frye said the book “strikes a chord in me.” Asked why, she talked about the character of Emit and the book’s illustrations, and then said, “What makes someone fall in love? I don’t know what it is.”
At the risk of sounding jaded and snotty, I wonder if what makes someone fall in love isn’t sometimes, SPIN. Obviously spin is important or politicians and manufacturers wouldn’t spend so much money setting it in motion.
Read the excerpts and judge for yourself. If it’s a good book, buy it off that Christmas table. If it’s not all that hot, go and look a little deeper.
You Might Also Like
tags:
Oh, well, what a drag. I just clicked on the links to see if they are working and I find you have to register to read some of the articles. I guess what these papers do is allow people to read the stories the day they come out and the day after. But if you want to get them later than that, you have to register.
I would love to just quote the excerpts for those who don’t want to bother with registering at the Trib, but I think that would constitute copyright infringement. In my opinion they were pretty bad. Next time you’re in Barnes and Nobles pick up a copy off the Christmas table and check it out.