Already at the end of October, Christmas books began to appear again on the shelves of children’s literature: from stories about elves to new translations of classic Christmas stories. “A real camera. The week” investigated what experts selected from the children’s literature center.
The shelves of the Estonian Children’s Literature Center are as full of Christmas stories as a shop counter. It can be said to be true seasonal literature.
“These books can be read at other times, but generally they sit there for a year and wait for their time. And when their time comes, they are borrowed a lot and read a lot at school and at home. And this is important for people to create that Christmas feeling, that right feeling,” said Jaanika Palm, a children’s literature researcher.
“But there are definitely books published during Christmas that have nothing to do with Christmas, that are nice books and can be read all year round,” he added.
Katrin Reinmaa, publisher of children’s literature publisher Päike ja Pilv, says that although book sales during the Christmas period are really strong, she does not invest exclusively in Christmas books.
“They have happened over the years, but I have not set this as a separate goal, because for me I am not saying that these books are not necessary, but their life is too short for me and their sales time is bad. In short. From a purely practical point of view, they are picked up in bookstores in January and February and then there is nothing more to do with them until the new Christmas season,” Reinmaa explained.
In fact, Christmas literature can also be divided into several categories. Even the main character, the elf, appears in all different forms. For example, there are books for different age groups, which were rather absent in previous years.
There are also family books, this year a Christmas story from the Sommerby series by Kirsten Boie. “It’s a comprehensive story, at the level of very young children, at the level of schoolchildren, but also of parents and grandparents,” Reinmaa said.
From the good old classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” has been published in a new translation and commentary by Jüri Kolgi, along with enchanting images by Liisa Aisato.
However, the Christmas theme can also offer darker nuances, such as the twelfth part of the “Shadows” trilogy “Auroria” by Finnish authors, where even modern political issues are analyzed in a fantasy key.
“I think it’s all about balance. In the meantime, you feel like you want to read something bright and beautiful, that you know from the beginning will end well and pleasantly, and that has just the right amount of idyll,” Palm said.
“But beyond that, we definitely need books that children can relate to and that talk about important issues, for example the “Shadows” series. /…/ I think we should find a balance between these books so that we don’t create false hope that everything will be fine at Christmas. That’s the most important thing in my opinion,” Palm said.
According to him it is good to look at the recent past from time to time to understand where we have arrived today.
“Perhaps this points to the fact that there is not a big difference in the numbers between books published in 2013 and 2023. However, there is a difference in the quality of the books and which books are published now,” Palm said.
Fortunately, poorly translated and edited books, published cheaply, the content and appearance of which children do not like, have become increasingly rare.
In addition, both the expert and the publisher recommend that when choosing children’s books, you should not be guided by your own interests, but rather by those of young readers.
“Life seems to prove it, experience shows that children like very different books and different illustrations, even those that an adult looks at over and over again. I understand that you inevitably buy based on your own tastes, but sometimes you might as well try it that way, that I take something that maybe I don’t really like too, but the topic is interesting, the illustrator is known, the author is known, to show the child something different,” Reinmaa said.
Source: “Current Camera. The Week”
2023-12-17 19:41:00
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