This Children's Literature guide includes links to books from our catalog, both physical and eBooks, library online resources, streaming films, and other resources that will help you in your class or project. Access materials that interest you by clicking on the blue tabs above.
Questions? Click the blue email link below to send your questions to me.
The Children's Literature Dictionary by Biography - An account of a real person's life, including factual details and stories. Related genres are letters, memoirs, diaries, journals, and autobiographies.
Fantasy - Stories that are made up with elements that could not happen in real life. They often involve magical or supernatural elements and imaginative worlds.
Folklore - Stories that are passed down from one generation to the next. They are traditional stories such as folk tales, myths, legends, tall tales, fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
Historical Fiction - Stories that are set in the past with elements that are imagined or embellished. They may include real events or historical figures.
Mystery - Stories that involve a crime, situation, or circumstance that needs to be solved. The reader becomes a detective trying to solve the mystery.
Nonfiction – Books that are about real things, people, events and places. They provide factual information about a particular topic or concept.
Poetry - Artistic writing that attempts to stir a reader's imagination or emotions by careful choice and arrangement of language for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. Poetry often uses condensed language and imagery.
Realistic Fiction - Stories that are made up but could very well happen in real life. These stories often take place in settings like schools which makes them more relatable.
Science Fiction – Stories based on what might occur in the future, such as imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes. They frequently portray space or time travel and life on other planets.
Graphic Novel - A story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book. The story is told primarily through sequential images with some text. The graphic novel classification is based on format, not genre. Many genres appear in graphic novels.
Picture Book - Combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The picture book classification is based on format, not genre. All genres appear in picture books.
An anthology of nursery rhymes, poetry, epics, mythology and folklore, fiction, and non-fiction for children. Appendices include notes on storytelling, the history of children's literature, illustrators of children's books, children's book awards, graded reading lists, and biographical sketches. Includes bibliographies.
Talking lions, philosophical bears, very hungry caterpillars, wise spiders, altruistic trees, companionable moles, urbane elephants: this is the magnificent menagerie that delights our children at bedtime. Within the entertaining pages of many children's books, however, also lie profound teachings about the natural world that can help children develop an educated and engaged appreciation of the dynamic environment they inhabit.
he author of Parents Who Love Reading, Kids Who Don't now offers a cornucopia of simple, practical tips that will help children--no matter what their age or level of reading ability--learn to read. A separate section identifies books suited to different kinds of readers, such as girls who love horses, teenagers who like rock bands, and computer nuts.
Learning to read is one of the most important challenges children face, but parents don'talways know how to help their children master the complex skills involved. With this wonderful new book, based on the award-winning public television series Between the Lions®, parents of children ages four to eight will find all the information they need to help their children navigate this exhilarating -- but sometimes mysterious -- journey.
Novels, stories and poems from the Victorian Era.
The Children's Book Corner set, a chronological series of 4 books, provides a complete program for those starting a read-aloud program in their classroom, in a school or public library, or at home. This volume focuses on read-alouds for children in grades 1 and 2, providing book lists, book selection ideas, and pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities. Parent Pull-Out Pages with helpful tips are provided for duplication.
Everyone knows how important it is to read with children. But how can you continue your child's learning experience and enjoyment of a story once you close the book? In her engaging new book, Peggy Kaye shows parents and teachers how to play learning games based on classic children's books. Games with Books features 14 picture books, from Harold and the Purple Crayon to Bluesberries for Sal and 14 chapter books, from Winnie the Pooh to Charlotte's Web, For each book, Kaye provides a summary and then offers three to four games that will keep kids entertained while they are practicing valuable reading, writing and math skills.
From Library Journal: Revising his 1985 edition, Trelease preaches the reading gospel with undiminished fervor. Updated evidence from scholarly and journalistic sources (50 percent post-1985) bolsters his case for reading aloud from infancy through adolescence. There is a new list of "predictable" (i.e., cumulative or repetitive) books, and over 70 synopses are of books published 1985-89. Most choices are excellent.
This authoritative guide--with a core focus on reading readiness and helping position children to succeed in school--offers more than 300 age-appropriate and subject-specific book selections from librarians for reading time with children. From board and picture books to hot new books, these recommendations reflect family, community, play, and the environment. Mirroring a child's world as they grow and mature, chapters include segments on reading together, friendship, places near and far, and making believe. These titles have been culled from the American Library Association's "best" lists and professional review journals.
Bestselling author and literacy expert Mem Fox reveals the incredible emotional and intellectual impact reading aloud to children has on their ability to learn to read. All parents want and expect their children to learn to read, but few realize they can get their kids on the road to reading long before they start school simply by reading aloud to them every day. With passion and humor, acclaimed author and internationally respected literacy expert Mem Fox tells readers how she herself became aware of the astonishing effects that reading aloud and bonding through books have on very young children.
Award-winning educator Allyn offers parents and caregivers essential advice on choosing appropriate titles for their children--taking into account a child's age, attention ability, gender, and interests--along with techniques for reading aloud effectively.
To fill the needs of a growing Hispanic market, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of bilingual books being published in recent years. But they have been appearing for many years. This bibliography lists more than 400 children's titles--mostly picture books, with alphabet and counting books also included--that feature text in both Spanish and English in the same volume. Annotations to the entries provide a summary of each book's contents, along with information on awards the book has received and a list of reviews gathered from Children's Book Review Index. This bilingual edition includes introduction, table of contents, and subject indexing in both English and Spanish.
Written in a clear and accessible style, this book explains why it is important to allow young children access to philosophy during primary-school educations.
Bloody Murder is the first full-length critical study of the pervasive theme of murder in children's literature. Through rereadings of well-known works, such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and The Outsiders, Michelle Ann Abate explores how acts of homicide connect these works with an array of previously unforeseen literary, social, political, and cultural issues.
Native American Picture Books of Change describes the history and motivation behind some of the most exceptional children's books published in the U.S. These picture book readers, originally developed for use in Indian schools during the New Deal, represent the first Native-centered texts used in Bureau of Indian Affairs curriculum. They were written by lauded writers, ethnologists, and linguists and illustrated with the stunning work of emerging and prominent Native American artists.
The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature is at once a literary history, an introduction to various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, a review of genres, and a selection of original and interdisciplinary essays on canonical and popular works for children in the Anglo-American tradition.
Rather than teaching children to obey authority, to conform, or to seek redemption through prayer, twentieth-century leftists encouraged children to question the authority of those in power. Tales for Little Rebels collects forty-three mostly out-of-print stories, poems, comic strips, primers, and other texts for children that embody this radical tradition.
This book explores how Gothicism is crucial in helping children progress through different stages of growth and development. It examines five famous texts--Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market, Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, Neil Gaiman's Coraline, three versions of Little Red Riding Hood, and J.M. Barrie's play and then novel Peter and Wendy--incorporating renowned psychologist Erik Erikson's landmark theories on psychosocial stages of development.
