<< Back to previous page

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book

Author:

Anita Silvey

Silvey, Anita (ED) Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book

Roaring Brook Press

A fascinating compendium of thoughts about children’s literature from a variety of adults, this is the kind of book comfortably dipped into now and again, not necessary in sequence. Some of the authors are well known children’s literature experts like Katherine Paterson, while others are well known in popular culture like Roger Ebert, and still others like Alison Gopnik will probably be unknown except to people in their own specialty.

Generally, the contributions vary from a paragraph to a page in length. This is accompanied by a full color thumbnail cover reproduction and a brief overview description of the book by Silvey. A facing page includes an excerpt from the book itself and a color or black and white illustration in larger size.

All of this is presented in a generously oversized (11” h x 16 1/4” w) opening which showcases these titles, some widely known like Burton’s THE LITTLE HOUSE and others deserving but less well known like Latham’s PINK ICE CREAM. Many of the titles were chosen by a single adult appreciator, for example Gregory Maguire chose Jane Langdon’s DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW. In contrast, some of the titles like Piper’s THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD were chosen by as many as three people (in this case Donna Shalala, Edward Villella, Tiki Barber). Some of the titles are books more known about than actually read i.e. LITTLE WOMEN.

Roaring Brook Press is to be commended for publishing in a significantly elegant format, a reference book for a small but undoubtedly appreciative adult audience.

Review by: John Warren Stewig, Carthage College