The Mother of All Booklists: The 500 Most Recommended Nonfiction Reads for Ages 3 to 103

The Mother of All Booklists: The 500 Most Recommended Nonfiction Reads for Ages 3 to 103 is written for parents, grandparents, and teachers unfamiliar with the bewildering array of award and recommended reading lists. This book is a long overdue composite of all the major booklists. It brings together over 100 of the most influential book awards and reading lists from leading magazines, newspapers, reference books, schools, libraries, parenting organizations, and professional groups from across the country. The Mother of All Booklists is to reading books what the website Rotten Tomatoes is to watching movies--the ultimate, one-stop, synthesizing resource for finding out what is best. Mother is not the opinion of one book critic, but the aggregate opinion of an army of critics.

Organized into five age group lists each with one hundred books--preschoolers (ages 3-5), early readers (ages 5-9), middle readers (ages 9-13), young adults (ages 13-17), and adults (ages 18+)--The Mother of All Booklists amalgamates the knowledge of the best English-language booklists in the United States, including a few from Canada and Great Britain. Each of the 500 books is annotated, describing the contents of the book and suggesting why the book is unique and important. Each includes a picture of the book cover.

William Patrick Martin is a book lover. His vision was to create a uniquely authoritative reference that he could use to make the best possible nonfiction choices for himself and his family. He has been a professor of education at Temple University and Monmouth University. He did his dissertation on the epic University of Chicago Great Books debate of the 1930s and 1940s. While at Monmouth University, Martin was also the director of the Governor’s School on Public Issues, a selective residential summer program for New Jersey gifted and talented teenagers. His career in Pennsylvania state government has included stints as a press secretary, management consultant, and special advisor to the Lieutenant Governor.