Entries are in alphabetical order like an encyclopedia and are extensively cross-referenced.
It covers both British and American children's literature in depth and has summaries of the literatures of other lands and languages. The book is strong on biographical information on authors and on the history of publishing for children, an example being ABC books which date back to medieval times. The authors note that the popular and the classic are especially hard to keep separate in the field of children's literature, and that, unlike the Oxford Companion to English Literature , inclusion of a particular book or author is not necessarily an indication of merit. They frequently offer an opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of a book or a writer, making the Companion all the more interesting for the reader, who is free to disagree. I know well myself.