Databases

• Horn Book Guide Online searchable online compilation of the twice-annual publication, contains more than 71,100 reviews with ratings.

Databases in Related Disciplines

• Academic Search Complete articles in many disciplines, many from scholarly journals; extensive full text.
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index an index to millions of biographical sketches and articles in more than 3,000 reference cbooks . Covers living and deceased persons throughout the world.
• Book Review Index Plus reviews from such general library and book trade publications at Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews, searchable by author, title, or keyword, with limits for "Children's" and "Young Adults" reviews.
• ERIC Database
  • via EBSCO (a UMW Libraries subscription, with links to fulltext articles in our online collections plus links to many fulltext ERIC documents)
  • via the Education Resources Information Center's website (free to all, with links to many fulltext ERIC documents)
• Education Full Text professional journals and magazines, extensive full text
• Educator's Reference Complete professional journals and magazines, reports such as Condition of Education, extensive full text
• Literature Resource Center (LRC) critical and biographical information on living and deceased authors from around the world, including children's authors
• PsycINFO developmental and educational psychology, gifted and special education, and curriculum

Resources in UMw Libraries

Finding Books to Check Out

The UMW Libraries catalog will help you to locate books about education and about children's literature, as well as classic and award-winning examples of books for children. For browsing, children's books are generally located at Library of Congress classification PZ on the second floor of Simpson Library and in the Children's Literature Collection of the CGPS Stafford Library.

To find books about children's literature, perform a BAsic search of the library's catalog using one of these Library of Congress Subject Headings. Change "Browse for Title" to "Browse for LC Subject HEading" on the DROPDOWN MENU.

• Children - Books and reading
• Children's literature
• Children's literature - History and criticism
• Children's literature - Study and teaching
• Children's poetry
• Children's stories
• Fairy Tales
• Folklore
• Picture books for children
• Tales

To find children's books by a particular author, perform a BAsic search of the library's catalog using THE AUTHOR'S NAME IN THIS FORMAT: last name, comma, first name. Change "Browse for Title" to "Browse for AUTHOR" on the DROPDOWN MENU. :

• Brown, Margaret Wise
• Milne, A.A.
• Rowling, J.K.

The same type of search will locate books illustrated by a particular artist

• Aliki
• Pinkney, Jerry
• Shepard, Ernest H.

To find books about a particular author or about an author’s work, use the same format to enter the author's name in a basic search, BUT Change "Browse for Title" to "Browse for LC Subject HEading" on the DROPDOWN MENU.

Reference Books in Simpson Library

Reviews and Other Tools for Selecting Children's Books for the Classroom

• A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books REFB Z1037 . L715 2006
• Adventuring with Books REFB Z1037 .N346 2002 produced by the National Council of Teachers of English Committee to Revise the Elementary School Booklist
• Best Books for Children Preschool through Grade 6 REFB PN1009.A1 B471 2006
• Characters in Children's Literature REFB PN1009 .A1 J78 1997 older but still valuable guide to plot and main characters in 230 works of fiction from the 19th and 20th centuries
• Characters in Young Adult Literature REFB PN1009.A1 G47 1997 older but still valuable guide to plot and main characters in 232 contemporary and classic works appealing to young adults
• The Children's and Young Adult Literature Handbook: A Research and Reference Guide REFB PN1009.A1 G55 2005 an update and expansion of Margaret W. Denman -West's Children's Literature: A Guide to Information Sources, includes listings of bibliographies, awards, curriculum and multicultural sources, professional organizations, more
• The Children's Literature Dictionary REFB PN1008.5.L38 2002

Profiles of Children's Authors and Illustrators

• 100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators REFB PN1009.A1 M33 2000
• 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors REFB PN1009.A1 D74 1996
• Children's Literature Review REFB PN1009 .A1 .C5139
  Ongoing Gale series with extensive profiles of "authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults from preschool through high school" including biographical information, bibliographies of the author's work and of works about the author, a portrait (if available), reviews, and excerpts of criticism of the author's work
• The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature REFB PN1008.5 C66 2001
• Cyclopedia of Young Adult Authors REFB PN1009.A1 C93 2005 covers a broad range of authors including those whose works are specifically aimed at this audience, such as Judy Blume and some whose works have achieved classic status among young adults, such as J.D. Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye
• The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators REFB PS490 .E85 2002, includes "Voices of the Creators," brief first-person narratives by such authors and illustrators as Maurice Sendak and Jerry Pickney about their own childhoods and influences

Websites

Awards

• Association for Library Services to Children: Literary and Related Awards from the American Library Association, links to information about many major awards, including the Caldecott and Newbery
• Coretta Scott King Book Award from the Social Responsibility Round Table of the American Library Association, for outstanding African-American authors and illustrators
• Parents' Choice Awards from the nonprofit foundation

Reviews

• Database of Award Winning Children's Literature free database, produced by a reference librarian at California State University, San Bernardino, covers more than 4,900 books chosen for 57 awards and is searchable by certain criteria including reader age, genre, and historical period
• Recommended LIterature (K-12) database from the California Department of Education

Developing an annotated Bibliography

• Annotated Bibliographies from OWL, the Online Writing Lab, at Purdue University, includes questions for assessment and reflection
• Annotated Bibliographies a tutorial from the University of Wisconsin Writing Center, includes examples of different types of annotated bibliographies plus links to citation style guides
• How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography from Cornell University, includes links to citation style guides and to tips for critically evaluating information