If you have ever stood in the children's section of a bookstore or library wondering how to go about matching a book to the age, abilities, and interests of a particular child, Choosing Children's Books is for you. Renowned children's librarian and children's book review editor Betsy Hearne offers practical guidance on sorting through the bewildering array of picture books, pop-up books, books for beginning readers, young adult titles, classics, poetry, folktales, and factual books. Each chapter includes an annotated list of recommended titles. A gold mine of commonsense, sound advice, this newly revised and completely updated edition of Betsy Hearne's classic guide is an indispensable tool for choosing books for children of all ages. Newly available in paperback, this revised and updated third edition of Betsy Hearne's classic guide stands as the lodestar for navigating through the bewildering array of books for young readers. Hearne surveys everything from picture books, pop-up books, classics, and books for beginning readers to young adult titles, poetry, folktales, and factual books, with an annotated list of recommended titles accompanying each chapter. A gold mine of common sense and sound advice, her guide remains an indispensable tool for choosing books for children of all ages.
''Excellent guidebook to children's books... Like the earlier editions (1981, 1990), this revision offers articulate, authoritative, and thought-provoking discussions of the books and the issues surrounding them, as well as solid bibliographies and advice on choosing books and introducing them to young people. Librarians will want to update their parenting collections with this friendly, reliable guide to the world of children's literature.'' - Booklist ''A parent- and child-friendly introduction to the art of understanding and selecting children's books.'' -- The Horn Book ''The ideal guide to the best that children's literature has to offer.'' -- Reader's Edge FROM REVIEWS OF THE SECOND EDITION ''To the skeptical, Betsy Hearne's sunny assertion that 'with a little time and interest, anyone can be a first-class, four-star, triple-A children's book connoisseur' may seem moot. But few would deny that this expanded and updated edition of her common-sense guide to choosing books for children remains ... a reliable source of direction for parents perplexed by the publication of too many titles and worried that they don't know how to choose... With a copy of Ms. Hearne's splendid book up one's sleeve, becoming that triple-A connoisseur is no trick at all.'' - Michael Cart, New York Times Book Review ''This compact, superbly reliable handbook is the best of its kind.'' - Booklist ''This is a wonderful, wise book ... [Hearne's] is a passionate voice that calls for the child to read, and for the adult to become a part of that process... An invaluable guide.'' -- Library Materials Guide ''The discussions and the selection of titles are marked by impeccable taste, steady sure wisdom, and years of reading and thinking about children's books. This book, with its graceful, witty prose, is sheer joy from beginning to end.'' -- Horn Book Magazine
