Children’s books thriving

Fantasy and science fiction are big sellers in children’s books this fall, but the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney is pushing to make American history a must-read. Lynne Cheney’s latest book shows how much of the country’s history was shaped by women.

“Little girls come through the line and tell me ‘I want to be president,’” she says.

To date, she has produced two children’s picture books that have outsold by 10 times her five previous books for adults.

“A is for Abigail,” which spotlights 319 women and had an initial printing of 250,000 at its Sept. 16 release, was No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list for children’s picture books during October. It is listed No. 3 on Publishers Weekly’s children’s book list behind “English Roses” by pop singer Madonna and “Olivia … and the Missing Toy” by Ian Falconer.

Her “America: A Patriotic Primer” has sold more than 450,000 copies since its release in May 2002 and was the third-bestselling new hardcover children’s title last year.

“I pride myself on absolute historical accuracy,” she says. “Since I’ve been a writer for a long time, I think I know how to tell a good story. The trick is to keep those two things both going at the same time so you end up with a really good story you didn’t have to embellish.”

Most children’s book authors can only dream of such sales. Melanie Cecka, a senior editor of Viking Children’s Books, who spoke at a recent Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Arlington, told 210 authors that they must produce books that truly stand out.

“Editors are looking for reasons not to publish your story,” she said. “I know that sounds awful, but we get hundreds, if not thousands of manuscripts a year, whereas we only have 60 slots [available].”

Consumers spent $1.9 billion buying 460 million children’s books last year, according to the Write News, an online media-industry newsletter.

This was despite a shrinking customer base, the newsletter said, saying children’s book purchases were down 2 percent because of declining population trends among youths 6 to 13 years old.

Thus, publishers are aiming for the “young adult” market, which is anyone 12 or older.

“Wholesome” books, said one literary agent at the Arlington conference, also are back in style. The “edgy” books of recent years — which featured gruesome, depressing topics for the elementary-school set — are out.

Formerly a genre in which sales of 10,000 copies was considered a bestseller, children’s books have turned into a big-business enterprise. Sometimes they become films, as in the movie “Holes,” which was based on a children’s book by Louis Sacharm, as well as the film versions of the Harry Potter books.

Also in the pipeline for Walden Media, the company that produced “Holes,” are films based on C.S. Lewis’ seven-volume “Chronicles of Narnia.”

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