Books on Parental Love Prove an Easy Sell
Sally Lodge -- 4/20/98
Publishers discover that "warm and cozy" strikes the right tone for young readers
It is spring and love may or may not be in the air, but it is in abundant evidence on children's shelves in bookstores. Though Valentine's Day promotions are long gone, sales of picture books about the parent-child relationship, most of which feature that highly salable four-letter word on their covers, are soaring. Of the 10 spots on PW's Picture Books bestseller list for March, four were held by books in this category, and whose titles are strikingly similar: Guess How Much I Love You (on the list in both its hardcover and board book editions), I Love You So Much and I Love You, Little One.
Though the quantity and popularity of love-laced titles may be at an all-time high, there is certainly nothing novel about children's stories that reaffirm a parent's unconditional love. Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's The Runaway Bunny has been comforting children for more than 55 years; though the word "love" d sn't appear in the title, the book imparts the message that a young bunny's mother will always be there for him -- no matter how far he strays. First released in 1942, this HarperCollins title has sold over three million copies in its various editions. The publisher created a new wave of interest in the title with a 1991 board book version, which alone has sales of more than 800,000 copies.
Kate Jackson, editor-in-chief of HarperCollins Children's Books, considers The Runaway Bunny "the grandmother of the current group of parental love books." In her view, "What this and the books that followed do is give a reassuring message to both child and parent in a simple way that is not overly sentimental or flowery. All children move from total dependence on parents to gaining some independence, and this is a perfect book to help them through this tricky transition."
Of the recent crop of love-themed books boasting big sales numbers, one of the first to appear was Robert Munsch's Love You Forever (Firefly), which more than a decade after its 1986 release is still going strong. Illustrated by Sheila McGraw, this story chronicles a mother's love for her son throughout his life, and his reciprocal devotion to her as an elderly woman. It has 12 million paperbacks and one million hardcovers in print.
Noting that this is his company's top-selling title ever, Firefly president Lionel Koffler commented that sales of this title are almost exclusively through bookstores, and a typical customer is someone who is purchasing the book as a gift or is replacing his or her own paperback copy with a hardcover. "Many people learn about Love You Forever through church groups or psychological awareness groups," he said, "where the book is often mentioned for its message about the need for stronger bonds and communication between parents and kids."
Indeed, booksellers queried noted that of all the offerings on this subject, customers are more apt to ask for Munsch's book by name, yet most remarked that sales of Love You Forever have slowed considerably during the past year. Several ech d the comment of Lynn Ratliff, manager of Linden Tree Children's Records and Books in Los Altos, Calif., that "though it has always been a steady seller, Love You Forever seems to have been eclipsed by the many newer choices."
Extending the Life of a Hit
One of these is Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You (Candlewick), which has been translated into 25 languages and has sold more than five million copies worldwide in several formats since its 1995 release, including a board book and a book-and-plush package. A pop-up version is due in the fall, according to marketing director Deborah Sloan. She attributed this book's success to several key factors, including a "very right combination of text and art, perfectly capturing a universal message that strikes a chord with any parent who loves a child more than they can possibly express."
Helping to build the book's sales figures is the fact that McBratney's story (which he penned on a paper napkin while riding a train home after a visit to his editor) evidently makes a smooth crossover to the adult and college markets, especially at Valentine's Day. "Very simply, this book's title and subject are quite romantic," commented Sloan, who notes that one recent order for 300 copies of the book was placed by a bride-to-be who gave copies to her guests as a wedding favor. Candlewick's ongoing promotions have also kept sales hopping: this spring's well-received offer enables the purchaser of a hardcover edition to buy a "hare pair" -- plushes of the book's father and child bunnies -- for $12.99.
Sloan also credited the enthusiastic handselling of booksellers, who awarded Guess How Much I Love You an ABBY in 1996 for its continued success in stores. One such fan of the book is Hannah Schwartz, owner of Children's Book World in Haverford, Pa., who cited this as a personal favorite in the genre. In her words, "I like the fact that this story features a daddy, which for selling purposes really works for us."
This Season's Blooms
Reassuring words of a parent's love echo throughout a trio of spring titles that have already captured the hearts of booksellers and consumers. Holding the #2 spot on PW's bestseller list just two months after its January launch is I Love You So Much by Carl Norac, illustrated by Claude K. Dubois (Doubleday), first published by Pastel in France in 1996. After several trips back to press, this small-format, $9.95 jacketed hardcover now has 100,000 copies in print.
According to Andrew Smith, director of marketing for BDD Books for Young Readers, the book's sales received a significant boost from its inclusion in Barnes and Noble's First Book Storytime Program, and its promotion in postcard racks in such spots as restaurants and gyms. Though Smith and his colleagues realized that the book's low price and concept -- Lola, an impatient young hamster, waits all day to find the right time to tell her parents how she feels about them -- gave this title double appeal, they were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the book moved out of stores, thanks in part to a counter display that the booksellers we questioned deemed "adorable." This, as well as in-store event kits and buttons, helped make I Love You So Much what Smith termed "the fastest-selling picture book in recent BDD history." The publisher is planning a promotional campaign as Mother's Day approaches and will bring Lola back in another similarly themed book next January.
Also quickly earning PW bestseller status was Nancy Tafuri's I Love You, Little One (Scholastic), which since its March pub date has made two return trips to press for an in-print total of 55,000 copies. Like virtually all of these books (with the exception of Munsch's work) that explore familial love, Tafuri's tale centers on animal characters, a plot device that seems to reaffirm the universality of the stories' themes.
A polar bear and its mother star in a promising new release from Chronicle Books, Noris Kern's I Love You with All My Heart, published this month with a 25,000-copy first printing. Marketing manager Christine Boral explained that this title, an import from Rainbow Grafics in Belgium, was sold to Troll Book Clubs and "already has crossed all market channels and has had strong library, educational, trade and gift store sales." The publisher has a sterling track record with two other reassuring books: Barbara M. Joosse's I Love You the Purplest, illustrated by Mary White (1996); and Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me?, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (1991), which has sold more than 500,000 copies, making it Chronicle's bestselling children's title.
Is It a Trend?
While all publishers interviewed said that they signed up each of their entries in this genre for its individual appeal rather than to capitalize on a trend, booksellers speculated on the roots of what appears to be a booming genre. Schwartz conjectured that publishers may be responding to recent highly publicized reading initiatives encouraging parents to spend more time reading aloud to children. Parents and grandparents looking for books to share with children, several retailers observed, are naturally drawn to these love-proclaiming stories.
Ratliff suspects the generous selection of titles has something to do with the fact that, in her words, "This is a copycat business and it seems that when one company d s well with a book, just about every other publisher has to come out with one too. It's sometimes tricky to figure out what book a customer is asking for, since the titles and the stories sound so much alike."But booksellers appear more than willing to put up with the ensuing confusion, given the fact that these titles are keeping cash registers ringing. In the words of Debbie Stafford, co-owner of Mr. McGregor's Garden in Fort Wayne, Ind., "They are basically feel-good books that carry an important message that anyone can relate to, which makes them a very easy handsell."
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