Kathleen Odean

Kathleen Odean, Chief Librarian of ePals, is a nationally recognized expert and popular speaker on books for young people, best known for her four guides, 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). Odean was the chairperson of the 2002 Newbery Award Committee as well as a member of an earlier Newbery Award Committee, Caldecott Award Committee, Notable Children's Books Committee, and Carnegie Award Committee for videos. Odean was the contributing editor for children's books at Book Magazine from 1999 to 2003. Before turning to writing and public speaking, Odean worked as a children's librarian for seventeen years in schools and public libraries in California and Rhode Island.