Who Next… ? A Guide to Children's Authors 3rd Edition

Citation

Hannabuss, S. (2007), "Who Next… ? A Guide to Children's Authors 3rd Edition", Library Review, Vol. 56 No. 8, pp. 750-752. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530710818171

Librarians and teachers and parents who already own earlier editions of this work will be delighted to see the appearance of the third edition. Under various editors, Who Next…  ? works on the simple principle of saying that “if you liked that, you’ll like this!”. It is rather like having an experienced children's librarian or bookseller at your side, making sensible recommendations above all for that moment when you have read something good and wonder where to go next. “What can I read now?” – the most popular children's titles by a wide range of authors is on offer, for three age groups (5‐7, 8‐11, and 12‐14, and these in the UK equate to Key Stages 1, 2, and 3), and added to that are well‐known characters and series.

It is a brightly covered paperback book and so easy to use in the library and classroom and at home. Larger orders make it attractive if, say, several copies are bought for different departments in a school or for several schools or libraries in a network. Some detail: over 530 writers of children's fiction, each pointing towards others; move from one entry to another and widen your knowledge of reading and enjoyment of books; links between authors and genres; picture books on the whole excluded except where multi‐layered reading likely; and titles likely to be in print and available in a local library or book store. Some are available as talking books too.

The third edition has not only revised the original information and drawn on the expertise of numerous professionals in the field, but it now includes graphic novels and books especially written for young people with lower‐than‐average reading ages, including the publications of Barrington Stoke. An index of author‐theme‐genre is provided, along with lists of prize‐winners and a helpful section on sources (books, magazines/journals, and websites) worth following up. Type‐face is clear script‐like, on clear paper, clearly structured, and the binding is firm for heavy use. The current editors have extensive experience of work with children and young people.

LISU is an acronym for Library and Information Statistics Unit, and is a research unit widely known for its numerous publications on library and information services. Their website is at www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/lisu, and email at lisu@lboro.ac.uk. They are the people who published the adult counterpart called Who Else Writes Like…  ? A Reader's Guide to Fiction Authors, itself now in its fifth edition. Turning to Who Next…  ? itself, there is a “how to use this guide” section, and so a reader who is nine years old and who likes books by Anthony Masters (adventure, animals, ghosts/supernatural) will find other authors like Simon Chapman and R.L. Stine and Robert Westall listed under Masters (one book of many in the 8‐11 section).

This is not only a helpful approach to take. It is also reliable on the authors to read as well. You can go from Allan Ahlberg to Theo Le Sieg and Dr Seuss, from Andy Blackford top John Cunfliffe, from Tony Bradman to Scoular Anderson and Roald Dahl, from Jeff Brown to Alf Prø´ysen, from Jenny Dale to Phyllis Arkle, from Adèle Geras to Anne Fine, from Dick King‐Smith to Michael Morpurgo, and from Colin McNaughton to Raymond Briggs and Sam McBratney. All within the 5‐7 section. Entries include favourite characters and series, too, like Daisy Meadows's “Fairy” and Jenny Oldfield's “Daisy” and Alan Rusbridger's “Zoo” series. You can then turn to the Genres and Themes listings and look under, say, “Animals” (itself organized under the three age‐groups) for authors like Marc Brown, Mary Hoffman, Arnold Lobel, Beatrix Potter, Alison Uttley, and Ian Whybrow. You can also go up through the age‐groups within the genre, say for animal writers for older readers.

This, then, is a book that can be used imaginatively in many ways – by age‐group, by genre and theme, by way of keywords in individual entries, and by way of the general index. Authors are topical but also well‐chosen (not always the same thing): for 8‐11 we find Joan Aiken and David Almond, Lynn Reid Banks and Nina Bawden, Theresa Breslin and betsy Byars, Paula Danziger and Berlie Doherty, Alan Garner and Elizabeth Gouge, Anthony Horowitz (of course!) and Diana Wynne Jones, Penelope Lively and Jenny Nimmo, Philip Pullman and J. K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket and Laura Ingalls Wilder. A wide chronological (in terms of authorship and publishing) range. Again, you can connect up one with another – E.B. White with Dodie Smith, Ian Serraillier with Anne Holm, Philippa Pearce with Lucy Boston.

The 12‐14 age‐group is notoriously controversial, and there are some predictable and some testing suggestions, not all recommendations likely to stay in the front of the practitioner's memory – and that is why this book is so useful! Susan Cooper and Peter Dickinson, Brian Jacques and S.E. Hinton, Joan Lingard, and Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett and Sue Townsend we would expect to be there, but we find also Beverley Naidoo and Christopher Paolini, E.E. Richardson and Jeanette Winterson. There are also numerous interesting and challenging connections for further reading. The genres and themes listing arranges things under headings like ballet and diaries, family and fantasy, friends and historical and humour, other cultures and social issues, transport and war, making it helpful for librarians and teachers keen to connect fact with fiction. Sensible caveats are provided in the short section on the graphic novel. So a very useful and well‐established guide to what's on offer at present (above all in the UK scene) and not the victim of what is merely saleable commercially.