From Library Journal
Grade 6-9-This handy resource provides fairly extensive biographical information about writers enjoyed by elementary and middle school children. Authors of contemporary and classic novels and nonfiction titles are included. For each entry, several pages of background are followed by a selective, sometimes annotated book list of the person's works and several titles for further reading. This inconsistent use of annotations is bothersome. Occasional Web sites are also given. Clearly, depth of coverage can't be as complete as the multivolume Something about the Author (Gale) or the Biography Today: Author Series (Omnigraphics), but McElmeel more than adequately covers each writer's life and work. "Most popular" is always open to interpretation, and obviously not everyone will agree with this designation. Many of the writers are also found in Bernard Drew's The 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors (Libraries Unlimited, 1997). There are black-and-white photos of fewer than half the entries. Helpful genre and general indexes conclude the volume. For libraries owning any of the biographical sets, this is not a first purchase. However, its accessible format will make it the preferred title to answer general questions. Useful for collections serving teachers and students.Peg Glisson, Mendon Center Elementary School, Pittsford, NY Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Based on a 1997 survey of both teachers and students, this volume includes such well-known authors as Beverly Cleary (most recognized by the survey respondents) and classic writers like Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis. Each entry provides several pages about the author and his or her writings followed by a section called "Books and Notes," which has details about specific books and their themes, including bibliographic information. A list of additional material about or by the author completes each entry.Entries are generally four or five pages long, and this allows McElmeel, who has written several other books on children and reading, to offer fairly detailed profiles. Knowing how writers such as Mary Downing Hahn (whose Stepping on the Cracks is based on memories of her childhood) or Lois Lowry (whose book The Giver sprang from a visit to her father in a nursing home) draw on their own lives for inspiration can help young readers understand the creative process.An index listing genres and themes, such as that found in the three-volume set Writers for Young Adults [RBB O 15 97], would have been helpful. An alphabetical cumulative index of the titles that are cited in the entries would also have been useful. However, even without these, the book is a worthwhile (and inexpensive) resource for elementary-and middle-school libraries and public libraries that serve young readers, especially when such multivolume series as Something About the Author are financially prohibitive. The information included in 100 Most Popular Children's Authors provides, in many instances, more details than can be found in some multivolume sets.

Book Description
This affordable biographical work and ready-reference spotlights 100 beloved children's book authors with each entry including such features as engaging biographical sketches, photos, selective bibliographies, and lists of related information sources. Included are long-time luminaries as well as many new emerging writers. Grades 3-8. INCLUDES: Beverly Cleary, Marguerite Henry, Jack London, R. L. Stine, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

About the Author
SHARRON L. MCELMEEL, an adjunct instructor at Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a long-time educator and library media specialist who has built a national reputation in the area of children's literature and is an often requested conference speaker. She was named Iowa Reading Teacher of the Year in 1987 and was nominated as Iowa's Teacher of the Year in 1997.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This affordable biographical work and ready-reference spotlights 100 beloved children's book authors with each entry including such features as engaging biographical sketches, photos, selective bibliographies, and lists of related information sources. Included are long-time luminaries as well as many new emerging writers. Grades 3-8. INCLUDES: Beverly Cleary, Marguerite Henry, Jack London, R. L. Stine, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Gr 6-9-This handy resource provides fairly extensive biographical information about writers enjoyed by elementary and middle school children. Authors of contemporary and classic novels and nonfiction titles are included. For each entry, several pages of background are followed by a selective, sometimes annotated book list of the person's works and several titles for further reading. This inconsistent use of annotations is bothersome. Occasional Web sites are also given. Clearly, depth of coverage can't be as complete as the multivolume Something about the Author (Gale) or the Biography Today: Author Series (Omnigraphics), but McElmeel more than adequately covers each writer's life and work. "Most popular" is always open to interpretation, and obviously not everyone will agree with this designation. Many of the writers are also found in Bernard Drew's The 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors (Libraries Unlimited, 1997). There are black-and-white photos of fewer than half the entries. Helpful genre and general indexes conclude the volume. For libraries owning any of the biographical sets, this is not a first purchase. However, its accessible format will make it the preferred title to answer general questions. Useful for collections serving teachers and students.-Peg Glisson, Mendon Center Elementary School, Pittsford, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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