DEDICATION
To Amanda and Christopher our long-suffering and patient children with thanks
CHILDRENS FICTION SOURCEBOOK
A survey of childrens books for 613 year olds
Margaret Hobson
Jennifer Madden
Ray Prytherch
First published 1992 by Ashgate Publishing
Reissued 2018 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright Margaret Hobson, Jennifer Madden, Ray Prytherch 1992
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.
A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 91027121
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-61381-2 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-429-46171-2 (ebk)
CONTENTS
MARGARET HOBSON
Born in Huddersfield in 1939, she became a library assistant in 1961, eventually specializing in childrens work. After qualifying at Liverpool School of Librarianship, she worked first as a childrens librarian, then in a college of education library. With one son and one daughter, she currently works as part of a team in the Childrens Services Department in Kirklees Cultural Services.
JENNIFER MADDEN
Married with one son. Librarian since 1960, currently in charge of the Childrens and Schools Library Service in Kirklees Cultural Services. Vice-Chairman of the Arts Development Association and Chairman of the local branch of the RSPCA.
RAY PRYTHERCH
Works as an information consultant specializing in bibliographic works, library training, and the international context of research librarianship. His other works for Gower include Harrods Librarians Glossary and Reference Book (7th edition), Handbook of Library Training Practice, and Sources of Information in Librarianship and Information Science (2nd edition).
Childrens reading is a vital component of education and recreation; parents, teachers and librarians all wish to encourage and foster good reading habits that will provide a sound future base for leisure reading, imaginative skills, and for the everyday requirements of a literate society; all devote much time to the careful selection of a comprehensive stock of childrens fiction.
Although advisory guides have been attempted before, they have been, in the main, academic or historical in approach, and reviews, the only other source of guidance, are by their very nature widely scattered and difficult to obtain. We feel a distinct need for a comprehensive source, offering thorough guidance on English-language childrens fiction for 613-year-olds: a selective survey of the best and most popular childrens authors giving a brief biographical note, address and/or agent contact, details of awards and prizes, age range, and versions of their work with essential bibliographical detail.
This volume covers about 140 authors, and for each of their titles or series there is a brief annotation; thus we are offering an evaluative source-book to help in the selection of reading material for children by parents, teachers and librarians. The biographical details will help in the selection and contacting of authors for events, promotional meetings, story-times, literary quizzes and readings.
Not every childrens author can be represented: there has been a deliberate selection, mainly those currently writing, and although there is a UK bias, there is also good coverage of North American, Australasian and Commonwealth authors.
Appendices offer a number of valuable features: recommended editions of classic titles that are always important are discussed, together with anthologies of fairy tales; publishers series are listed, as are television tie-ins from 1985 onwards; lists of winners of major prizes and awards are included.
Inevitably, in a work such as this, there will be errors and omissions. In anticipation of a planned revision, the authors would like to hear from anyone with suggestions for additions or corrections, and particularly from those authors whose biographical details were difficult to trace, and who, therefore, have very short biographical entries in this first edition.
The authors wish to express their grateful thanks to Woodfield and Stanley Ltd, childrens book suppliers of Moldgreen, Huddersfield, for their support and help.
Their thanks are also due to David Madden for his work in preparing and editing the text.
In compiling this volume we have received help, advice and support from many colleagues, libraries and publishers; we should like to record our thanks to all of them.
The main body of the text is a list, in author order, of the selected titles, followed by appendices on classics (also in author order with anthologies at the end), series (in series name order, with lists of authors for each series), and television tie-ins (again in author order). The author index lists every author mentioned, whether the name appears in the main text or in the appendices; similarly every title is included in the title index.
Within the entry for each author, the titles are listed in alphabetical order, unless otherwise indicated. However, where the title is part of a series, the first title is listed in its place in the alphabetical order, and subsequent titles follow it immediately. Such titles are indented to indicate that they are part of the series.
For every title listed, at least one bibliographical citation is given. The format for this citation is:
Publisher, year, no. of pages. notes. ISBN
The citations for most entries have the full details as shown above. However, while every title has, of course, been read in the course of compiling this work, not every published edition has been examined. The details are as shown in Whitakers British Books in Print, December 1990.
Within notes, the following abbreviations have been used:
| Pbk | = | Paperback edition |
| L/P | = | Large print edition |
| O/P | = | Out of print. While this means that the title cannot currently be purchased, the titles chosen are all so well known that this version will almost certainly be available from any good public library. |
A
ADAMS, Richard
British. Born Newbury, 1920. Educated Bradfield College, Berkshire; Worcester College, Oxford. B.A. Modern History, M.A. British Army WW II. Married Barbara Elizabeth Acland, 1949, two daughters. Civil servant, writer.
