Short Takes

By Savannah Schroll Guz, formerly with the Smithsonian Lib., Washington, DC -- Library Journal, 02/01/2010

Eccleshare, Julia. 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. Universe: Rizzoli. 2009. 960p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-7893-1876-3. $36.95. REF
Perfect for elementary and middle school libraries seeking children's literature of continued relevance, and for public libraries serving readers interested in children's literature, this book is the only subject guide bearing such comprehensive breadth. Eccleshare (Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter) brings together synopses and reviews written by nearly 75 field specialists and 30 famous authors, like Margaret Atwood. International selections are organized into five age categories, from toddler to tween. Each entry runs a full page and includes either a first-edition cover image or interior illustration.

Flesch, William. The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry: 19th Century. Facts On File. 2009. 448p. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-8160-5896-9. $85. REF
Rather than approach his subject from the now trendy political angle, Flesch (Comeuppance) focuses on 19th-century British poetry's aesthetics and content, with an engaging overview of both period and contemporary interpretations. Alphabetized entries include the concepts, movements, groups, notable poems, and renowned poets of the 1800s. Running several pages, entries feature verse excerpts, term explanations, career biographies, and further reading titles. Rounding out the book are a four-page glossary of abstruse poetic terms and an eight-page bibliography. This wonderful reference engagingly informs without the leaden prose that sometimes accompanies incisive scholarship.

Myths of the World: An Illustrated Treasury of the World's Greatest Stories. Duncan Baird, dist. by Sterling. 2009. 320p. ed. by Tony Allan. ISBN 978-1-84483-845-5. $29.95. REF
Perhaps best used as a scholastic introduction, this anthology of 250 world myths opens with a broad survey of mythology's chief themes and recognized academic interpreters. Complemented by beautiful, full-color, indigneous illustrations, entries run one page and retell the myth. Allan (Mythic Bestiary) ranges over 18 cultures but in his introduction neglects to explain the criteria used for choosing stories. In addition, vital contextual details, like whether the story has a textual or oral source, are entirely omitted. A more thoroughgoing alternative remains The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend (2008).

Roscoe, Ingrid & others. A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660–1851. 6th ed. Yale Univ. 2009. 1616p. ISBN 978-0-300-14965-4. $200. REF
This highly detailed volume represents a significant enlargement of Rupert Gunnis's 1951 Dictionary of British Sculptors. By combing through previously unpublished material in Gunnis's archive, independent scholar Roscoe, M.G. Sullivan (Ashmolean Museum), and Emma Hardy (Geffrye Museum) expand this sixth edition to include 1000 additional sculptor names. Each of the 3000 entries contains a fully revised individual biography or guild profile and can run multiple pages, depending on productivity. A list of sculptors' works, including date, location, materials, provenance, and bibliographical references, follows biographical particulars. A truly essential guide for scholars of British sculpture dating from the Stuart era through Victoria's early reign.

Sherman, Josepha. World Folklore and Storytellers: Tales of Wonder, Wisdom, Fools, and Heroes. M.E. Sharpe. 2009. 400p. ISBN 978-1-7656-8174-4. $95. REF
Sherman (Young Warriors) puts together a wonderfully wide-ranging collection of nearly 200 ethnically diverse folktales. Particularly vital is that the stories are organized thematically rather than geographically, allowing for broader symbolic and anthropological comparisons. Each narrative runs several pages, includes a brief explanatory introduction, and consistently concludes with at least two bibliographic references. Pockets of multipage color plates offer images from native folktale anthologies and other relevant artistic renderings. A ten-page list of titles for further reading closes the guide. This serves as a wonderful update of Jane Yolen's 1988 Favorite Folktales from Around the World.

Smith, Andrew Phillip. A Dictionary of Gnosticism. Quest. 2009. 296p. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-8356-0869-5. pap. $19.95. REF
Created in response to the sudden appearance of gnosticism in film and popular culture, this fascinating lexicon offers 1700 definitions explaining the enigmatic references, figures, texts, and puzzling redundancies that exist in New Testament apocrypha. The succinct A-to-Z entries run no more than a few sentences. Deftly sketched in Smith's (Lost Sayings of Jesus) introductory overview is gnosticism's emergence, its complex relationship to Christianity, its 19th-century resurgence, and the 20th-century discovery of additional texts expanding our knowledge of the movement. An eight-page bibliography rounds out this vital translation tool, which will aid both scholarly inquiry and ambitious lay study.

Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire. Facts On File. 2009. 448p. ISBN 978-0-8160-7524-9. $75. REF
This reference offers a culturally diverse view of politicized literature from Horace's satires to Seamus Heaney's anti-imperialist translation of Beowulf. Entries are not exclusively Anglo-European but consider works from Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Americas. In over 200 multipage, A-to-Z entries, Snodgrass covers classics both historical and contemporary, organizing information under helpful subject headings and including significant further readings. A definitive constellation of noteworthy works, accessibly presented.

Violini, Juanita Rose. Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored. Weiser. 2009. 296p. ISBN 978-1-57863-447-7. pap. $19.95. REF
This delightful, curiosity-rousing guide offers 365 international tales of the unexplained, paranormal, and bizarre. And unlike a conventional reference resource, the tales are organized not by theme or location but as a calendar, with a story per day. Events alleged to have occurred on specific dates correspond with the appropriate date in the book. Accompanied by whimsical line drawings by Violini (blogger, mysterytrivia.wordpress.com), entries close with thematically relevant quotes, eccentric goals, and activities to help achieve them. While this work does not offer scholarly explanation, journalistic inquiry, or scientific foundation, it is still a genuinely absorbing, entertaining read.