With the decision of two companies, Chivers and Isis, to introduce new series of
children’s books in large print, suddenly the range of reading available mushroomed.
The peak came late in the 1980s during Children’s Book Week, when The Bookseller
listings for that week showed that the number of new titles published for children in
large print, was greater than the number of new titles published for children in ‘normal’
print. Unfortunately this bonanza for children has been halved as Isis, having published
themselves, and brought in from American a great number of outstanding children’s
titles, was forced by economics to retire from the field. This marvellous increase in the
quality and quantity of large print for children from just two companies also had an
effect on the stocks of public and school libraries. The use of these books is not limited
to children with visual difficulties. The books are attractive, include illustrations where
appropriate and are the same titles as ‘everyone else’ is reading. Libraries discovered that
by interfiling large print into their fiction collections it was selected by a wider range of
children, some of whom had not previously had the patience or the skills needed to cope
smaller print sizes.
Picture BooksThe area of reading need which has traditionally caused the most concern is that of
post-primary aged children who have failed to become fluent readers. Although one or
two companies are producing specially designed and written series which are geared
towards assisting these children to recover and increase their reading ability, the
material varies greatly in format and content, and does not always appeal to the very
children who need it. In 1981 with the publication of Elaine Moss’s Picture Books for
Young People 9–13 came the realisation that this development in publishing offered an
opportunity for older children to learn to read using books which were of interest to
them, stimulating, approachable and within their language ability. These books offer a
text which is comparatively easy to manage because of the format, and also help the
older learner to develop good visual discrimination and scanning skills. It is important
that these children should have the opportunity to read books which are thought-
provoking. Humour in its various forms is also a valuable asset to these older children,
particularly anarchic humour and black comedy. Public and school libraries are now
beginning to see the very real difference between the two forms of picture story
presentation and are shelving them according to interest level rather than format.
A further development which has considerably assisted children with reading
difficulties has been the introduction into Britain of large-format picture books. These
vary in size, but most are approximately 30×20 inches and are soft bound. They have
been in use in Australia and New Zealand for some years, in Canada and the USA for a
shorter period. Many trade titles are now available in this format, making reading easier
for children with visual difficulties, children who have poor fine motor skills, and
enabling signed story-telling with visual backup. An increasing number are trade picture
books which are photographically enlarged and reset with large type face and these allow
children who have visual difficulties to read the same book as their peer group without
the need for mechanical or microelectronic assistance.
640 PUBLISHING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS