The Book Tree

The Book Tree: A Christian Reference for Children’s Literature, 2d edition
Elizabeth McCallum & Jane Scott
(Canon Press, 2008), pb., 275 pp.

This is a wonderful book that will be a great resource for every family. A mother-daughter team provides here an annotated, age-graded list of their picks of the best books. Their prefaces are very valuable in themselves as they comment on the shift in children’s books- how classics of the past are now often disparaged and how so much of contemporary children’s literature contains questionable material (reasons for finding good recommendations and not limiting yourself to what happens to be on offer and the standard bookstore).

It is a great help to have others recommendations and descriptions in your own book buying. I would have liked to have critique as well as summary in their listing of each book, but one can’t have everything!

This is a great book to have and give away. As the authors note, this is a great book also for those without young children so that they can choose good books as presents for children and families with children.

(This book is not yet listed on Amazon)