The brief biographies in this series supply only basic facts about these popular creators. Flat, repetitive prose relates a bit about the childhood of each author, explains how he or she first began writing, and describes the success each has achieved. Illustrated with black-and-white and color photos, the books do not provide much information about specific titles cited in the text. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Children's Authors titles: [cf2]Beverly Cleary, H. A. Rey, J. K. Rowling, R. L. Stine, Shel Silverstein, Marc Brown[cf1].] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 3-5-These slight, oversimplified biographies provide a minimum amount of information in a logical format. In both titles, an opening page summarizes the subject's career. Each two-page chapter briefly covers a period in the author's life and is accompanied by a large photo that does little to amplify the text; some are confusing or distracting. The only example of Silverstein's work that is shown is the cover of A Light in the Attic, and in Brown there are but two pictures from Arthur stories, even though some of their other works are mentioned. These books may have difficulty finding an audience. Although they are small in size and have short sentences and many photos, some of the concepts and vocabulary could be difficult even for fourth graders.-Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.