100 Most Popular Children's Authors

by Sharron L. McElmeel

Published by Libraries Unlimited

100 Most Popular Children's Authors
Now Available

Featuring 100 beloved and celebrated children's book authors, this book contains biographical sketches, photos, and selected bibliographies. Included are 100 of the most popular authors of books for young readers.

100 Most Popular Children's Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies 1999. 495p. appendix. illus, index. Libraries Unlimited, $48. ISBN: 1-56308-646-8

List of Authors included.
What reviewers have to say:

"a treasure for every school. ... With the emphasis on children's books and authors, this resource will spend more time on leave from the media center than in it. 7 x 10, hardbound." -- Teaching PreK-8 - September 1999, pg. 94 "Teaching Talks" by Patricia Broderick and Allen Raymond.

"Don't miss Sharron McElmeel's latest book .... It's got all the information you've been looking for about your favorite authors and illustrators. Sharron's written a vast amount of useful and practical books for teachers and librarians, but I do believe this is her best." -- Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Newsletter, Summer 1999, available online.

"It's a splendid resource with information about the authors that you don't see elsewhere. McElmeel understands what readers want to know about the people who write their books and she's included it here. ... This is one of those books that you'll have to keep chasing as teachers and librarians alike refuse to return it." -- Teaching PreK-8 - September 1999, pg 108 "Books for a New School Year: Six Books that will whet readers' appetite for more." by Carol Otis Hurst.

"... a worthwhile (and inexpensive) resource .... provides, in many instances, more details than can be found in some multivolumed sets." -- Booklist - September 1, 1999, pg 182.

"This handy resource provides fairly extensive biographical information about writers enjoyed by elementary and middle school children." -- School Library Journal - November 1999.

"... lively biographical sketch(es)... Includes b&w portraits of some authors. Easy-to-read print is accessible to students in grades 3-8. -- Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)>

"This handy resource provides fairly extensive biographical information about writers enjoyed by elementary and middle school children.... its accessible format will make it the preferred title to answer general questions. Useful for collections serving teachers and students." -- Library Journal , 1999.

"McElmeel's one-stop volume contains interesting tidbits about the chosen authors gleaned from personal interviews and attendance at workshops and conferences...For the student...this book is a goldmine, filled with interesting and highly readable entries presented in direct and understandable language...This book is sure to be a hit with students, teachers, and librarians in quest of that sometimes-elusive information about the author or illustrator. Highly Recommended." - Book Report, 1999.

"The information included in 100 Most Popular Authors... provides, in many instances, more details than can be found in some multivolume sets." Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin, 1999.

"McElmeel's one-stop volume contains interesting tidbits about the chosen authors gleaned from personal interviews and attendance at workshops and conferences...For the student...this book is a goldmine, filled with interesting and highly readable entries presented in direct and understandable language...This book is sure to be a hit with students, teachers, and librarians in quest of that sometimes-elusive information about the author or illustrator. Highly Recommended." - Library Talk January/February 2000, p. 64; Book Report January/February 2000, p. 82.

"Quite a useful volume for those who want easily accessible information on (basically) American children's writers." - Orana

"The reference provides bibliographic information about authors that may help connect children with literature." - Iowa Reading Journal

"Lively biographical sketches, photos, selected bibliographies and lists of related information sources." - Curriculum Administrator

"Each entry includes a lively biographical sketch, a selected bibliography, and a list of related information sources...Easy-to-read print is accessible to students in grades 3-8." - Reference and Research Book News

"A handy classroom reference tool...Every teacher will find this a gold mine of resources." - Reviews from Parent Council

Authors featured in the book with updates as new information becomes available:

David A. Adler

Lloyd Alexander

Avi

James Matthew Barrie

Patricia Beatty

John Bellairs

Judy Blume

Michael Bond

Bill Brittain

Anne Evelyn "Eve" Bunting

Betsy Byars

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)

Matthew F. "Matt" Christopher

John Ciardi

Beverly Cleary

Eth Clifford (Ethel Rosenberg)

Christopher Collier

James Lincoln Collier

Ellen Conford

Pam Conrad

Bruce Coville

Roland Dahl

Paula Danziger

Judy Delton

Judy Delton died at United Hospital in St. Paul.on December 31, 2001, of a blood infection. She is survived by her four grown children. Star Tribune Obituary

Lois Duncan

Eleanor Estes

Aileen Fisher

Louise Fitzhugh

John D. Fitzgerald

Paul Fleischman

Sid Fleischman

Paula Fox

Russell Freedman

Jean Fritz

Jean Craighead George

Patricia Reilly Giff

Jamie Gilson

Carol Gorman

Mary Downing Hahn

Lynn Hall

Virginia Hamilton

Marguerite Henry

Clifford B. Hicks

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Langston Hughes

Irene Hunt

Johanna Hurwitz

Paul B. Janeczko

Rudyard Kipling

James Arthur Kjelgaard

Suzy Kline

E. L. Konigsburg

Madeleine L'Engle

Robert Lawson

C. S. Lewis

Astrid Lindgren

Myra Cohn Livingston

Jack London

Lois Lowry

Patricia MacLachlan

Patricia McKissack

A. A. Milne

Nicholasa Mohr

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Joan Lowery Nixon

Mary Norton

Scott O'Dell

Jerry Pallotta

Barbara Park

Katherine Paterson

Gary Paulsen

Richard Peck

Robert Newton Peck

Jack Prelutsky

Ivy Ruckman

Cynthia Rylant

Louis Sachar

Marilyn Sachs

George Selden

Shel Silverstein

Update: Shortly after this book was released Shel Silverstein suffered a heart attack. He died, on May 10, 1999 in his home in Key West, Florida where he had had a home since 1978. Silverstein was 66. Although it was widely acknowledged that Shel Silverstein was born in 1932 few knew, until his death, that the date of his birth was Sept. 25. He was born Shelby Silverstein in Chicago, Illinois. The only survivor listed was his "15-year-old son Mathew."

Seymour Simon

Gloria Skurzynski

Alvin Slote

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Elizabeth George Speare

Jerry Spinelli

Robert Lawrence (R. L.) Stine

Mary Stolz

Mildred D. Taylor

Theodore Taylor

Yoshiko Uchida

Cynhtia Voigt

E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Elizabeth Winthrop

David Wisniewski

Update: David Wisniewski passed away in his home on September 11, 2003. His award-winning Golem may be his best remembered title, but my favorite was Ducky which was authored by Eve Bunting. I loved the story and Wisniewski's simple illustrations for the book. His later titles put him firmly in the arena of humorous extraordinairé.

Betty Ren Wright

Elizabeth Yates

Jane Yolen

©1999

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