Anita Silvey -- Children's and Young Adult Book Expert

"Little Women." NPR Morning Edition. Available on line. June 9, 2008.

"Harriet the Spy." NPR Morning Edition. Available on line. March 3, 2008.

"Series to Keep Kids (And Adults) Under Books' Spell." NPR Morning Edition. Available on line. July 19, 2007.

"The Parent's Journal with Bobbi Conner." Week of April 18, 2007.

"Who Let the Cat In?" Lincoln Nebraska Journal Star. April 15, 2007.

"Book Lovers of Easton." Easton, Massachusetts. April 2 and 9, 2007.

"Cat in the Hat Made Reading Fun for Kids." Charlotte Herald. March 25, 2007.

"Getting a Read on Kid Lit." Denver Post. March 25, 2007.

"A Look at Three Newbery Honor Books." Scripts News. March 14, 2007.

"Fifty Years of Cat in the Hat." NPR Morning Edition. Available on line. March 1, 2007.

"Shelf Life." Boston Globe. November 21, 2006.

"500 Great Books for Teens." USA Weekend Edition. November 19, 2006.

"Globe at Home." New England Cable Network. October 18. 2006.

"The Unreal Deal." School Library Journal. October 2006.

"What Your Book Choice Says About You." National Geographic for Kids. October 2006.

"Becoming Book Smart." Scholastic Parent and Child. September 2006.

"The Unsettling Stories of Two Lonely Dolls." New York Times. October 17, 2004.

"The Today Show." April 17, 2004. "100 Best Books for Children."

New York Times. January 18, 2004. Review of "An American Plague."

Christian Science Monitor. January 9, 2004. "Oh, the places he took us!"

U.S. News and World Reports. July 14, 2003. "Make Way for Legends."

CNN. June 13, 2003. "Interview about Harry Potter."

The author of 100 Best Books for Children and 500 Great Books for Teens Anita Silvey has devoted 35 years to promoting books that will turn the young -- and families -- into readers. To do this she has appeared frequently on NPR, "The Today Show," "60 Minutes," and radio programs in the United States and Canada to talk about books for children and teenagers. As Publisher's Weekly has said "It would be hard to find a more authoritative voice than Anita Silvey."

As publisher of children’s books for Houghton Mifflin Company from 1995-2001, she oversaw all the children’s book and young adult publishing for both the Houghton and Clarion lists, including such well-known authors and illustrators as H. A. and Margret Rey, Virginia Lee Burton, David Macaulay, Lois Lowry, Allen Say, David Wiesner, Karen Cushman, Linda Sue Park, and Chris Van Allsburg. During her watch, the lists received three Caldecott Medals, two Newbury Medals, two Hans Christian Andersen Awards, and two Grammy nominations.

In a unique career in the children’s book field, Ms. Silvey has divided her time equally between publishing and evaluating children’s books. But her lifelong conviction that “only the very best of anything can be good enough for the young” forms the cornerstone of all of her work. Prior to her role as publisher, Ms. Silvey served for eleven years as Editor-in-Chief of The Horn Book Magazine, a publication many call “the Bible of children’s literature.” As Editor of Horn Book, she read several thousand books a year, hunting for those of exceptional quality that children return to again and again.

Ms. Silvey is the editor of Children’s Books and Their Creators, an overview of 20th Century children’s books. As she says in this volume, “Life is a banquet and most of us starve,” when it comes to knowledge about books for young readers. Sharing her passion and enthusiasm, she gives guidance and background for those trying to find the best books to give to the young. Little Brown published her selection of short stories for young adults, Help Wanted. Houghton Mifflin published The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators in 2002, 100 Best Books for Children in 2004, and 500 Great Books for Teens in 2006.

Ms. Silvey served on the board of the United States section of the International Board on the Books for Young People. She chaired the 1989 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award Committee and the New England Round Table of Children’s Librarians. Ms. Silvey co-founded a literary publication, The Boston Review. She served as President of the Children’s Book Council.

Currently a member of the Editorial Board of Cricket Magazine and the Board of Directors for the Vermont Center for the Book, she teaches “Modern Book Publishing” at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library Science in Boston and "Children’s Book Author Studies" at St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont. She is the Literature Consultant for the 2009 Houghton Mifflin Reading series and lectures throughout the United States on children's books and reading.

Ms. Silvey has been given numerous awards, including The Women’s National Book Association Book Women Award in 1987. In October 1994, for a bicentennial celebration, she received an award from the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, as one of the thirty-eight famous sons and daughters of the city. In July of 2000 she was awarded an honorary Master in Fine Arts in Children's Book Writing by Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont. She is also a member of two honorary organizations, the Society of Printers and the American Antiquarian Society. In January of 2008 she recieved the Ludington Award of the Educational Paperback Association for her lifetime of dedication to children and books.