"The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children" is an extremely helpful resource. The fully revised and updated third edition was published in 2000 by Three Rivers Press. Eden Ross Lipson, the author, is the children's book editor of The New York Times. This hefty (550 pages) softbound book is well designed, with plenty of white space, easy to read typeface, small black and white illustrations from many of the books, and a standard format for each entry.
An Overview
The "Guide" is divided into six sections: Wordless Books, Picture Books, Story Books, Early Reading Books, Middle Reading Books, and Young Adult Books. Each section begins with a brief description of the books covered in the section, followed by individual entries for each book. Each book description includes the title, author, illustrator, publication date, and a summary of the book. It also includes both the publisher of the cloth (hardbound) and the publisher of the paper (paperback/softbound) editions of the book. The "Guide" includes over 1,000 books published in the United States, almost all in the twentieth century.
Indexes and Entries
The multiple indexes are what make the "The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children" such a good reference book. These include indexes of titles, author, and illustrators. To help you choose books by age, there are age-appropriate indexes, from infants to middle grade readers. If you are looking for books on a particular topic, there are over 50 special subject indexes, ranging from adoption to war and peace.
Each entry in the book is assigned a consecutive number, making it particularly easy to locate individual entries quickly. In each section, books are listed alphabetically, by title. If a book has won a Caldecott or Newbery award or been designated a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, it is noted in the entry. At the end of the book is a brief bibliography listing several other helpful guides and resources.
Who is the Book for and What Types of Children's Books are Listed?
In her introduction to the "Guide," the author Eden Ross Lipson writes, "This book is for people who care about honest-to-goodness children and who want to instill in them a love of reading." She goes on to say that, "It is a mixture of classic, standard, and solid new titles." The entries include more biographies, autobiographies, and books about science than in previous editions, as well as more books about minorities.
Is This the Book for You?
For me, reading the book was like meeting old friends and being introduced to new ones that I'd like to know better. To see if this is the book for you, the author recommends that you look up several of your favorites in the "Guide" to make sure that they are there and to see if the author has covered what you feel are the important points about each book. I tried this and was very pleased with what I found. With the sheer number of books available, it is reassuring to have a way of making some sense of all the choices available.
