Dan Gutman

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-Approximately half of the text in these titles is devoted to the authors' lives. Readers find out where the individuals were born, their early years, parents, siblings, where they went to college, and why they wanted to write for children. Visual images abound, e.g., maps showing where they lived, sometimes a "postcard" showing what the area looked like when the author was a child, and family snapshots. Unfortunately, the writing is flat and uninteresting. The remaining pages of each title highlight several of the subject's books, with plot summaries and awards, a description of the publishing process, creative-writing tips, how to write a biography review, fan information with Web sites, and a quiz. It seems like someone created a template for a children's author biography and just filled in the blanks for each individual. The "Meet the Author" series (Richard C. Owen) is far superior in writing, and in child appeal.-Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.