FELDER, Deborah G.

PERSONAL: Married.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cape Cod, MA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10079.

CAREER: Editor and author. Has worked as an educator and as an editor for Scholastic publishing company.

WRITINGS:

The Kids' World Almanac of Animals and Pets, illustrated by John Lane, World Almanac (New York, NY), 1989.

The Kids' World Almanac of History, illustrated by John Lane, World Almanac (New York, NY), 1991.

(Adaptor) Alexandré Dumas, The Three Musketeers, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

(Adaptor) L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

Jim Carrey—Comic Ace, Random House (New York, NY), 1995.

The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time: A Ranking Past and Present, Carol Publishing Group (Secaucus, NJ), 1996.

Ride of Courage: The Story of a Spirited Arabian Horse and the Daring Girl Who Rides Him, illustrated by Sandy Rabinowitz, Ertl Co. (Dyersville, IA), 1996.

Changing Times: The Story of a Tennessee Walking Horse and the Girl Who Proves Grown-ups Don't Always Know Best, illustrated by Sandy Rabinowitz, Ertl Co. (Dyersville, IA), 1996.

Pretty Lady of Saratoga: The Story of a Spirited Thoroughbred, a Determined Girl, and the Race of a Lifetime, Ertl Co. (Dyersville, IA), 1997.

(With Coleen Hubbard) Christmas in Silver Lake: The Story of a Dependable Clydesdale and the Immigrant Girl Who Turns to Her for Comfort, illustrated by Sandy Rabinowitz, Ertl Co. (Dyersville, IA), 1997.

A Century of Women: The Most Influential Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History, Carol Publishing Group (Secaucus, NJ), 1999.

(With Diana Rosen) Fifty Jewish Women Who Changed the World, Citadel Press (New York, NY), 2003.

A Bookshelf of Our Own: Works That Changed Women's Lives, Citadel Press (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Deborah G. Felder has worked as a writer, editor, and educator; her main interests in these areas have been children's literature and women's studies. She was formerly an editor at Scholastic publishing company and has taught courses in women's biography and twentieth-century women's history. She is also the author of four children's novels and two almanacs for children. In addition, Felder wrote the adaptations of popular children's books, The Three Musketeers and Anne of Green Gables.

Felder has also written a number of books chronicling influential women and noteworthy events in women's history. Her first contribution to this genre was the 1996 book The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time: A Ranking Past and Present. Here Felder ranks one hundred women throughout history who have made a significant historical and cultural impact. Felder's number-one selection is former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and she ranks comedienne Lucille Ball number one hundred. The author formed these rankings in part by sending questionnaires to one hundred heads of college women's studies departments.

Many critics gave positive reviews for The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time. In particular, reviewers lauded the author's accessible and enthusiastic writing style. "Felder's succinct profile of each notable woman is quite passionate and surprisingly full of information," wrote Booklist contributor Donna Seaman, for example. Other critics found Felder's methodology in choosing this list of women to be flawed or biased; "Because of the narrow universe of Felder's survey respondents, it is no surprise that her list of influential women is dominated by Americans," observed a reviewer for the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Felder's next women' studies book came in 1999 with the release of A Century of Women: The Most Influential Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History. With this work the author organizes her information decade by decade, detailing the pivotal events of each period. She includes a wide variety of benchmark events, including the publication of the magazines Vogue and Seventeen, the introduction of advice columns by Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, the founding of organizations like the League of Women Voters and the Girl Scouts, the patenting of the brassiere, and the rise in popularity of icons such as the Barbie doll and Betty Crocker. Felder also includes an appendix of famous female firsts.

A Century of Women proved popular with critics and readers. Several reviewers noted Felder's selection of both well-documented and often-overlooked influential events. "A fascinating array of events has been selected," commented Marie Marmo Mullaney in the Library Journal. Other critics found the book to be accessible for a wide-ranging audience. For instance, Booklist contributor Margaret Flanagan observed of A Century of Women that Felder's "breezy review will appeal to both serious students of women's history and casual browsers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 1995, Donna Seaman, review of The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time: A Ranking Past and Present, p. 607; March 14, 1999, Margaret Flanagan, review of A Century of Women: The Most Influential Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History, p. 1263.

Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, March 31, 1996, review of The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time, p. 129.

Library Journal, February 1, 1999, Marie Marmo Mullaney, review of A Century of Women, p. 105; January 1, 2005, Maria Kochis, review of A Bookshelf of Our Own: Works That Changed Women's Lives, p. 111.

New York Times, February 7, 1996, Nadine Brozan, review of The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time, p. 2.