Macdonald, Guy

PERSONAL:

Born in England.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Kent, England.

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

Children's Miscellany, Volume 3, Buster Books (London, England), 2003, published as Even More Children's Miscellany: Smart, Silly, and Strange Information That's Essential to Know, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2008.

(With Dominique Enright) The Boys' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything (expanded edition of How to Be the Best at Everything), illustrated by Niki Catlow, Buster Books (London, England), 2006, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007.

My Brilliant Body: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Your Own Body, illustrated by Paul Cemmick, Barrons Educational (Hauppauge, NY), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

One of Guy Macdonald's tasks as a freelance writer has been adapting British author Dominique Enright's popular childhood guidebook, The Boys' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything, for U.S. readers. A scan of the book's chapter titles tips off readers as to the wealth of instruction provided: everything from how to fight off crocodiles or survive a zombie attack to instructions on building a fire, reading a compass, getting rid of hiccups, and fooling friends using only toothpicks. The coauthors' how-to instructions, augmented by Niki Catlow's amusing art, range from "benign … to outrageous … to outrageously exaggerated," according to School Library Journal critic Baran Elaine Black in her review of Enright and Macdonald's book. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor deemed The Boys' Book "worth picking up for all those lads … eager to learn" the various odd skills offered.

Together with its companion volume, The Girls' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything, written by Juliana Foster, The Boys' Book was ranked as "jokier and more kid friendly" than similar how-to books by Roger Sutton in Horn Book. As a sequel, Macdonald also teamed up with Catlow to produce Even More Children's Miscellany: Smart, Silly, and Strange Information That's Essential to Know. In this further installment in the "How to" series, Macdonald includes instructions on how to talk like a pirate, as well as riddles, puzzles, and a host of useless but amazing facts about snakes, burps, and other boy magnets.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Horn Book, September-October, 2007, Roger Sutton, review of The Boys' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything, p. 596.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2007, review of The Boys' Book.

School Library Journal, September, 2007, Elaine Baran Black, review of The Boys' Book, p. 216.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2007, Pam Carlson, review of The Boys' Book, p. 363.