tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post2807052747029540104..comments2024-03-26T09:40:00.710-06:00Comments on La Bloga: "Zorro" book's author and publisher disagree with "review"Contributing Bloguistas:http://www.blogger.com/profile/13054190814722049711noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-11898330284802704192014-08-08T12:00:43.710-06:002014-08-08T12:00:43.710-06:00I am the director of an anti-bullying committee at...I am the director of an anti-bullying committee at our school district and I plan on recommending this book to all our K-2nd grade teachers to give out in their classrooms. I'm glad I ignored all the negativity the reviewer created and read it for myself. This is a practical and helpful story for our young readers, and beautifully illustrated. For those of us who work in education today, and who deal with the real issues of our world, like bullying, we all need to try to support the good work of others and not get so caught up in our own negative thoughts. But I guess that comes along with the internet - anyone can say whatever they want and be critical, thinking that they are just being "constructive". I didn't find this review helpful to understand the book and how useful it really is, until I read it for myself. I recommend this book to all parents and current day educators, especially those who have the need for books in Spanish to include parents who speak spanish. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-39973854327598599152014-08-04T12:50:06.326-06:002014-08-04T12:50:06.326-06:00Kat, Kat, Kat. One of my favorite all-time authors...Kat, Kat, Kat. One of my favorite all-time authors, Carlos Dickens, was hammered in his day and some literary scholars to this day say he was not all that great, overrated, wrote the same theme over and over, etc. <br /><br />So, consider yourself among elite company (in my opinion) and keep writing what you feel and forget what I feel. <br /><br />And I am also defending, kind of, Rudy and his humble review. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-37405695556442772732014-08-04T10:12:16.494-06:002014-08-04T10:12:16.494-06:00Rudy:
I just attended a Society of Children's...Rudy:<br /><br />I just attended a Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) conference where Diversity was the BUZZ. The book you reviewed and others considered diverse were discussed by authors and readers. As Thelma pointed out in her comment above, there are many view points, many of them as valid as your review's. Many of the authors I spoke to didn't understand what Diversity was (unless they were obviously diverse - Hispanic, Asian, etc.). They weren't seeing the scope of Diversity (religious, cultural, ethnic, etc.). This conference did a lot to explain all of this and hopefully these authors will pass along their learning.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13096602988835714730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-5529369724073872392014-08-02T17:44:26.477-06:002014-08-02T17:44:26.477-06:00Hi, Rudy. Both the publisher and author make good ...Hi, Rudy. Both the publisher and author make good points in their rebuttals to your review. As an educator, I can agree with a number of their points regarding bullying and parental involvement. However, the real topic here is a book reviewer's right and obligation to present his/her assessment of a book openly and as honestly as he/she can. This is what you did in your book review, and you had the right to do that.<br /><br />I as an author have also experienced a few instances in which a book reviewer said something less than glowing about my books, or even misinterpreted some of my writings, especially poetry. But this was rare, which helped me get over it. I had to chalk their comments up to their individual perspectives, since all reviews are subjective to a large extent. No book is perfect, as I wrote here before, so all of us--even very famous authors--have to endure a negative review here or there. Such is the writer's world.<br /><br />Finally, many of your points in your review were constructive criticism, and I agreed with these in particular: the need to include strong female characters, and the need to pictorially represent our cultural diversity correctly and realistically. I'm surprised that anyone would contradict these two points. So, with all due respect to the author and publisher--who will hopefully feel very proud of their publication and move successfully onward--let's spend less time seeing the half-empty glass and focusing instead on the half-full glass. Best wishes to each of the three of you! Thelma T. Reynahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06301689369632221130noreply@blogger.com