Children's Literature

Some Print Resources 
Anthologies and Encyclopedias 
Bibliography
Big Books and Picture Books 
Fairy Tales and Folktales  
Mother Goose and Poetry 
Periodicals Accessible via the Library's Online Databases
Online Databases
Web Sites

Some Print Resources

Caldecott and Newbery Award winners in the Moraine Valley Library collection.

Anthologies and Encyclopedias

Childcraft: The How and Why Library
The Riverside Anthology of Children's Literature by Judith Saltman
The Scott, Foresman Anthology of Children's Literature Collected by Zena Sutherland, Myra Cohn Livingston

Bibliography

Best Books for Children: Preschool Through Grade 6 by John T. Gillespie
Beyond Picture Books: A Guide to First Readers by Barbara Barstow, Judith Riggle
Children's Literature: An Issues Approach by Masha Kabakow Rudman
Children's Literature: Developing Good Readers Edited by Hannah Nuba, Deborah Lovitky Sheiman, Michael Searson
Neal-Schuman Guide to Recommended Children's Books and Media for Use With Every Elementary Subject by
Kathryn I. Matthew, Jowy L. Lowe
Venture into Cultures: A Resource Book of Multicultural Materials and Programs by Olga R. Kuharets, editor
A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books by Carolyn W. Lima, John A. Lima

Oversized (Big) Picture Books

A Butterfly is Born by Melvin Berger
Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Is Your Mama a Lama? by Deborah Guarino
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood

Fairy Tales and Folklore

The Classic Fairy Tales Compiled by Iona Archibald
Folk-Lore and Fable: Aesop, Grimm, Andersen
The Gingerbread Guide: Using Folktales With Young Children by Linda K. Garrity; illustrated by Connie Elson Minter
Grimms' Complete Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm
Index to Fairy Tales, 1978-1986: Including Folklore, Legends, and Myths in Collections Compiled by Norma Olin Ireland and Joseph W. Sprug
The Talking Tree; Fairy Tales from 15 Lands Selected by Augusta Baker; illustrated by Johannes Troyer

Mother Goose and Poetry

Here Comes Mother Goose and My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie; illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose (Told in Signed English) by Harry Bornstein and Karen L. Laulnier; illustrated by Pat Peters; sign illustrated by Linda Tom
This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems From Around the World selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein

Look for additional books in the Moraine Valley Library collection by doing a subject or keyword search in the catalog. Potential search terms include: children's literature, children's plays, children's poetry, children's songs, children's stories, drama in education, fairy tales, finger play, flannel boards, folk tales, high interest-low vocabulary books, illustrated books, juvenile literature, picture books for children, preschool teaching, readers' theater, storytelling, or tales. 

Periodicals Accessible via the Library's Online Databases

The Moraine Valley Library subscribes to several electronic databases, which provide online access to periodicals about Children's Literature. Search by publication for online access to these and more publications.

Book Links: Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms
Booklist
Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children
Children's Literature
Children's Literature Association Quarterly
Children's Literature in Education
The Horn Book Magazine
The Lion and the Unicorn
Scholastic Instructor
School Library Media Research: Refereed Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians
The New York Times Book Review
The Publisher's Weekly
The Reading Teacher
School Library Journal
Science and Children
Young Adult Library Services

Online Databases

Academic Search Premier: This general database includes academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics, including children's literature, from 1975 - present.

Expanded Academic ASAP: This general database includes academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics, including children's literature, from 1980 - present.

Literary Index to Gale Publications: Index to literary criticism books. The Moraine Valley Library owns many, but not all, of the books indexed. Search by author or  title, or do a custom search.

Literature Online: A fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama, and prose.

MLA Bibliography: The Modern Language Association's online tool to scholarly research in literature, writing, and language. Includes abstracts and full-text articles, as well as recommended web sites.

NoveList K-8: Summaries, reviews, lexiles, articles and teaching ideas for young adult and children's literature. Titles aimed at  children in pre-K, elementary or middle schools.

Web Sites

Many authors have personal web sites, which include information about their works and lives. Be sure to check these, as well as publisher web sites for more the latest news and information about their work. These can be searched for via Google or other search engines.

Awards

The Hans Christian Andersen Award: From the International Board on Books for Young People. Awarded to a "living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature."

