They Wrote for Children Too surveys works for children written by literary figures usually studied in colleges and universities. While Apseloff concentrates on authors in the literary field, prominent philosophers and historians are examined as well. The majority of authors are from England, the United States, France, Germany, Russia, and Sweden, and their works are available in English.

The book is divided into three literary time periods: pre-nineteenth century, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century. It identifies the major adult literary figures who produced works for children or whose adult work has subsequently been adapted for children. Although the emphasis is on American and British literary figures, the book also includes Tolstoy, Voltaire, Lorca, Cervantes, and other continental writers. Poets include Shakespeare, Yeats, Walt Whitman, D.H. Lawrence, e.e. cummings, Robert Frost, and others. Writers for both adults and children include Robert Louis Stevenson, C.S. Lewis, Robert Browning, Oscar Wilde, Randall Jarrell, and others. This bibliography will be of interest to parents, educators, and librarians and would be a valuable resource for Children's Literature courses.