Research Guides: Teaching and Learning Research Guide: Children's & YA Literature

Find Book Reviews and Summaries

Databases with Book Reviews or Summaries

Children's Core Collection This link opens in a new window
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Index to fiction and nonfiction works, story collections, and picture books recommended for readers in preschool through sixth grade published from the 1940s-present. Produced by H.W. Wilson.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
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Full text biographical information, overviews, full text literary criticism, and reviews on writers and their works in all disciplines, time periods, and regions of the world.
ProQuest One Literature This link opens in a new window
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Full text of more than 500,000 works of poetry, prose and drama from the 8th century to the present day. Includes more than thirty individual literature collections comprised of canonical texts, non-English language literature, and diverse underrepresented authors and their works. Supported with full text journals, criticism and reference resources extending to all aspects of literary studies, featuring coverage by the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL). Note: Database contains all content formerly in Literature Online (LION). Click more... to view a list of modules.
ProQuest One Literature searches these literature collections. Use the Literature collection filter within the ProQuest interface to select individual modules to include in your search.
- African American Poetry: The early history of African American poetry, from the first recorded poem by an African American to the major poets of the nineteenth century.
- African Writers Series: Key texts of modern African literature published in the Heinemann's African Writers Series since 1962.
- American Drama (1714-1915): Over 1,500 American dramatic works.
- American Poetry: Over 40,000 poems by more than 200 American poets from the Colonial Period to the early twentieth century.
- Bertolt Brechts Werke: The dramatic, poetical and theoretical texts of Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956).
- Black Short Fiction and Folklore: 82,000 pages and more than 11,000 works of short fiction produced by writers from Africa and the African Diaspora from the earliest times to the present.
- Black Women Writers: 100,000 pages of literature and essays on feminist issues, written by authors from Africa and the African diaspora.
- Canadian Poetry: 19,000 poems by 177 poets from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth.
- Caribbean Literature: Literature produced by descendants of the African, Indian, and South Asian populations brought to the Caribbean between the 15th and 19th centuries.\
- Die Deutsche Lyrik in Reclams Universal-Bibliothek: Almost 500 years of German lyric poetry and includes the work of over 500 authors from the 15th to the 20th century.
- Digitale Bibliothek Deutscher Klassiker: Series published since 1981, covers the works of more than thirty German authors spanning eleven centuries.
- Early American Fiction (1789-1875): Full text of 875 first editions of American novels and short stories.
- Early English Prose Fiction (1500-1700): More than 200 works from the period 1500–1700, exploring English prose fiction in the period preceding the emergence of the realist novel as its dominant form.
- Eighteenth-Century Fiction (1700-1780): 96 complete works of English prose from the period 1700–1780, by writers from the British Isles.
- English Drama: More than 3,900 plays in verse and prose tracing the development of drama in English.
- English Poetry (1700-1780): Essentially the complete English poetic canon from the 8th century to the early 20th.
- English Poetry, Second Edition: Comprehensive canon of English poetry of the British Isles and the British Empire from the 8th century to the early 20th, and representing more than 2,700 poets.
- The Faber Poetry Library (1925-1999): Collection of fifty of the most influential poets of the twentieth century, includes the poetry of Thom Gunn, Siegfried Sassoon, T.S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Wendy Cope and Seamus Heaney.
- Goethes Werke: Complete text of the Weimar Edition of the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).
- Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period: More than 80 volumes of poetry by approximately 50 Irish women writing between 1768 and 1842.
- Kafkas Werke: A critical edition of the complete works of Franz Kafka (1883-1924), Franz Kafka, Kritische Ausgabe, Schriften und Tagebücher.
- Latin American Women Writers: 100,000 pages of literary works, along with memoirs and essays, in their original language, by Latin American women from the colonial period in the 17th century to the present.
- Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction: 100,000 pages of poetry, short fiction, novels, and more than 450 plays.
- Literary Theory: Works that have had a significant bearing on English and American traditions of theory and criticism, or which have influenced contemporary theoretical debate in the English-speaking world.
- Nineteenth-Century Fiction (1782-1903): 250 British and Irish novels from the period 1782 to 1903, stretching from the golden age of Gothic fiction to the Decadent and New Woman novels of the 1890s.
- Schillers Werke: Schillers Werke. Nationalausgabe, presents the works of Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), German playwright, poet, and philosopher.
- Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period: 60 volumes of Romantic poetry composed by Scottish women, includes contemporary criticism and essays.
- South and Southeast Asian Literature in English: Thousands of pages of English-language fiction, short fiction, and poems written from the end of the colonial era to the present.
- Teatro Español del Siglo de Oro: Full text of the most important dramatic works of sixteenth and seventeenth century Spain - more than 800 plays written by 16 dramatists.
- Twentieth-Century African American Poetry (1901-1999): Modern and contemporary African American poetry, featuring almost 9,000 poems by 62 of the most important African American poets of the last century.
- Twentieth-Century American Poetry (1901-2000): 50,000 poems drawn from 750 volumes by over 300 poets.
- Twentieth-Century American Poetry, Second Edition: Over 100,000 poems representing the full range of American poetry of the last century.
- Twentieth-Century Drama: Essential collection of published plays from throughout the English-speaking world, covering the history of modern drama from the 1890s to the present day.
- Twentieth-Century English Poetry: A collection of 598 volumes of poetry by 283 poets from 1900 to 2000.
- The W.B. Yeats Collection: Contains the author's major works in all genres, including poetry, plays, criticism, and fiction, collected in 22 volumes.
Books In Print This link opens in a new window
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Index to U.S. books, audiobooks, and movie titles currently printed or produced, offering reviews, tables of contents, cover images, author biographies, awards information, and annotations.
Critical Surveys and Critical Insights (Salem Literature Series) This link opens in a new window
A selection of over 80 Critical Surveys and Critical Insights volumes from the Salem Press Literature Series. Each contains full text reviews, insights, and summaries of a particular author, literary theme, or individual work of literature.

