Celebrating Children's Books: Essays on Children's Literature in Honor of Zena Sutherland

by Betsy Hearne, Marilyn Kaye

Twenty-three prominent authors of children's books--including Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, Paula Fox, and Robert Cormier--write about their work, in commemoration of the Zena Sutherland Lectureship

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Writing, Literary Criticism

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Betsy Hearne is the author of numerous articles and books, including Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide, the folktale anthology Beauties and Beasts, fiction for both children and young adults, and picture books—one of which, Seven Brave Women, won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. The former children's book editor of Booklist and of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, she has reviewed books for almost forty years and contributes regularly to The Horn Book Magazine.

Hearne was the former Director of The Center for Children's Books and a professor emerita in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught children's literature and storytelling for many years.

Reviews

[Andrew Boen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for class, it was an interesting read and very useful if you’re interested in writing for children. So many different perspectives from so many different people who are involved in the business that is children’s literature.

[Viviennemonique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this for class too. Thinking of only reading children’s books this year since I am now very knowledgeable.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this book out for E.L. Konigsburg's contribution, "Ruthie Britten and Because I Can," those being her answers to the question "Why do you write children's books?" Any of the authors' essays are worth a look, especially for people who are interested in any of the contributors. David Macaulay has a wickedly funny essay about creating children's nonfiction picture books, filled with dubious wisdom such as "Any clues in a picture, for instance, that might increase a child's awareness of and sensitivity toward his or her environment should be completely removed."

I didn't find the essay on nonsense verse illuminating at all. Ursula Nordstrom's essay on editing children's books is magnificent, although of course a lot of the specific business advice is centuries out of date now. The same goes for a lot of the pieces at the end about the children's book business, which are at best historical artifacts at this point.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lobel and Konigsburg’s essays are fantastic.