Part of the series, Children’s and Young Adult Literature Reference Series, this book is large and quite complete. Included in it are titles that may be annotated, cited in an annotation, or recommended by the main entry author. It can easily be used for reader’s advisory work as well as connecting kids to similar literature. The key to this book is its facilitation, as a selection tool, a collection development tool, reading guidance, or preparation of bibliographic information. It has information on type of book, type of child who might benefit from this title, etc. It is categorized as well as alphabetically arranged. Not for the faint of heart, it will excite a teacher librarian wishing to make these connections. Online updates are readily offered to make this tome longer lasting. Recommended

This standard collection development tool has been around for many years. It is a collection of reviews from various review periodicals such as Booklist, and School Library Journal. The reviews are divided into topics and age levels and contain the full citation and a brief description. All are recommended. If you do not have access to an automated selection database that covers the same periodicals, then this print list is valuable as a check against your collection holdings. We are wondering when the first recommended ebook collection list will be published…

This is an excellent resource. Entries must have received at least two recommendations in order to be considered. This assures users of the quality of the entries, and it allows for the authors to review the items into greater depth. The book was developed to assist librarians in beginning, evaluating, and expanding their collections, to provide reading guidance to children, and to be a base for bibliography and reading lists. The book is organized by age and by curriculum-oriented subjects. Indices include title, author, and subject and grade level. Each entry is briefly annotated and includes the grade range and the sources used for selection (a nice feature). A note of caution: out-of-print titles have been dropped. ( )