Soapbox Alert . . .

 
Put these 

on a high shelf and keep them safe from

• fire
• flood
• disaster
• and peanut butter fingers …
  

Because these    

are replacing them …

I have a lot of words that go through my head when I view these new Little House  covers:

• awful
• atrocious
• appalling

and those are only the “a” words.

Laura Ingalls Wilder and Garth Williams   go together like

• toast and jam
  
• salt and pepper
  
• zig and zag 
• mom and apple pie crisp …
  _{(my mom never got the hang of piecrust but she made the best apple crisp ever!)}

Check out the story here.

Little House Under Renovation

 

Now you know what I think 

What do you think?
 

Comments

[Jodi]

"For readers who view historical novels as old-fashioned," says Weikum, "this offers them an edition that dispels that notion and suggests that these books have all the great qualities of a novel set in a contemporary time."

Maybe instead of trying to make the books look less "old-fashioned" we should work on dispelling the idea that we need something "new" to keep kids entertained. Oh yeah, and we should spend time teach kids that "You can't judge a book by it's cover." But, of course, that's old-fashioned, too.

Yikes, I don't actually own a full set of the Williams-illustrated books! I'd better get on that right away!

[Mary Kathryn]

I agree - appalling! I've recently received nearly to full set of the full-color collector's edition and I will treasure both these and my older set of LIW books even more. Garth Williams' illustrations are permanently tied to the LIW stories in my heart! I need to track down the one book I'm missing before these horrifying replacements fill the shelves - a very sad thing.

[Jodi]

I'm wondering if Harper Collins might be doing this as a way to jump-start sales of the hardback editions. After all, they're keeping the original artwork in the hardcovers, and now many people are commenting that they're going to go out and buy them. Hmmmm.

As they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

[joanna in ca.]

I thankfully have 3 boxed sets of these books-the yellow ones from when I was young and the blue ones for each of my girls.
A few years ago I wanted to start collecting the hardback editions but only got so far as Little House in the Big Woods. Maybe I'll make more of an effort now.
Thanks for posting on this. I hope there's enough of an outcry that the new covers will go the way of the dinosaurs-and quickly.

[roberta]

gasp!
I have a copy of a 5 Little Peppers book with a contemporary cover and I must say don't care much for the muddling.

Just today I passed up 3 of the LHotP books at the thrift store 99 cents each...yikes better go back and scoop them up. I was searching (and have been desperately so)for "Little Town on the Prairie", as it is the only one we do not own, and we are reading through the series right now.

[Missy K]

I have such affection for those old yellow softcovers. My childhood set fell apart long ago, and I only have a few of them-- yikes!!!

I will keep my soapbox safely under my bed (smile), but will only comment that I think the idea that our dearold classics need to be "spiced up" to appeal underestimates the books themselves and today's children as well.

[Kim of Hiraeth]

Oh, I don't like those! Why, oh, why?

What is wrong with children hearkening back to another time and have it really LOOK like another time. That doesn't separate them from the story or alienate them or make the books less relevant. It communicates to children that the whole world doesn't revolve around them, that children are children no matter what the time period and that they are a part of something bigger than themselves and their own time.

(you can have your soap box back now!)

[Susanne]

Ok, going out the door right now to buy some more of those "old" versions for gifts before they are all gone. Hmmm I wonder if this isn't just a marketing ploy to make all of us of our generation to go do just that and boost up their sales a bit!

[Karla]

I'm in utter dismay. I own all of the Little House Books I can get my hands on. I've been a fan since 3rd grade. I have a photo of the real Laura, Carrie and Mary when they were girls, I have family history papers. I guess you could say I'm an avid fan.

These books are a disgrace to the Little House name - and to the hard work that folks like Garth Williams put into the illustrations. Where is the appreciation for history? Ugh!

[tonia]

ugh.

horrible.

criminal.

[Sue]

I think this is just plain sad! Can't understand their reasoning at all.