In these shoes ?

[venta]

Huh. While writing the previous entry, I was casting about for a link to Noel Streatfeild's The Circus Is Coming. I didn't find one straight off, so didn't bother hunting.

I did, however, notice a few books (Circus Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Movie Shoes...) which I'd never heard of. Which is odd, because I'd thought I was pretty well up on my Streatfeild. Ooh, I thought, new books to hunt.

Now I've found this page, which explains all. They're not different books at all, merely old familiar ones retitled (The Circus Is Coming, Wintle's Wonders, The Painted Garden for the examples above). It seems they've renamed a whole bunch of books to create a ... Shoes series. Why ? They aren't a series, the books don't follow on. Admittedly, some characters crop up in slightly in more than one book, but barely enough to justify calling it a series.

In some cases (like Skating Shoes, formerly White Boots) the new titles don't even make much sense. You don't ice skate in shoes.

Dammit, I don't like it. Put them back.

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

It's just a marketing thing. Retitling the books allows the publisher to present a more consistent brand for the author. It's an aspect of the same phenomenon that gets books by the same author all re-released in new covers with identical typography and art styles (usually slicker but less appealing than the originals).