THE NEW REPUBLIC OF CHILDHOOD: A CRITICAL GUIDE TO CANADIAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN ENGLISH Sheila Egoff and Judith Saltman. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press, 1990. 400pp., paper, $19.95. ISBN 0-19-540576-5. CIP. Professional Reviewed by Joan McGrath. Volume 18 Number 4 1990 July The appearance of this third "incarnation" of The Republic of Childhood is cause for celebration. The original trickle of titles eligible for consideration has now swelled to the proportions of a quite respectable river and shows no signs of abating. The present work deals faithfully with the most important new titles from 1975 through 1988 and with a smattering of those published as recently as early 1989. Co-authors Egoff and Saltman have brought encapsulation of the spirit of a book in one or two trenchant sentences to a fine art. Within 314 pages of text an astonishing array of materials is discussed, most of them of Canadian origin, with the addition of a few classic examples from world children's literature as points of reference. The works are grouped under eleven headings: "Canadian Children's Literature and How It Grew," "Realistic Fiction," "The Realistic Animal Story," "Historical Fiction," "Picturebook and Picture-Storybooks," "Native Legends," "Folk and Fairy Tales," "Fantasy," "Science Fiction," "Poetry and Verse" and "Canadian Publishing for Children and How it Grew." There is, as might be expected, a treasure house of bibliography. The love of literature and a valuable, constructive critical spirit capable of pin-pointing any falling off of high standards even in the work of particularly revered and beloved authors illuminate this most impressive work. (Alas that so resolutely Canadian a work should repeatedly substitute the American term "reservation" for the correct Canadian usage "reserve.") No Canadian children's library collection can now be considered complete unless and until it includes The New Republic of Childhood. Joan McGrath, Toronto Board of Education, Toronto, ON.