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Booklist
Voya
School Library Journal
Review from: Booklist
Date Reviewed: October 2000
The Junior Book of Authors, first published in 1934 and
substantially revised in 1951, has been supplemented by seven volumes in
the past 50 years, each adding new writers (and since the 1978 edition,
illustrators) to this authoritative reference set. The Eighth Book of
Junior Authors and Illustrators sets a new standard with a more
attractive format including larger photos, whiter pages, improved page
design, and the addition of jacket art to some articles. Updated entries
for 15 major figures from the first five volumes include articles on Eric
Carle, Tom Feelings, and Trina Schart Hyman. A typical article includes a
page or two of autobiography, a photograph, a page of biography, and a
bibliography of the writer or artist's works and other sources of
information. Among the 202 writers and illustrators profiled in this
edition are Jennifer Armstrong, Tedd Arnold, Ilene Cooper, Carolyn Coman,
Christopher Paul Curtis, Debbie Dadey, G. Brian Karas, Satoshi Kitamura,
P. J. Lynch, Hilary McKay, Mary Pope Osborne, Andrea Davis Pinkney, J. K.
Rowling, Simms Taback, and Jacqueline Woodson. The combination of
well-chosen subjects, well-written entries, and an attractive format makes
this a solid choice for any library responding to requests for information
about children's book writers and illustrators.
Review
from: Voya
Date reviewed: April 2001 issue
This volume in the Junior
Authors and Illustrators series follows the format of earlier editions
with some improvements. The entries for the more than two hundred authors
or illustrators included here consist of a brief written statement giving
the reader a feel for the subject, biographical information, selected
works, and suggested reading. In many entries, a Web site also is
included. J.K. Rowling, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Simms Tayback
represent some of the newer authors or illustrators. There are also
updates of profiles included in earlier volumes, such as Judy Blume and
Beverly Cleary. The focus of this series is on authors and illustrators
who write for younger children, but Jacqueline Woodson, Caroline Cooney,
and Rita Williams-Garcia are among those who write for the young adult
audience. As in previous volumes, those selected are authors or
illustrators of picture books, fiction, nonfiction and poetry.
The format of the new edition
is much more appealing than the earlier ones. The portraits of the authors
are larger, and pictures of book covers enliven the text. The layout is
reader friendly, with larger print and a less formal feel than the seventh
volume. A listing of awards and honors includes American Library
Association Notable Children’s Books and the Caldecott and Newbery
medals but does not mention any of the Young Adult Library Services
Association’s awards. Recommended for all libraries, this title offers
both biographical information and a personal look at some of the newer
contributors to the field of children’s literature in a succinct, easy
to navigate format. –Judy Sasges
Review
from: School Library Journal
Date reviewed: October 2000
This outstanding addition
to the series provides librarians, teachers, and students with up-to-date
information about 202 current authors and illustrators of books for
children and young adults. In addition to the many fresh voices, the book
contains revised entries on 15 artists and writers, such as Tom Feelings,
Beverly Cleary, and Charlotte, Zolotow, whose works continue to have an
impact. The new one-column page layout is inviting, and it’s easy to get
lost in the subjects’ words as they tell their stories. The well-written
articles that accompany the autobiographical pieces, the lengthy
bibliographies of significant works and of critical material, the listing
of Web sites and even some e-mail addresses, the jacket illustrations, and
the photographs all add up to a book that shines. Though biographical
material is readily available in sources such as the "Something about
the Author" series (Gale) or Anita Silvey’s Children’s Books and
Their Creators (Houghton, 1995), this reader-friendly work belongs in all
collections.—Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookjline, MA
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