Today I wanted to dig into something a little different – the works of this author named Brian Williams. I’d heard the name tossed around, particularly in connection with some children’s history books, so I figured, why not dive in and see what this guy’s all about?
First off, I tried to get a general sense of who we’re dealing with. I went to Author Central, but it seemed to be mostly for authors to manage their books. No luck there, so I hit up a few more places.
Turns out, there are a bunch of books co-authored by a Brian Williams and Roderick Gordon. These two have teamed up to write a series called “Tunnels”, with titles like “Deeper”, “Freefall”, “Closer”, and “Spiral”. This got me curious, but it wasn’t quite what I was after. These were tagged with Scholastic Inc., which I recognized as a big name in children’s publishing.
Next, I found a Brian Williams who’s written about Jon Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”. The book is titled “The Story Behind Jon Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’” and it’s part of the “History in Literature” series from Oxford’s Heinemann. This seemed a little closer to what I had in mind, but still not quite there.
Then I stumbled upon a different Brian Williams – a former teacher who’s written over 200 history books for kids. This sounded promising! He’s often working with a consultant named Simon Adams, who apparently used to edit children’s nonfiction. This was definitely the right track. It seems like this is the Brian Williams who’s made a name for himself in the world of educational books for younger readers.
- “Tunnels” series (co-authored with Roderick Gordon)
- “The Story Behind Jon Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’” (part of the “History in Literature” series)
- Numerous history books for children, often in collaboration with Simon Adams
Some of the interesting finds
I also came across a Dr. Brian H. Williams, a trauma surgeon, who wrote a book called “The Bodies Keep Coming”. Definitely not the same guy, but it just goes to show how many different people share a name. And also, Google Books has a wide variety of collections.
In the end, I realized that the Brian Williams I was interested in is the one who’s dedicated his career to writing history books for kids. It was a bit of a winding path to get there, but that’s how these things go sometimes. You start with a simple question and end up exploring all sorts of unexpected corners. That’s all about my sharing, hope you guys enjoy it!
