Canadian Children's Books: A Critical Guide to Authors and Illustrators

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

In their introduction, Raymond Jones and Jon Stott mention that just 15
years ago, a scholar who took a job as a professor of children’s
literature was actually mocked by another academic. The snub seemed even
worse because the jeering academic’s specialty was Zane Grey and
cowboy stories. This illustrates how far children’s literature has
come in Canada over the past decade and a half. For generations, the
notion of writing for children was considered beneath the dignity of
serious writers. Yet by 2001, Canadian children’s literature has not
only become respectable, the writing field is now so large that the
editors felt compelled to apologize in advance for the many fine writers
who were omitted in this volume for want of space.

As it is, this is a very impressive piece of research and organization.
It features 133 of Canada’s most notable children’s authors and
illustrators whose careers span more than a century of writing. Some
were chosen for their historical importance. Others were chosen because
of the critical acclaim their work has received. Each writer is profiled
through a standard format. The first part of the entry gives quick
statistical information under the headings of Born (place and date),
Died (place and date), Principal Residences, Education, Career, Major
Awards, Works for Children, Other (nonfiction or books not for
children), and Selected Discussions (academic articles). The second part
of the entry is a short biography that describes the author’s work and
the influencing events in the author’s life. There are two appendixes;
the first lists the major writing awards and who won them and the second
lists sources for further study. The index at the back of the book
includes both authors’ names and book titles.

This book is an ideal starting point for anyone about to begin a
research project on any of the writers listed in this book.