Deborah Stevenson, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, will retire from the University of Illinois on July 31. Stevenson has been with The Bulletin, one of the nation's leading children's book review journals for school and public librarians, since 1989 and has held the position of editor since 2001. From 2010-2019, she also served as director of the iSchool's Center for Children's Books (CCB).
"The reviews produced under her direction—approximately one-third of which she pens herself—directly influence which children's books appear on library and school shelves across the country, shaping three rising generations of American adults, as readers, consumers of information, and global citizens," said Sara L. Schwebel, professor and CCB director. "In producing one of the nation's top review journals, she has sustained and solidified the iSchool's long-established reputation as an international leader in the field of Youth Services librarianship and children’s literature."
Stevenson has served on major children's book award committees of the American Library Association (ALA) including the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, and Batchelder Award. In addition, she has served on or chaired the Scott O'Dell Award committee continually since 2011. Her articles have appeared in The Horn Book Magazine, The Lion and the Unicorn, and the Children's Literature Association Quarterly, and she is a senior editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. She is the coauthor, with Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne, of Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide and coeditor of the in-progress Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Children's Literature.
Stevenson taught children's literature at Indiana University Northwest, Simmons University, and the University of Illinois. She also taught in the continuing education program at the University of Chicago. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago.
"It has been a joy and a privilege to work with my talented and dedicated colleagues at the iSchool, and I'm honored to have been able to add my contribution to the School's longstanding commitment to youth and the librarians who serve them," said Stevenson.