Standardised testing spooks parents

Booksellers in the US have noticed that sales of picture books are falling as more and more parents regard them as unnecessary and too “babyish”.
The New York Times says the recession is one reason why, but also that “parents have begun pressing their kindergartners and first graders to leave the picture book behind and move on to more text-heavy chapter books. Publishers cite pressure from parents who are mindful of increasingly rigorous standardised testing in schools.”
There is a political subtext to this issue here as we debate National Standards, and parents are increasingly aware their children are being compared with a demanded level of attainment. Keen to help and afraid of failure, they often worry without fully understanding that reading is a skill that is mastered at different times for different children, and that such comparisons and expectations are odious and unfair, particularly on their child.
While we haven’t seen any evidence of this trend away from picture books developing here, it is something to be very wary of.
Picture books are the first introduction to the joys of written language read aloud and the brilliant rhymes of great authors like Lynley Dodd, Dr Seuss and Alan Ahlberg create a love of books and reading. The anticipation, the fun, the little dramas and the delightful characters all add to making the experience a pleasure - and young children are very pleasure-centred.
It is only when you have created readers that you should begin to move into more complex stories, but even then not exclusively (and the NYT article makes the point that many picture books are more complex than some junior novels anyway). Many competent readers regularly revert to their picture books at an age when they no longer need to, and they do so for comfort, relaxation, enjoyment and reassurance.
There is a wider issue too as educationalists realise that novels aren't necessarily the zenith of reading anyway. Increasingly the internet, non-fiction, graphic novels, and magazines are becoming accepted as valid pathways to literacy. The Arrival by Shaun Tan, and Mirror by Jeannie Baker are picture books after all and they are complex, fascinating visual reading, with messages about our lives and our society. – cut if need to
The case for having picture books in a child's literary life has never been stronger, and the attitude that they are unnecessary is so wrong headed it defies belief.
* John McIntyre The Children’s Bookshop, Wellington