BOOK NEWS!

Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini 1897-1899, will be released by Mike Caveney's Magic Words in late summer. (more)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Houdini for girls


Kevin Connolly has posted on his excellent blog, Houdini Himself, an intriguing tease for a new Houdini book in 2012. Says Kevin:

"There is a new Houdini book with a new angle coming out in Spring of 2012. This book will geared to the young female market. The first part of the book will be a story of fiction about Houdini, followed by a historical essay about Houdini. The book will be published my a major line geared to young girls."

Sounds interesting. Kevin says he will reveal more details as he gets them, so keep watching Houdini Himself.

1 comment:

  1. I never got the sense that Houdini books for kids were targeted only to boys, but I *guess* it's nice that they thought about a way to market Houdini to girls.

    (Of course...things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and toy cars or trucks were marketed towards little boys...and I LOVED watching TMNT or playing with my toy racing cars and dump trucks, just as much as I loved playing with my Barbies and Polly Pockets. So gender marketing doesn't always work the way marketers think it will).

    About the book's format though---it doesn't seem particular to girls, as such. It sounds a little bit like books I read about Beethoven or Margaret Mead when I was a kid, which always contained a colorfully illustrated fictional biography plus a short historical bio at the back. And I'm pretty sure they were geared towards both sexes.

    Funny story: These particular books always included an imaginary, encouraging friend for the subject of the story, e.g. a little cat name Keys that tells Beethoven to not give up and to keep playing and composing, even when deaf.

    Thing is, I actually thought, until a certain age, that you couldn't be famous without having an imaginary friend to help you along first! LOL. But when every book you read about a famous people features an imaginary friend, it's not an illogical conclusion to draw, is it? :p

    ReplyDelete

Translate