From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Book

By Kathleen T. Horning

An invaluable resource for professionals who wish to write book evaluations—and for all serious fans of children's literature!

This revised edition of From Cover to Cover offers a fresh, up-to-date look at some of the best examples of children’s literature and also includes practical advice on how to write clearly articulated, reasoned opinions so that others can learn about books they have not yet read.

A brief, updated introduction clearly explains how children’s books evolve from manuscripts into bound books and the importance of the many different parts of a book (jacket flaps, title page, copyright, etc.) and changes in the children’s book industry, such as the creation of two new major genre awards. In addition, the author demonstrates how to think about and critically evaluate several different genres of children’s books.

Included are sections about books of information (and the author’s responsibility to document sources); traditional literature (myths, legends, tall tales, folktales); poetry, verse, rhymes, and songs; picture books; easy readers and traditional books; and fiction and graphic novels. There is also a concluding chapter on how to write reviews that are both descriptive and analytical, including a segment on children’s literature blogs.

Updated material includes:

•An introduction that reflects the many changes in the children’s book industry

•A section on genres, including a discussion of graphic novels

•A section on children’s literature blogs

•An introduction of two new major genre awards: the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

•And more than 90% of the books cited have been updated from the first edition to more recent publications!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062001429

Kathleen T. Horning

Kathleen T. Horning is the director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was also a children's librarian at Madison Public Library for nine years. Ms. Horning was the president of the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association in 2007, as well as president of the United States Board on Books for Young People in 2003. She has chaired or served on a variety of children's book award committees, including the Américas Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Award, the John Newbery, USBBY's Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Mildred L. Batchelder Award, the ALA/ALSC's Notable Children's Books, and the NCTE Lee Bennett Hopkins Award committees, and she was selected to deliver the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. She is the coauthor with Ginny Moore Kruse of Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults and of CCBC Choices, an annual publication reviewing the best books for children and young adults. She has a BA in linguistics and a master's degree in library and information studies, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Reviews for From Cover to Cover

[adge73 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Essential.

[sopoforic · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book contains some useful advice on what to consider when evaluating children's books, and a wealth of references to worthwhile children's books, but it was fairly dull.

Too much time, I felt, was spent on tangential issues, such as details of publication, what are endpapers, what is the difference between a printing and an edition, and so forth. While of course it is useful to know the right terms to use when discussing a book, and some insight into the publishing process can be helpful, ultimately this feels like it takes up a disproportionate amount of space in what is a fairly short book.

My other major criticism is that the wealth of references to children's books, which I mentioned above, is both a strength and a weakness. For example, Horning spends some time discussing how the illustrations in a picture book should support and enhance the text, using Goodnight Moon as an example. For readers unfamiliar with that book, this discussion will be far less helpful. Not too big of an issue with such a very popular book, but many other, less well-known books are mentioned as good examples of a type, without a great deal of explanation why--it would be necessary to acquire and investigate each of these books to understand the points Horning makes.

From Cover to Cover is useful, but doesn't stand alone as a complete guide to evaluation and review of children's books.

[crowyhead · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent resource for anyone who wishes to know more about how to evaluate and review children's books. Great for librarians, teachers, reviewers, and even parents.