Children's Literature

Children's literature is a study of the history of children's literature, of notable writers and publishers, of illustrators and illustrations, of various types of writing for children, and the use of this body of literature with children.

Places to Begin: Reference Resources

Bibliographies

Major source: Subject Guide to Children's Books in Print Juv-Ref PN 1009.A1 S82
Call Numbers to browse by:   Juv-Ref PN 1009.A1
Subject words to search by:

<childrens literature bibliography>
or add the word "juv" to a subject, e.g.,
<frontier and pioneer life juv>

 

Authors and Illustrators

Major source: Something About the Author Ref PN451 .S6
Subject words to search by:

<childrens literature bio-bibliography>
or (name of author), e.g.
<Blume Judy>

Database Biography in Context

 

History and Criticism

Subject words to search by:
<childrens literature history and criticism>

 

Teaching with Literature

Subject words to search by:
<children books and reading>
<childrens literature study and teaching>
<activity programs in education>
<young adult literature bibliography>
Numbers to Browse by: LB 1575+
LC 1099+
PN 1009.A1
Curriculum LA-1
Web Resource:

 

Book Reviews

Major source: Childrens Literature Review, 1976- Ref PN 1009.A1 C5139

 

Awards

Subject words to search by:
<Newbery Medal Winner>
<Caldecott Medal Winner>
Web Resources:

 

Children's Books by Subject

Subject words to search by:
<picture books>
Subject "keywords" to search by:
(your subject) plus limit to juvenile collection
e.g., <disabilities> (limit)
<african americans> (limit)
Web Resources:

Multicultural Literature for Children

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
(activities, book annotations, reviews and links)

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Finding Journal Articles

Electronic Databases: EBSCO

  • ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center is the most important source for scholarly material in the field of education. It indexes journal articles, ERIC documents, and professional books. ERIC Digests, which are included, are full text. Consult the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors in the database to improve your search results.
  • Academic Search Premier - a multi-disciplinary database offering full text articles to many education journals
  • Professional Development Collection - full text articles from over 500 journals and magazines for educators

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Additional Web Resources

Baldwin Library of Children's Literature Digital Collection (University of Florida)

CCBC: Cooperative Children's Book Center

Children's Book Council

Children's Literature Web Guide
(Good information, but last update 4/2001.)

Franklin Institute's Educational Hotlists - Literature
(Includes fables, folklore, Eric Carle, Anne Frank, read alouds, and more.)

International Children's Digital Library

 

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For further assistance, see a Reference Librarian

 

 

 


Updated 22-Jul-2011 SWH