The Mildred L. Batchelder Awards: Name in honor of a former executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children, this award is given to the American publisher of the best translated (into English) book.

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards: Awards given in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal and Honor Books: Awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the illustrator of the best picture book.

The Pura Belpre Award: Awarded to "a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth."

The Margaret A. Edwards Award: Honors an author whose work, or body of work, has been popular over a period of time. Administered by YALSA and School Library Journal.

The Award for Excellence in Children's Poetry: Awarded by the National Council of Teachers of English, to poets writing for children between the ages of 3-13.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award: "Given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year."

Gryphon Award: Given annually by the University of Illinois' Center for Children's Books to the author of a work of fiction or non-fiction aimed at children in grades K-4; bridges literature meant to be read aloud to children and literature that children can read independently.

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award: "Granted annually to an anthology of poetry or a single volume poem published for children in the previous calendar year... administered by The Pennsylvania Center for the Book and Penn State University Libraries."

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award: Awarded every three years to a promising poet of children's poetry, from the International Reading Association.

The IRA Children's and Young Adult's Book Award: Awarded for an author's first or second published book in the categories of primary, intermediate and young adult reader, both fiction and non fiction. Given by the International Reading Association.

The Ezra Jack Keats Awards: Awarded annually by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, to the best new writer and the best new illustrator.

The Coretta Scott King Awards and Honor Books: Awarded annually to African American writers and illustrators for works in the spirit of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King.

The John Newbery Medal and Honor Books: Named after the 18th century British bookseller, the Medal and Honor books are awarded annually to the most outstanding author of children's literature.

The Orbis Pictus Award and Honor Books: The National Council of Teachers of English recognizes and promotes nonfiction writing for children through these annual awards, honors, and recommended reading lists.

The Michael L. Printz Award: Named for a long-time young adult librarian, the Michael L. Printz recognizes excellence in young adult literature.

The Robert F. Sibert Award: Awarded annually to the "most distinguished informational book published in English in the preceding year." Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal: Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children... "The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children."

YALSA's Alex Awards: Given to books originally written for adults but that have "special appeal" to young adults.

Children's Magazines

National Geographic Kids: The kids version of the classic magazine.

Odyssey Adventures in Science: Current events aimed children ages 10-16.

Ranger Rick: Aimed at animal lovers ages 6-12.

Sports Illustrated for Kids: The kids version of the popular sports magazine.

Stone Soup: The Magazine by Young Writers and Artists: Poems, stories, art, and expository pieces by children.

Time for Kids: The kids version of the news magazine.

General/Academic

The Center for Children's Books: A "crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training and educational outreach," associated with the  Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois.

Children's Poetry: Interviews with and readings by the Children's Poet Laureate and other children's poets from the Poetry Foundation. Includes print and video.

The Cooperative Children's Book Center:  From the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Links, articles, listservs, podcasts.

National Ambassador for Young Children's Literature: Named by the Librarian of Congress for a two-year term; program administered by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Children's Book Council (CBC), and Every Child a Reader, the CBC foundation.

Professional Associations and Organizations

American Association of School Librarians: Awards, education and career information, publications and journals, progamming information and more, from this division of the American Library Association.

American Library Association: The online home of the oldest and largest library association in the world.

Association for Library Service to Children: "A network of more than 4,200 children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, publishers, education and library school faculty members, and other adults committed to" providing "exemplary library service to children, their families, and others who work with children."

The Children's Book Council: Nonprofit publishers and packagers of children's books and related materials. From the people behind Children's Book Week and Young People's Poetry Week, highlights include reading lists with everything from Outstanding International Books and Graphic Novels for Children to 75 Authors and Illlustrators Everyone Should Know, an author/illustrator directory and numerous articles.

International Board on Books for Young People: Founded in Zurich in 1953, IBBY is a "non-profit organization which represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together." Activities include the Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award, the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Disabled Young People, the IBBY Honour LIst, and International Children's Book Day.

International Reading Association: The 50-year-old professional organization for people involved in teaching reading to learners of all ages, this site offers information on "improving the quality of reading education, disseminating research and information about reading, and encouraging the lifetime reading habit." Includes details about awards and grants, advocacy, meetings and events.

Young Adult Library Services Association: Book lists and book awards, teen reading, links to electronic resources, teen event and programming information, and more, from this division of the American Library Association.