The end of picture books?

This piece in the New York Times today just makes me sad :(

Admittedly, I myself have encouraged Beanie to read chapter books, primarily b/c she herself declared an interest in them, but I do not continue picture books "baby-ish" or "backward": I suspect that a cognitive psychologist will have to undertake a study that suggests the intellectual benefits that children derive from picture books - the analog thinking or some such - in order to make them acceptable to parents and teachers again.

Sigh.

From the perspective of an anthropologist, however, seems like more food for thought on language ideologies, esp. in terms of literacy. Apparently, it is not just about "books," but about "text" and especially "word."

As an aside, I feel like a number of the newer picture books I have read at the library with Beanie and Bubbie in the last five or so years are not unlike Pixar films in that they seem to try to wink and nod at parents as much as they tell a story to children. Perhaps this might be a nudge back to basics: The "classic" children's books that continue to sell do not pander to grown-ups.