Holiday House: the First Sixty-Five Years by Russell Freedman and Barbara Elleman. Published by Holiday House, 1985, revised edition 2000. 247 pages.

The history of a publishing firm that, in 1935, was the first to be established for the sole purpose of publishing children's books. It appears it may be one of the last of the major children's book publishers to be independent and family owned.

Written by one of Holiday House's longtime non-fiction authors and brought up to date from the 1985 first edition by a longtime editor at Booklist, this history is filled with the inside story on publishing and on many famous children's authors, illustrators and books. Notable among the artists are Glen Rounds, Jim Kjelgaard, Leonard Everett Fisher, Tomie de Paola, David Adler, Gail Gibbons, and Trina Schart Hyman.

A quick way to get familiar with a choice selection of children's books and to learn more about this jewel of children's book publishing.

Bob Sibert