At the beginning of the 21st century, there is a growing global consciousness of the issues affecting children and a commitment to address them. The Statistical Handbook on the World's Children responds to the significant need for a comprehensive collection of international statistical material on children that can be quickly accessed and easily understood by the general researcher.

Organized into eight sections covering such general subject areas as demography, education, health and nutrition, disease, economics, social life, and crime, the Handbook offers data on some of the most important aspects of these broad-ranging topics. Each section begins with a general introduction and explanation of indicators to help the user make sense of the data, which is drawn from a wide range of recognized sources including: the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Criminal Police Organization, the U.S. Census Bureau, the World Bank, as well as regional and government reports, studies from nongovernmental organizations, and private research papers. Care has been taken to capture the latest available data for all indicators and Web citations, where available, are included in the source notes. More than just another statistical reference, the Handbook concludes with an appendix containing the text of several of the most important international documents related to children as well as a glossary of useful terms, and a list of key organizations devoted to children.

WILLIAM L. BENOIT is Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri. Benoit has published extensively in political communication, including The Clinton Scandals and the Politics of Image Restoration, with Joseph R. Blaney (Praeger, 2001).

P. M. PIER is a lecturer at Wartburg College In addition to Campaign '96: A Functional Analysis of Acclaiming, Attaching, and Defending, with William L. Benoit and Joseph R. Blaney (Praeger, 1998), she has published in various scholarly journals.

LeANN M. BRAZEAL is with the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri./e She has published in Argumentation and Advocacy.

JOHN P. McHALE is with the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri./e He has published in Communication Quarterly and Critical Studies in Media Communication.

ANDREW KLYUKOVSKI is Assistant Professor at Truman State University./e He has published in Critical Studies in Media Communication.

DAVID AIRNE is with the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri./e He has published in Critical Studies in Media Communication.