Finding Neverland has an excellent
toon on the topic of blogging reviewers. It cuts to the chase!
I have had a chuckle reading the
discussion at Roger Reads about the role
of blogger reviewers vs print reviewers (currently 63 comments and climbing.) The comments evolved into a multifaceted conversation about the motives of blogging reviewers and swag and cupcakes.
With family members who are journalists I have been aware of the
supposed tension between the "news professionals" aka "journalists" and the "amatuers," aka "bloggers in pajamas" for some years now. (I am fully dressed thank you, although, I am wearing Ugg slippers, oops!)
So the question of professional vs
amateur (
DO pronounce it with a French accent) their motivations, agendas, and gushings etc. have been well hashed out in other blogging realms.
This has been fun to read though and there are many very thoughtful posts and comments about why we kidlitospherians do what we do.
As usual, Roger made a point in the discussion that resonated with me.
I'm guessing that most blog reviewers would say, "I review what I want to review." That's fine, too, and attractively anarchic. But I find, anyway, that those reviews tell me more about the reviewer than they do about the book. And I hasten to say I've met some pretty interesting minds this way.
8:35 PM, April 17, 2007
This comment is exactly why I enjoy kidlitosphere reviews. They do tell us about the voices in this community. I have never heard any of their voices, (well, actually , I have the voices of
Chris Barton and
Cynthia LS and
Fuse #8 (on NPR) but
Miss Erin's perspective is different than
LizB's and
MotherReader makes me laugh and
Jen is often focused on literacy and reading and
Kelly always has an insight that never occured to me and
Indefatigable Kelly just does it all.
Michele is who I would probably be if I had been born in Angleterre and
Sheila always finds a book my girls and I need to read as does
Susan . There are new blogs and voices to add to my blogroll everyday.
A few years ago, there was a big push to teach 4th graders about "voice." Fourth grade is the writing test year here in Texas. The teachers were always in search of novels with a strong "voice." Well, ok. I don't know what the writing pedagogy flavor of the month is this year. I daresay it is something new.
I asked a student once if they could tell me what "voice" was and the child answered, "It is the sound I hear when I read a book."
I do hear the "voices" of the kidlitospherians when I read their reviews.