Subject Guides: Language and Early Literacy: Home

Selecting Children's Books

Award Winners

Required for the assignment:

Asian/Pacific American American Libraries Association Award
"The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit."
Caldecott Medal Winners and Honor Books
"The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
"The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood. "
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
Newbery Medal and Honor Books
"The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year."
Orbis Pictus Nonfiction Award
"The NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® was established in 1989 to promote and recognize excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. Orbis Pictus commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Comenius, Orbis Pictus—The World in Pictures(1658), considered to be the first book actually planned for children."
Pura Belpré Medal
"The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually 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. "
Scott O'Dell Award
"In 1982, Scott O'Dell established The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. The annual award of $5,000 goes to an author for a meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults. Scott O'Dell established this award to encourage other writers to focus on historical fiction. He hoped in this way to increase the interest of young readers in the historical background that has helped to shape their country and their world."

Others:

International Literacy Association: Choices Booklists
Children's Literature Legacy Award (previously the Wilder Medal)
"Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Children’s Literature Legacy Award 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 through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences."
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
"The Batchelder Award is awarded to a United States publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originating in a country other than the United States and in a language other than English and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States during the preceding year."
Robert F. Sibert Medal
"The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. ALSC administers the award."

Banned/Challenged Books

Graphic Novels

Finding Reviews of Children's Books: Indexes & Databases

Encompass (the search bar on the library home page) provides the easiest way to get book reviews quickly. Simply search for the title of the book and select "Articles." However, if you aren't finding enough, you may want to try these resources:

Book Review Digest by Hw Wilson (Editor)
Call Number: Main Collection (Ref.) 015.73 B724d
ISBN: 9781682172056
Publication Date: 2017-02-01

Or search here:

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A database of both scholarly and popular publications in a wide variety of disciplines and subject areas, including psychology. Most full text is linked directly in the database; otherwise use the Check for Full Text buttons to check for full text online or in the library.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Reader's Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of general-interest periodicals published in the United States for the period 1890-1982.

Researching Children's Book Authors

Something about the Author
Call Number: Main Collection (Ref.) 028.520922 S696a
ISBN: 1414421699
Publication Date: 2009-05-22

Finding Lesson Plans

ERIC This link opens in a new window
Use this education database to find lesson plan ideas using your children's book.

BrainPOP
"BrainPOP was founded in 1999 by Dr. Avraham Kadar as a creative way to explain difficult concepts to his young patients."
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
A personal website with recommended activities for featured books. See "Featured Books" under "Children's Books."
National Council for Teaching Mathematics
National Council for the Social Studies
Recommended resources for educators in the social studies.
National Education Association
Lesson plans from the National Education Association.
National Science Teachers Association
ReadWriteThink
"Providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction."
Scholastic Lessons and Ideas
Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Tolerance "...emphasizes social justice and anti-bias. The anti-bias approach encourages children and young people to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives. Our Social Justice Standards show how anti-bias education works through the four domains of identity, diversity, justice and action."

How do I get the full text of my article?

To get the full text of an article, consider the following options:

- If you are in Encompass Search or a library database, look for "Check for Full Text buttons," "Access Online," or "Check eResources" buttons. These buttons will take you the full text of the article or tell you that the full text cannot be found. If the full text is not available from Trexler Library, look for buttons to request the item from another library via interlibrary loan. Or go directly to the interlibrary loan request forms.

- If you have citation information for the article (i.e., journal title, article title, publication year, etc.), type the information about your article in Encompass Search on the library website. If the library subscribes to the full text, you will be directed to the article (see first bullet above). If not, you can request a copy of the article via interlibrary loan.

- If Trexler Library does not have access to the full text of the article, search Google Scholar by article title to see if the author has made a copy freely available online. If not, you can request a copy of the article via interlibrary loan.