Children's and Youth Literature Writer's and Reviewer's Guide/Helping the reviewer

Helping the reviewer

Explanatory booklet

An explanatory booklet or "executive summary" of a novel intended for children and adolescents can help the reviewer to understand the pedagogical value, educational aspects, metaphors and cultural background of the novel more conveniently. Authors might want to consider to produce such material in order to help reviewers to evaluate their work. An explanatory booklet should allow the reviewer to understand the general aim and intend but also to find reading samples meant to exemplify specific aspects of the work. An author also might want to document his own background and his views beyond the content of the novel. An explanatory booklet should also list criteria a novel is meant to meet, as for instance the list of criteria for intercultural competence from baobabbooks.ch. Authors are, of course, free to present their own list of criteria or to apply their own interpretation; the reviewer is the person who is meant to offer a third-party perspective.

With the help of well-intended and well-written explanatory information more parents and educators should be able to properly evaluate the offered novels. Explanatory booklets may also be especially useful for natural mentors or program mentors trying to promote reading literacy and interest in literature.