Which books should be promoted and reviewed?

I am so dismayed by all the promotion of books written by celebrities (I do know this is not a new practice) by publishers, chain stores, morning television chat shows and now children's book reviewers. This is difficult post to write (it is my third on this topic #1 #2) because I do not want to promote or even name the two books I am going to discuss here. If you want to discover them one appears as a colour advertisement on the back cover of our Australian children's book review journal Magpies (November, 2024). That issue also has a review. This same title was also shared on The Bottom Shelf (November 2024). The second title is featured on the website Kids' Book Review (November 2024). The Facebook group Your Kids Next Read have also offered this book as a giveaway prize. 

It is my policy with momotimetoread not to share books that do not appeal to me, but this issue of celebrity picture books is so important. I have found myself shaking my head in despair so many times over the last few weeks and then I saw these two books. In my view neither is a quality book and I would not add these two books to my library or personal shelves let alone share them with a child. I do need to say though, that writing and researching this blog post has also reinforced for me that we all read books differently. While most of the reviews of these two books do not express an opinion (good or bad) one reviewer deeply related to the themes of Book Two and she explains why she enjoyed it. It is good that we see and experience our world in different ways. 

Another concern I have relating to this topic is the issue of 'freedom of speech'. I will just pose a few questions. Should reviewers worry about 'biting the hand that feeds them'? Many reviewers and reviewing journals are sent books by publishers. Is it okay to post a negative review? Or is it better to set these books aside and not offer a review? And for print publications there is also the issue of paid advertising which is why Book Two has a full-page advertisement on the back cover of our wonderful Magpies Magazine. 

Book One

Celebrity author - Comedian and television personality, this is not his first children's book and he has adult titles too.

Plot: A glacier takes a journey. Why? Because he is bored? Where does he go? Away from his icy mountain home to the tropical coast. How does he travel? Using various forms of transport across different landscapes. Predictable outcome? Yes, he melts.

Themes: journeys, destinations, transport, Australia, leaving home, impatience

Better choices:

To Greenland

Bear's Adventure

Ivanhoe Swift left home at Six

Once upon a small Rhinoceros

Book Two

Celebrity author: AFL Football player and television media personality

Plot: A lonely boy wishes for a friend. A girl comes to rescue him. The boy has magical talents and so he is able to help the village where the girl lives and save them all from a dragon. His 'heroic' deed means others accept his difference and appreciate his talents and he gains a set of friends.

Themes: Shyness, self-acceptance, talents, friendship, belonging, identity, magic, wizards, dragons 
(there are also teachers notes for this book on the publisher page).

Better Choices:

The Boy, the Troll and the Chalk

Knight Owl

Benjamin and the Lonely Dragon

The Friendship Bench

Book One is not about glaciers or global warming but I did find these better books on those two topics:

Here is the Kirkus review

Here is the Kirkus review

Here are three final quotes from Besty Bird and her book Wild Things.

"If we sound cranky, it's because it often seems that what lies behind your typical celebrity book is an inherent level of disrespect for the craft of children's literature."

"Certainly during challenging economic times, publishers feel great pressure to sell blockbusters, drawing attention away from lesser-known authors and illustrators. There's no doubt that publishing is driven by sales, and just the right celebrity book can bring in the big bucks."

"... it's the poor tots of this world who not only have to read the often patronizing, flat prose offered by most celebrity authors, ... (but luckily) children are unrelenting critics, and they do not care about the number of movies or television shows in which someone has starred. ... They just want to read a good book."