Are you famous? Is your career slipping? Can you write at a preschool level? Congratulations! The world of celebrity children's books is waiting for you!
And it's a booming one. A genre once brutally dominated by quality, relevance and entertainment has been revitalized by celebrities who are making their mark in this highly lucrative field. Well, newly lucrative, anyway. Regular old children's authors still don't get squat but it's their own fault for just writing all the time and not being celebrities.
This month Sir Paul McCartney's "High in the Clouds" elevated him to the ranks of Madonna, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Will Smith, Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, Gloria Estefan, Maria Shriver, Henry Winkler, Shaquille O'Neal, Lynne Cheney, Sarah Ferguson, Martha Stewart, LeAnn Rimes, Bob Dylan, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Harvey Fierstein, Della Reese, Michael Bolton, Debbie Allen, Cindy Crawford, Keith Hernandez, Katie Couric, Dom Delouise, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Carter, Larry King, LL Cool J, Jane Seymour, Carly Simon, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Carson Kressley, Jimmy Fallon, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffet, Jesse Ventura, and His Royal Highness Prince Charles in the hearts of starry-eyed parents everywhere.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: This month Sir Paul McCartney's "High in the Clouds" elevated him to the ranks of Madonna, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Will Smith, Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, Gloria Estefan, Maria Shriver, Henry Winkler, Shaquille O'Neal, Lynne Cheney, Sarah Ferguson, Martha Stewart, LeAnn Rimes, Bob Dylan, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Harvey Fierstein, Della Reese, Michael Bolton, Debbie Allen, Cindy Crawford, Keith Hernandez, Katie Couric, Dom Delouise, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Carter, Larry King, LL Cool J, Jane Seymour, Carly Simon, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Carson Kressley, Jimmy Fallon, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffet, Jesse Ventura, and His Royal Highness Prince Charles in the hearts of starry-eyed parents everywhere.
Wow. I have preschool children and I had no idea most of these people had written books. I even have shelves and shelves of books for said kids, so it's not like we don't read around the house.
Great piece, too. I loved your "examples."
Posts: 14 | Registered: Jul 2005
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That's not even all of them, just the ones people are likely to recognize. Also I skipped most of the celebs who wrote books before the recent boom, like Julie Andrews and Fergie.
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Yeah, but some of them are really wonderful writers, like JA, JLC and John Lithgow....so I liked it when you gave them some seperation from the other "fad" authors. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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That's funny, because I'm getting my Sister in law a picture book written by Dick van Dyke that's actually pretty good. A guy in my costume class is involved with the company who did the animation (It's completely CG).
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Well, Garrison Keillor's career isn't exactly slipping, but I absolutely love his book Daddy's Girl. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Garrison Keillor is different. His job is to be a storyteller.
The one that gets me is Madonna. I haven't read her book, to be fair, but I can't even bring myself to pick it up.
Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I've read a John Lithgow book that was okay, but what was truly brilliant was his CD of children's songs (Singin' in the Bathtub).
Posts: 202 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I haven't read most of those, though I'd bet the Lithgow book is good. Typically, in picture books, I'll buy the book because it has great illustrations, is by an author I enjoy or is funny.
I liked Ray Ramano's book, Raymie, Dickie and the Bean: Why I Love and Hate My Brothers.
I picked it up because of the title, not the author and was pleasantly rewarded.
Posts: 2425 | Registered: Jan 2002
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