About Kathleen

Kathleen worked as a public and school librarian for 17 years and served as chairperson of the Newbery Award Committee. She has given hundreds of professional development workshops for teachers and librarians on new books for children and teens.  

Kathleen was lucky enough to serve as the chairperson to a wonderful group of ALA members on the Newbery Award Committee in 2001. She was also a member of an earlier Newbery Award Committee, Caldecott Award Committee, Notable Children’s Books Committee, and Carnegie Award Committee for videos. 

Kathleen reviewed books children's and YA books  for Kirkus Reviews, Teacher-Librarian, School Library Journal, Booklist, and The Providence Journal. She was a contributing editor to BOOK: The Magazine for the Reading Life for five years.

Kathleen is the author of four guides, now out of print: Great Books for Girls: More than 600 Recommended Books for Girls Ages 3-14 (first published in 1997 and revised in May 2002), Great Books for Boys: More than 600 Books for Boys 2 to 14 (Ballantine, 1998), Great Books about Things Kids Love: More than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to 14 (Ballantine, 2002), and Great Books for Babies and Toddlers: More than 500 Recommended Books for Your Child’s First Three Years (Ballantine, 2003). 

A Minnesota native and current Rhode Island resident, Kathleen has a B.A. in English from Carleton College, Northfield, MN, and an MLS and M.A. in Folklore from the University of California at Berkeley. Her folklore thesis on the lore of the stock market was the subject of her first book, High Steppers, Fallen Angels, and Lollipops: Wall Street Slang (Dodd, Mead, 1988).

You can reach her at kathleenodean@gmail.com