About the Site

Remember that book you read as a kid?  You know the one.  It had that guy in it.  Or maybe it was that girl. Actually, it was probably both.  And there was a mystery to solve!  They went on an adventure.  There was something magical about it.  And it all ended happily!  I think.  Anyway, it was something like that.

But, after all these years, it’s hard to remember exactly how it all went.  Now, the book is out of print.  You could probably find it somewhere, if you remember what it was.  Maybe you’d like a copy, or maybe you’d just like to remember exactly how it went.

There are a number of sites on the Internet now where you can submit descriptions of a book you’re looking for, as much as you can remember about it, and see whether or not anyone recognizes it.  This site is more the opposite.  I haven’t read all the books in the world and cataloguing very piece of children’s literature would take an eternity, but I’m a notorious book hoarder, and I have a particular interest in children’s literature.

Rather than being simpler for children, children’s books (the really good ones) are surprisingly complex, sometimes more so than books for adults.  Children notice everything, from the small details of a story to the small details of a picture.  The mental images created by a good story stay with us for years as well as memories of lovely pictures from our favorite books.  In the creation of this site, I had in mine people who wanted to reminisce about old favorite books and memories surrounding them as well as people who may be searching for information about a half-remembered book.  Cataloguing e  I do not sell books here, but I do take suggestions for book reviews, and I am available for questions through my contact page.

Most of the books I will be reviewing are old favorites of mine.  Most of them aren’t the kind of books that are on award lists (although some are), and many of them are long out of print, forgotten or half-forgotten by everyone except for me and a few other people who had fun reading them years ago.  Take a moment to think back on stories you loved as a kid, the ones that made you dream of being a detective, a dancer, an astronaut, or maybe a wizard, or maybe just made you wish you could go back in time to another place . . .

Most of the books I liked when I was young were mysteries, fantasies, or historical novels.  I might offer some spoilers if someone else remembers the story and wants to know how it ends or just wants more information about it.  If someone wants to recommend a book for discussion, let me know!

I make it a policy not to include any book that is newer than ten years old because people cannot be too nostalgic about books that they’ve only read recently.  On the Books By Decade page under Stats and Lists, you’ll also find some information about life and culture in different decades as well as books from those decades.  Besides adding to nostalgia, some of the historical information could aid people writing stories about children from the past.  I do a bit of writing on the side, and details are important to character creation.  The books we read in life contribute to the people we become, and knowing what children of the past read can contribute to understanding their characters.

I also like to note that I took pictures of books rather than scans (which would be higher quality) for a reason: I wanted to prove that I had physical copies of the books in my possession and took the pictures myself rather than getting the images in any other way.  For guest reviews, I do accept pictures provided by the guests, but those are noted within the review.  All of the other pictures are mine, not borrowed from any other source.  Pictures of artwork and other pages within the books are meant to demonstrate the style of art within the book and make the review more informative.

About the Site Creator/Curator

Tracy Christenson

I started this site partly for web design practice and partly to show off my collection of children’s literature and a few other favorites borrowed from libraries.  The books we read as children are often the foundation for the people we become later in life, and I appreciate the artistry and imagination that goes into their creation.

When I’m not reading or studying for my web design/development classes, I also write stories and enjoy cooking, crafts, and geocaching.  I have a dog named Betty, who I adopted after volunteering at an animal shelter, where we got to know each other.  Her training is coming along well, but I suspect that she’s thinking the same thing about me!

Because I am not very photogenic, please accept this picture of Betty instead.