Many kids may find learning about how a book is produced interesting. There is so much more to publishing than simply the craft of writing. Explaining contract language and editorial rights might be a bit dry for a youngster, but learning what is front matter and back matter and how and why ISBN-13 numbers are created can bring a greater appreciation to books. Probably one of the most interesting things is how illustrations are produced for a particular book or character.
Coming soon is a promising children's dog book out of the UK called "Dear Hound" written and illustrated by Jill Murphy by Puffin Books, due out in October. It is the story of Alfie, a sensitive Scottish Deer Hound separated from his owners and his adventures finding his way back home.
Check out the Puffin Blog at: http://www.thepuffinblog.typepad.com/ . There you can see a Puffin meeting where they are going over potential illustrations for Dear Hound. I particularly like the second picture which shows two head shots of Alfie the deerhound with different types of ears and which one was picked.
This may lead to more exploration of the world of publishing for you and your child.
Good reading!
I love finding links like this one that delve deeper into the illustration/production side of books. Even for an illustrator this can be something of a mystery when first starting out.
ReplyDeleteWendy