Before he had a family, Moominpappa led a life of adventure and intrigue. But he's never told his story until now. He has a bad cold, and it's the perfect time to remember his youthful endeavors and to ponder the experiences which have made him the remarkable Moomin he is.

This readers' advisory and collection development guide identifies hundreds of books that can help children connect with books and develop into engaged readers. It enables children's librarians, collection development specialists in public libraries, as well as K–8 school librarians and teachers to choose from the best in traditional and modern children's titles. • Enables collection development specialists who are building a new collection or strengthening/augmenting an existing one to create balanced and enduring collections • Serves librarians seeking to increase their knowledge about children's classics and help young readers get more out of them • Helps teachers who are looking for ways to use literature in the classroom, as well as parents seeking books that are suited to their child's interests, needs, and problems

'I decided to run away. There simply wasn't anything else to do.' Here at last is Moominpappa's promised life story - from the days when he was abandoned in a newspaper parcel on the doorstep of a Moomin orphanage, to when he ran away to see the world and was lucky enough to meet Moominmamma.

Beyond Babar: The European Tradition in Children's Literature examines in depth eleven of the most celebrated European children's novels in substantial, critical essays written by well-known international scholars. This approach provides a comprehensive discussion of the selected works from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Each essay offers a critical introduction to the text that can serve as a point of departure for literary scholars, professors of children's literature, primary and secondary school teachers, and librarians who are interested in texts that cross languages and cultures.

Presents brief biographies of the 44 authors and illustrators who have won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, together with a bibliography of five titles by each artist, selected to suggest an overview of each artist's contribution to children's literature.

Essays on Swedish authors of the twentieth-century include prominent Swedish writers from different decades, movements, genres and gender, with preference given to authors published in English translation. Fenno-Swedish writers have also been included since they write in Swedish and are part of the Swedish cultural history. Discusses the establishment of the Nobel Prizes, as well as poets of lyrical modernism, proletarian realists, autodidacts, and contemporary poetry.

With a slender design and appealing art, Cullinan and Galda present a thought provoking discussion on how children can read to respond, read to learn, and read to enjoy. This text provides evaluation criteria for selecting superior children's books, rather than listing thousands of titles and synopses. Booklists direct readers to quality literature, and extended discussions of selected titles demonstrate the selection criteria. Multicultural literature is discussed throughout the text, with a separate chapter on more specific multicultural issues. Numerous teaching ideas, many of which are contributed by classroom teachers, provide practical applications. This is a book for teachers, stressing the use of good books in a literature based curriculum.

Presents librarians and teachers with information on more than 1,200 fiction series for children in kindergarten through sixth grade, providing annotations, a listing of titles, important characters, genre, author biography, grade level, and major themes.