John Holmstrom, the literary editor of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a governor of the British Film Institute, spent decades travelling the world to research and write two scholarly books about children in films. The first book, The Moving Picture Boy Encyclopaedia, was published to unanimous acclaim, but the companion volume, The Moving Picture Girl Encyclopaedia, was not completed in Holmstrom's lifetime.
Film historian Paul Sutton opens the archives to showcase hundreds of photographs and posters from Holmstrom's unfinished work. Many of the images have never before been published. In addition to the stills and poster galleries, the book includes a delightful 55-page scrapbook of newspaper and magazine cuttings from around the world, and a selection of Holmstrom's letters to and from filmmakers and film historians in Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Korea, Denmark, Albania, The United States.