Dixie State College - Val A. Browning Library

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Children's Literature Research Guide

Items marked with * are especially recommended. Items in blue are available online.

Reference Sources

*Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (Reference PN 1008.5 .O94 2006). Also available online.

*Major Authors and Illustrators for Children & Young Adults (Reference PN 1009 .M35 1992): Selection of articles from the Something About the Author series. HINT: Use index at end of last volume.

*Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (Reference PN 1008.5 .C66 2001): Recent subject encyclopedia containing biographical and work overviews of many authors and illustrators.

*St. James Guide to Children's Writers (Reference PN 1009 .A1 T9 1999): Alphabetically organized, articles on many authors including lists of published works. Also notes awards won, family information, and contact addresses for authors.

*100 Most Popular Children's Authors (Reference PN 1009 .A1 M34 1999): Biographical sketches and notes about the authors' writing.

*100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators (Reference PN 1009 .A1 M345 1999): Biographical sketches and notes about authors' and illustrators' work.

*Children's Books and Their Creators (Reference PN 1009 .A1 .C5424 1995): Alphabetical articles on many children's authors from all time periods into the 1990s.

*Something About the Author (Reference PN 1009 .S66): Cumulatively indexed. Our volumes begin with #132. Articles in volumes before that number are not in our library.

Profiles in Children's Literature (Reference PN 1009 .A1 W57 2001) Interviews and profiles of many children's authors and illustrators.

Meet the Authors (Reference PN 1009 .K6833 1995): Profiles of 25 writers of upper elementary and middle school books.

Meet the Authors & Illustrators (Reference PN 1009 .K683 1991
vol.1) Profiles of 60 creators of favorite children's books; not alphabetical, use table of contents.

Big Book of Picture Book Authors & Illustrators (Reference PN 1009 .A1 P745 2001) Profiles of 75 authors and illustrators.

The Storymakers: Writing Children's Books (Reference PN 1009 .A1 S78 2000) Biographies and information about 83 children's authors.

The Storymakers: Illustrating Children's Books (Reference PN 1009 .A1 S767 1999) Biographies and information about 75 children's book illustrators.

Great Authors of Children's Literature (Reference PN 1009 .A1 M377 2000): Includes Milne, Lewis, White, Seuss, Dahl, Sendak, and Blume.

Women Writers of Children's Literature (Reference PN 1009 .A1 W663 2000 ): Small volume of brief biographies and some critical extracts.

Caldecott Celebration (Reserve Engl 2120): Excellent information
about McCloskey, Brown, Sendak, Steig, Van Allsburg, and Weisner.

Books

Books in the Library: Search in the Library Catalog for books by or about an author.
Example: "Madeline L'Engle"

Off Campus Access to NetLibrary E-books: Library Home Page > Books & More > Off-Campus E-books > NetLibrary

Interlibrary Loan: To order books not in the Browning Library use the online Interlibrary Loan service. Allow 10 days for delivery.

Reviews

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD): Includes more than 1,400,000 records of children's books and more than 300,000 reviews of children's books from 36 sources - all full-text searchable. Includes awards won, links to author Web sites, and reading levels. Excellent subject access to books.
Example: Russell Freedman

Book Review Digest (Reference Area - Index Tables): To find reviews previous to the mid-1990s, look up book title in year of book's publication (listed in LRC entry).

EBSCOhost Professional Development Collection: Reviews, articles, and more in this database for teachers. Not always full-text (see below to find full-text of useful articles). Combine with other EBSCOhost databases Academic Search Elite and MasterFILE Premier for best results.
Example: "Jerry Spinelli"

Biographies, Articles & Criticism

*Biography Reference Bank: Contains full-text articles on over 110,000 individuals and often includes an image of the person.
Example: Carle, Eric

*Literature Resource Center (LRC): Online full-text database of articles about authors, illustrators, literary criticism, reviews, etc. Search by author (last name first) and select from biographies, criticism, articles, work overviews, and reviews. Includes full-text DLB, CA, CANR, CLC, TCLC. Print, save, or e-mail full-text articles.
Example: Bunting, Eve

EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier & MasterFILE Premier: Articles and reviews. Can be combined with Professional Development Collection by selecting all three databases from the Choose Databases page.
Example: "Paul Zelinsky"

Project MUSE: Online archive containing The Lion and the Unicorn, the leading scholarly journal for children's literature, 1995-present.
HINT: Choose "Advanced Search", limit search by journal title.

To Get Full-Text of Articles

Check Full-Text Periodicals List for full-text coverage.
HINT: Search PERIODICAL title, not ARTICLE title
If not found, use Interlibrary Loan for ordering articles.

Internet Sites

*Children's Literature Web Guide: Gateway to Internet resources related to books for children and young adults from the University of Calgary. Includes Authors & Illustrators on the Web: a large list of Web sites about children's authors and illustrators and Children's Book Awards: links to Web sites on major awards and much more.

*Vandergrift's Children's Literature Page: Excellent resource that includes links to many resources including excellent booklists for specific topics, techniques for analyzing children's literature, online articles and the fun "Children's Literature Literacy Test."

*Index to Internet Sites: Children's and Young Adults' Authors & Illustrators: Links to author's Web pages, online interviews, information about online and print biographies.

*Children's Book Council Authors & Illustrators: Explore the world of authors and illustrators.

*Cyber Library Authors & Illustrators: Authors, illunstrators, links, articles, reviews.

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Web Site: Book reviews and recommendations, integrated curriculum information, and ideas for classroom themes.

Once Upon a Time: Information on children's literature, curriculum, and links to authors' Web pages.

Children's Literature: Useful Sites for Teacher's Librarians & Students: From College & Research Libraries News July/August 2000, a directory of Web sites.

The Scoop: Online newsletter that includes a number of author biographies.

Children's Literature: A Guide to the Criticism: Online book published in 1987 by Linnea Hendrickson that includes "Authors and Their Works" and "Subjects, Themes and Genres".
To search for keywords, select "Search Children's Literature: A Guide to the Criticism".

Children's Literature: (Librarians' Index to the Internet): Directory of Internet resources, databases, specific links to authors' Web sites, etc.

Internet Resources -- Children's Literature: From the DSC Library Home Page, select Internet Resources, then Children's Literature. Links to Web sites including awards pages.

Google: Use this search engine to look for Web sites on for your author. including publisher sites and interviews. Enter author's name in quotes. Example: "Allen Say".

Databases

Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature: Award-winning books searchable by keyword, reading level, genre, language, historical period, gender or ethnicity.

Children's Picture Book Database: Abstracts of over 5000 children's picture books and search capabilities for over 950 keywords, including topics, concepts, and skills which describe each book.

Associations

Children's Literature Association: Devoted to serious scholarship and research in children's literature. Also includes award listings and excellent links to a variety of Internet sites.

Children's Literature Association of Utah: Group that encourages the reading, study, and writing of children's literature and issues the annual Utah Children's Book Awards.

Awards (from the American Library Association)

Newbery Medal : American children's literature (author)

Caldecott Medal : picture books for children (illustrator)

Coretta Scott King Book Awards : African American experience

Schneider Family Book Award : books about disabilities

Alex Awards : adult books for young adult readers (author)

Batchelder Award : translations into English (author)

Belpre Medal : Latino/a cultural experience

Geisel Award : beginning readers

Printz Award : young adult (author)

Edwards Award : young adult (author)

Silbert Medal : informational books