Journals with Book Reviews

Use the OneSearch Journal search option to find a specific journal, or the links below.

Familiarize Yourself with the Children's Collection & Book Awards

Identify the name and call number of a book that won the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award that is in the Children’s Collection.
Identify the name and call number of a picture book that won the American Indian Youth Literature Award that is in the Children’s Collection.
Describe two methods you can use to find a poetry book in the Children’s Collection.
Identify what professional association awards the Caldecott Medal and explain what the medal recognizes.
Define one keyword or topic that interests you from the electronic book “Keywords for Children’s Literature" or the electronic book "The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature".
Explain the difference between the information you can find on an award-winning children's book from the awarding body with the information you can find on the book in a book review.
Make a suggestion for what you would like added to this online guide.

Children's & Young Adult Book Awards

There are many awards given to children's and young adult literature each year. Below are a some associations or institutions that give awards and links to information on the awards they give.

American Indian Library Association American Indian Youth Literature Award
American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award
American Library Association Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table The Coretta Scott King Book Awards
American Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table Stonewall Book Awards Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Association for Library Service to Children Book and Media Awards (includes the Newbery, Caldecott, Batchelder, Belpré, Carnegie, Geisel, Sibert, & Wilder awards) and Children's Notable Lists
Council for Exceptional Children Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award
Jane Addams Peace Association Jane Addams Children's Book Award
The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award
Western Writers of America Spur Awards
Young Adult Library Services Association YALSA Book Awards (includes the Alex, Edwards, Morris, Nonfiction, Odyssey, & Printz awards)

Find Books in the Children's Collection (includes YA)

Browse the Shelves

Fiction titles are shelved by author's last name
- e.g., "Jingle Dancer" by Cynthia Leitich Smith is at SMITH
Non-fiction titles are organized by a numeric call number
- Autobiographies & biographies are shelved by the numeric call no. 921 followed by the name of the person who is the subject of the book
  - e.g., "Building on Nature: The Life of Antoni Gaudí" is at 921 Guadí
Fairy tales are shelved by the numeric call no. 398.2
- e.g., "Rumpelstiltskin" is at 398.2
Graphic novels are shelved by author's last name or by the numeric call no. 741
- e.g.,"Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" is at 741.5
Poetry is shelved by the numeric call no. 811 and 821
- e.g., "Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys" is at 811.6

Search OneSearch

Use the Advanced Search. Click on the radio button next to UM Physical Items.
In the search box(es) type the subject of books you want to find (e.g., music) or the genre (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, picture books, biography). Then, use the down arrow next to the word 'Any Field' to the left of the search box and change it to 'Subject'. (In most instances, genre is listed as a 'subject' in OneSearch.)
Once you see the results, choose "Mansfield Library - Level 2 - Children's Collection" from the options under "Location" on the left side of the page.
In addition to, or instead of, searching for a particular subject or genre use the other search box(es) to search for books that have won a specific award (e.g., American Indian Youth Literature, Caldecott). You can search using the word 'award' to find books that have won any award, though your search will include some books whose authors or illustrators have won awards for other books. You do not need to change the 'Any Field' option for these searches.
- The information on awards is available in the '586' (MARC 21 field) when you look at the 'Full Record View' of an item. (See screen shot in the right column of this page for an example.)

Books on Children's and YA Literature in the Main Collection

A select list of books that review, summarize, offer programming ideas for using, or address the study of children's literature, along with the floor and call number to find the items.

Cullinan, B. E. & Person, D. G. (Eds.) (2005). The Continuum encyclopedia of children’s literature. New York: Continuum. Level 2 Q & F Oversize: Q 809.8928203 C7629, & Electronic book (in Credo Reference database)
Nel, P., & Paul, L. (2011). Keywords for children’s literature. New York, NY: New York University Press. Electronic book (in Credo Reference database)
Zipes, J. (2006). The Oxford encyclopedia of children's literature. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Electronic book (in Oxford Reference Online database)
American Library Association. The Newbery and Caldecott awards: A guide to medal and honor books. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 028.5 N5342
Follos, A. M. G. (2013). Remarkable books about young people with special needs. Chicago, IL: Huron Street Press. Level 4: 028.5 F668R
Freeman, J., & Bauer, C. F. (2015). The handbook for storytime programs. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 027.6251 F8554h
Hahn, D. (2015). The Oxford companion to children’s literature (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Level 2: 809.89282 C295o 2015
Isaacs, K. T. (2016). Excellent books for early and eager readers. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 028.55 I737E
Isaacs, K. T. (2013). Picturing the world: Informational picture books for children. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 011.62 I737P
Naidoo, J. C. (Ed.) (2013). Diversity in youth literature: Opening doors through reading. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 2: 810.992069 D6183
Slapin, B., Seale, D., & Gonzales, R. (2000). How to tell the difference: A guide to evaluating children’s books for anti-Indian bias. Berkeley, CA: Oyate. Level 2: 303.385 S631h 2000
Stan, S. (2014). Global voices: Picture books from around the world. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 011.62 S784G
Wadham, T. (2015). Wordplay for kids: A sourcebook of poems, rhymes, and read-alouds. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Level 4: 027.625 W122W

Teaching and Learning Research Guide

Find Book Reviews and Summaries

Familiarize Yourself with the Children's Collection & Book Awards

Children's & Young Adult Book Awards

Find Books in the Children's Collection (includes YA)

Books on Children's and YA Literature in the Main Collection

Full Record View