LibGuides: Early Childhood Education: Children's Literature

Websites

Historical and Illustrated Fairy Tales Digital Collection
Created by the University of Colorado, Boulder, the 27 digitized fairy tales volumes (4,800+ pages) span a three hundred year time period and contain rare editions by Charles Perrault, Mme d’Aulnoy, Giovanni Straparola, and the Brothers Grimm. Included are European, American, and Asian tales, in English and French.
ICDL - International Children's Digital Library
Thousands of full text on-line children's books in 40+ languages from around the world
Internet Archive: Children's Library
1000s of digitized children's books for children from around the world, including those cataloged in the University of California Libraries, the University of Florida's "Literature for Children" Collection, the National Yiddish Book Center, the New York Public Library, International Children's Digital Library, and other libraries.

Books

The Cambridge Companion to Children's Literature by edited by M.O. Grenby and Andrea Immel
Call Number: PR990 .C36 2009

This book offers a state of the subject survey of English language children's literature from the seventeenth century to the present. With discussions ranging from eighteenth century moral tales to modern fantasies by J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, it illuminates acknowledged classics and many more neglected works. Its unique structure means that equal consideration can be given to both texts and contexts. Some chapters analyse key themes and major genres, including humour, poetry, school stories, and picture books.
Children's Literature : A Reader's History, from Aesop to Harry Potter by by Seth Lerer
Call Number: PN1009.A1 L44 2008

This ambitious work appraises a broad trajectory of influences--including Shakespeare's plays, John Locke's theories of education, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and the Puritan tradition--which have each shaped children's literature through the ages.

Websites

ALSC Association of Library Services for Children
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. From creative programming and best practices to continuing education and professional connections—ALSC members are innovators in the field of children's library service.
Awesome Library
This site organizes the web with 37,000 carefully reviewed resources. Find lesson plans, field trips, photos, maps, and online videos. A really good and well-organized site, with additional links to sites in over two dozen different languages.
Bookjoy! Official Website for author Pat Mora
Mora's website includes information about her dozens of books, as well as links to educator and librarian resources. Learn more about EL Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros--Children's Day/Book Day--which is a literacy advocacy program that has been going strong for 15 years.
Childrens Books about Disabilities
Sponsored by TeacherVision, this website is divided by level and comes from the Education Network of Pearson Publications. Despite this sponsorship, the recommended books are not all or even largely Pearson publications, providing a good selection on this topic.
Cynthia Leitich Smith Children's Literature Resources
A website of literature resources created by the Native American author of "Jingle Dancer," "Tantalize," and many other books for children and young adults. This comprehensive collection of book lists, teaching guides, and author interviews also includes information and FAQs for anyone interested in writing and publishing children's books.
Embracing the Child
ETC, a nonprofit organization, serves the most vulnerable kids at front-line facilities like juvenile detention centers, emergency shelters, after-school care and summer daycamp programs in inner-city or poverty-pocket communities. Some of their most valuable links include recommended books and teacher resource guides on grief, divorce, special needs, adoption, etc., with author interview and discussion links to specific books.
Storyline Online
This website features videos of well-known actors reading picture books. There are additional links to each book, which provide related activities and online resources for researching further information about each book's theme or content.
Tumblebook Library
TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of animated,talking picture books. There is an annual fee to access all its features. Viewers may want to check with their local public library or public school to see if they are eligible for online access.
WISE: Working to Improve Schools and Education
Established by professors and students at Ithaca College, NY, this website focuses on the analysis of contemporary issues in education with an emphasis on issues of equity, diversity, multicultural education, and the development of schools more effective for all students and families.
World Myths and Legends in Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art uses 26 works of art selected from its collection to explore mythology from around the world. This site contains links to myths by theme, culture and art. It provides key background information, stories, discussion questions, and more for each work of art.
YALSA's Dealing with Challenges to Young Adult Materials webpage
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) provides links to other organizations who focus on Intellectual Freedom issues. This site also offers suggestions for coping with censorship challenges, resources for policy development, and stratgies for collection development.
American Indians in Childrens Literature blog
Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews for Children from Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology. Geared as much for parents and children as for educators, this site offers reviews based on child developement principles, as well as reviews categorized for specific age groups, and book recommendations by parents and children.
Oyate Criteria for Evaluating Books
These criteria were developed by Oyate to replace their former list of "Books to Avoid." This webpage offers guidelines that are similar to those used on other websites as critical/analytical assessments of reading material for children.
Southwest Children's Literature
Author interviews and reviews of Southwest-themed books. This Web site serves as a resource for the children's and young adult literature community. It is part of the coursework for several university classes taught in several departments at two different universities.

The Horn Book Magazine

The Horn Book Magazine and The Horn Book Guide are the most distinguished journals in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The Horn Book Guide, is a fully searchable database of more than 80,000 reviews, and Notes from the Horn Book , their monthly e-newsletter for parents.