PROFESSIONAL REVIEW SOURCES
FOR CHILDREN’S MATERIALS
General
Comments: I much prefer the print
format of the review publications to the online versions I looked at. The online versions don’t seem very
conducive to scanning reviews. I also
prefer that the reviews be arranged by age group, with picture books comprising
an entirely separate category. It is
true that in the past I have always been looking for a narrow age range (for my
children and others I choose books for).
However, even as a librarian, I think I would like to concentrate on one
area of the collection at a time. If
the reviews are not so arranged, at the very least, I think the appropriate age
level for a particular title should be very prominent. It is also extremely helpful to have a coded
rating next to each review, so that one can know the opinion of the reviewer
immediately, and perhaps only consider completely reading information on the
titles that attained a certain level of response. I prefer the name and
affiliation of the reviewer to be right with the review rather than having to
search for it elsewhere in the publication.
Reviews of approximately 200 words seem to be the most helpful, although
if the material warrants, one somewhat longer might be appropriate. In any review source, subject indexes are
invaluable. My favorite publication
over the years has been School Library Journal, which has many,
but not all of the features I have mentioned.
Professor Disbrow notes that she and some students have found Kirkus
to present consistently reliable reviews that align better with their own
opinions than do ones in other publications.
Review
Source: Appraisal
Publisher:
Children’s
Science Book Committee
Frequency:
Quarterly. According to the print issue I looked at,
this periodical is now only available online, and is collected into annual
CD-Roms.
Price:
Institution
$40, personal $30. (This may be
outdated.)
Signed/Unsigned: There are initials on each review. The contributors and their affiliations are
listed in the back of the issue.
Contributor/Staff: Each item is reviewed by both a children’s librarian
and a subject expert.
Length: Varies widely: from 100 to
500 words for each review, and remember there are two reviews for each item.
Comments: Seems to be
a great review source for science books.
Each review has a coded rating, and it is very helpful to have two
opinions right in one source. Although
the reviews are not arranged by subject, a wonderful table of contents does
provide that arrangement with titles and age range included. Unfortunately, at least according to the
issue I looked at, this periodical is now only available online (or in annual
CD-Rom compilations). The University of
Washington does not subscribe to the database.
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Review Source: Bookbird
Publisher: Instituto National de Libro Espanyol.
Frequency: Quarterly, now available online.
Price: International Board on Books for Young People
members $35, non-members $40, institutions $50.
Signed/Unsigned: Unsigned
Contributor/Staff: Likely staff, or some of each, but with unsigned
reviews, it’s hard to tell.
Length: Very short – 50 to 100 words.
Comments: This might be a good way to become familiar with
foreign authors and selected books published outside the U.S., but the reviews
are short and include little opinion.
The issue I looked at included noteworthy books from 11 countries,
usually 1 to 3 books form each, although the U.S. had 10 entries. Each issue has a special theme, with long
articles including book suggestions centered on such things as text
illustrations and the Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee and winners are
examples.
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Review
Source: Book Links
Publisher: The Booklist imprint of the American Library
Association.
Frequency: Six times a year.
Price: $27.95.
Signed/Unsigned: Unsigned.
Contributors/Staff: Likely staff, or some of each. With unsigned reviews, it’s hard to tell.
Length: Most are short 50-100 words.
Comments: The themed
collections of reviews are interesting and include suggestions for activities
and discussion questions. The issue I
looked at had articles about Tennessee, Florida, Africa, and “Families and
Farms”. Also include articles on
authors or illustrators with similar content.
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Review
Source: Booklist
Publisher: American Library Association.
Frequency: Twice monthly Sept – June, ad monthly in July and
August.
Price: $79.95.
Signed/Unsigned: Signed.
Contributors/Staff: Some are staff and some are contributors.
Length: 100 to 200 words.
Comments: I do not like that some books have the author’s name
first in bold print, and others have the title in this position. Print copy says there are cumulative indexes
online at ala.org/booklist. I do like
the three age group arrangement and the fact that different formats are
reviewed and have their own sections (including video & DVD, audiobooks,
websites and reference books). I also
like the listing of upcoming reviews, and the “readalikes” feature.
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Review
Source: Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Publisher: University
of Chicago Press for the University of Chicago Graduate Library School.
Frequency: Monthly except August.
Price: Institutions $66, individual $55, student $15.00.
Signed/Unsigned: Initials only with review.
Contributor/Staff: Probably a mix of staff, professors and students,
with outside contributors a possibility.
Length: 300 words or a little shorter.
Comments: This source does have prominent coded ratings. Each issue includes a cumulative index for
the previous 12 months, which is a nice feature. There is also a subject and use index. The reviews are not
arranged by age groups, but the recommended level is included in the review.
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Review
Source: Horn Book
Publisher: Horn Book, Inc.
Frequency: Every other month.
Price: Institution $55, individual $45,
Signed/Unsigned: Initials with review, full names in the beginning of
the magazine.
Contributor/Staff: Looks to be staff.
Length: 200 words.
Comments: States that most of the items reviewed are
“recommended”. Picture books are in a
separate section, but the rest of the fiction is within one alphabet. There are school grade suggestions within
each review. Some of the reviews lack
opinion and only describe the contents.
The publishers also put out a subject guide every 6 months.
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Review
Source: Kirkus
Publisher: [Kirkus Services]
Frequency: Semi-monthly (24 times a year).
Price: Individual $435, libraries $145 to $430 depending on
book budget.
Signed/Unsigned: Reviews are not signed. There is a list of contributors at the front of the children’s
literature section.
Contributors/Staff: Unclear, probably both staff and contributors.
Length: 200 to 300 words.
Comments: About 50 children’s literature reviews in each issue
with a separate index. The publication
also includes adult fiction, mystery, science fiction, and non-fiction with a
shared index. Specially noted works are
mentioned on the title page of the children’s section. (Two items in the issue I reviewed.) This publication is a great resource, but
it is very expensive!
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Review
Source: School Library Journal
Publisher: Cahners
Frequency: Monthly.
Price: $109
Signed/Unsigned: Name and place of employment with each review.
Contributor/Staff: Volunteer working librarians.
Length: 70 to 250 words.
Comments: This publication has several informational articles
upfront (often on individual librarians, outstanding for one reason or
another). It also has lots of
advertising, which can be distracting.
It does not separate out picture books as I would prefer, but it does
have two other age groupings (with the exact recommendation within each
review). There is also a section
denoting adult books that many teens will enjoy. Also reviews websites, video, audio, CD’s, reference, and
professional literature in separate sections.
I particularly like the “Best of the Year” issue.
Additional
Comments: Among the other publications
subscribed to by the Seattle Public Library were Riverbank, which was
reasonable priced and contained good thematic groupings although the reviews
seem overly long, and Multicultural Review, which seemed helpful for
that particular focus. The additional
publications subscribed to by the University of Washington were too numerous to
review!