Scan barcode
aholeistodig's review
5.0
"The children are ready, but most adults will have to be recycled." -N. Larrick
ngreader's review
4.0
I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!
This book was a behemoth and very academic, but also SO very good. As a children's library staff member and a former child myself, it was beyond interesting to see how the publishers, authors and books that I love came into being. I never knew the effect that librarians had in the publishing world, how publishing worked in the past and in the future and how the oldest book awards in the game (Newbery and Caldecott) came to be or even who they were named after. I want a copy of this book for myself, so I can mark it up and tag it. One thing that I would've liked to see more of is the work that people of color were (or were not allowed) to do. There are brief mentions of diverse authors of color, librarians of color and publishers of color, but I would've liked to see more. However, the fact that Marcus made sure to include this (in a really broad history book) made me really happy and, considering the length of the book, it makes sense that only brief mentions were available.
This book was a behemoth and very academic, but also SO very good. As a children's library staff member and a former child myself, it was beyond interesting to see how the publishers, authors and books that I love came into being. I never knew the effect that librarians had in the publishing world, how publishing worked in the past and in the future and how the oldest book awards in the game (Newbery and Caldecott) came to be or even who they were named after. I want a copy of this book for myself, so I can mark it up and tag it. One thing that I would've liked to see more of is the work that people of color were (or were not allowed) to do. There are brief mentions of diverse authors of color, librarians of color and publishers of color, but I would've liked to see more. However, the fact that Marcus made sure to include this (in a really broad history book) made me really happy and, considering the length of the book, it makes sense that only brief mentions were available.
nssutton's review
5.0
recommended reading for materials for ya. i stalled out on this a while, as my adult non-fiction gears are a little rusty these days. i really appreciated the comprehensiveness of the history, as well as marcus's writing style. it was exciting to learn of particular author and title's humble beginnings. definitely a must read for a children's lit geek.
emilybriano's review
4.0
Everything you'd ever want to know about children's books in America from colonial days to the present. I wish some more recent developments in YA fiction could have been included, as well as pictures. Nonetheless, it's a meticulously researched overview of the history of children's literature. A must-read (or at least must-browse) for librarians and lovers of children's lit.
vcallgood's review
1.0
This was a textbook for a graduate class, and I hated it. Not only is the writing so-so, the drudgery with which the facts are portrayed makes an interesting history seem incredibly boring. Additionally, he bounces back and forth in time so much that it’s hard to keep track of when things occurred. The chapters are linear, but within them, the events are not placed in sequential order. Such a frustrating read.
anitagrendell's review
2.0
Required reading for school. Bits of it were interesting, especially when I recognized some of the names.
brucefarrar's review
4.0
Marcus has written a very interesting history of publishing English books for children in the United States from the 1690 New England Primer to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in July 2000. The twentieth century, when publishers first appointed knowledgeable women editors to begin and run specialized children’s imprints, gets the most coverage. As the subtitle advertises, the debates in the field supply the story’s plot: should books for children be educational or entertaining, truth or fiction, draw upon folktales or the daily sensations of children in their new modern environment, is our business literature or commerce, and is children’s literature really literature at all? The characters, and there are some characters, are supplied by the publishers, editors, librarians, and educators who wrestle with these issues and the economic necessity of keeping their enterprises afloat.