All About Collecting Girls' / Boys' Series Books
                                             (2002 - Hobby House Press)  

               (by John Axe)   Two books on alternate ends of the same theme.  Through the decades, lots of young readers read the classic adventure & mystery series to which these two books act as a guide.  I think the whole enterprise was just to find an excuse to collect and print all the cover artwork that captivated those same youths.  There are hundreds of images in both books, presented 2, 3 or 4 to a page, intermixed with the text that delivers an overview of the different series, writers and artists (where known), along with many variations and a general idea of how they relate value-wise.  While these two books may indeed be the only place to see these covers gathered en masse, hopefully somebody will take the deserved next step of giving many of them some kind of 'gallery book' presentation, with pages singly dedicated to large reproductions of those considered to be the best.  Sadly, in the BOYS' book only a single cover by Walter S. Rogers got that presentation and the GIRLS' book gave it twice to covers by unknown artists.  Also note that a differently-titled edition of the GIRLS book, THE SECRET OF COLLECTING GIRLS' SERIES BOOKS, is simply an earlier, thinner, version with less art and coverage of fewer series.

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