April 1, 2012
PreS-Gr 1-These short biographies introduce famous children's book authors. A question at the top of each spread is answered by a few sentences below. The texts briefly cover the authors' early lives, books and common themes, outside interests, and, most importantly, what spurred them to begin writing. Guillain also dedicates a spread to the illustrations (and illustrators, where applicable). The large pictures depict important settings, photos of the authors and their books, and movie stills. However, the lack of clear captions greatly reduces their effectiveness, and the time lines are too brief to be useful. While they are too short for reports, these books might spur young readers to seek more detailed accounts of these authors' lives. The "About the Author" series (Rosen/PowerKids Pr) is a better choice.
Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2012
These very brief, accessible, photo-heavy biographies offer high points of the careers of two giants of children's literature (the book was published before Sendak's death). The simple one or two lines of text accompanying each picture act more as captions, without really identifying either what's going on in the photo or why it's relevant to the person's life. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind.
(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)