Children and Books

The first edition of Children and Books appeared in 1947, when its author, May Hill Arbuthnot, was already well known as the co-author of the "Dick and Jane" series. An eminent educator, Arbuthnot was concerned not only with literacy but also with giving children the best in world literature. Throughout its fifty-year history and with Zena Sutherland as lead author in the last six editions, this best-selling volume has maintained the features that first made it popular: an emphasis on major authors and artists, criteria for each genre, a focus on new books and new ideas, and, above all, an emphasis on children's needs and interests - and on ways in which books of high quality can serve those needs and interests.