FROM THE CRITICS

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-These introductions to four well-known children's authors offer many facts and anecdotes that fans might find appealing. Each book begins with a little background about the writers' works, and then moves to childhood events and family situations that influenced their work. For the most part, the writing is clear and concise but at times is choppy and stilted because of the short sentence structure. In Blume, readers learn about the author's strong conviction to write about topics that real kids think about and deal with on a daily basis. Her efforts to combat censorship are also highlighted. Bridwell stresses the popularity of Clifford the Big Red Dog as well as the fact that "He admits his books are not the best ones out there. However, kids and their teachers love them." All four books contain full-color and black-and-white photos of the authors as well as period photos. In several cases, the generic pictures seem like filler and are not particularly interesting. Overall, these are serviceable purchases where author biographies are popular.-Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.