This guide is intended to assist students performing research in the area of Children's Literature. It suggests both print and Internet resources available, but it is by no means a comprehensive list of all materials available either in the Library or on the Web. For information on General Education topics please consult that guide. For additional assistance contact a reference librarian by calling (910) 630-7123 or emailing reference@methodist.edu
The Online Catalog is an excellent place to start your research. It will allow you to identify books, videos, and other physical (and some electronic) materials owned by Davis Memorial Library about your topic. The Online Catalog is available from any Internet accessible computer. Use the Keyword search to locate materials by topic. Type in the concepts you are looking for, using "and" to combine terms (e.g. children and literature). You can search only the Teaching Materials Collection by selecting it from the Quick Limit menu before you search.
Our Electronic Resources are the best way to locate journal articles on your topic. Articles are specific enough to search on narrow topics. These indexes allow you to find recent information on a topic or resources on a current issue. Always print or write down the full citation to an article (author, article title, journal title, volume, issue, date, and pages).
The library has approximately one hundred databases. If you know which one you wish to use you may choose from an alphbetical list of titles. The Library has also prepared a subject list of databases in Education. These are described below if you need more information before choosing.
Also, there is a separate subject list for databases targeted specifically for Children through grade 12. These include encyclopedias, journal databases with age-appropriate sources, and search modes geared towards children. These databases for children are only available through this list.
In each database, you will see a notation for "Check Journal Finder" for articles that do not have full-text available in the database you are currently searching. Journal Finder will search to see if another database or a free website has full-text available. If the text is available, you will see a box with a picture of a computer. Click on the computer icon. The next screen shows where the text is available and for what dates.
The following are descriptions of the education related databases.
Academic Search Premier
Academic Seach Premier is a
good starting point for your research. It contains a combination of full-text
articles and citations. Searches may be limited by date, publication, full-text
availability, or scholarly articles. Academic Search Premier is a good
place to look for book reviews; it has many of them available in full text.
ERIC (Educational
Resources Information Center)
ERIC "provides full text of more than
2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citations
and abstracts from over 1000 educational and education-related journals." To
limit your search to journal articles, select the "Advanced Search" tab. Then,
under "Limit Your Search," select "Journal Articles" next to the text reading
"Journal or Document." Many other limits may be applied to the search including
Educational Level, Publication Type, and Intended Audience. Some full-text is
available, following the "Linked Full Text" icon as well as utilizing the
"Check Journal Finder" icon to see if text is available.
This collection is located in Room #123 of the North Wing of the Library. A quick overview of the collection shows that it contains many useful materials for education majors, such as a children's collection of fiction and non-fiction books, big books, professional activity books with lesson plans and reproducibles, Cumberland county and Fort Bragg adopted textbooks. The green cabinets behind these students also house audio-visual materials, manipulatives, activity boxes, games, etc. that are useful in executing lesson plans in all subject areas. The children's collection is comprised of 7,900 volumes of children's literature. These materials (designed for use with grades K-12) will allow the education student to develop lesson plans and provide other resources for the education methods student.
The Reference section of the library is a good place to develop possible topics, begin your research, and find critical pieces of information to finish your project. Just remember that most reference books cover broad subject areas. Try some of the following titles for information.
| Title | Location |
| American Writers for Children, 1900-1960 | R 810.99282 A512 |
| Best Books for Children: Preschool Through Grade 6 | R028.1 B561 1998 |
| Best Books for Young Adults | R 028.162 C323b 2000 |
| Black Authors and Illustrators of Books for Children and Young Adults | R 809.30083 M978b |
| The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English | R 820.99282 C178 |
| Censorship | R 363.31 C396 1997 vol.1-3 |
| Characters in Children's Literature | R 809.30083 J78c |
| Characters in Young Adult Literature | R 809.30083 G478c |
| Children's Books and Their Creators | R 810.9 C536 |
| The Children's Literature Dictionary | R 809.89292 L364c |
| Contemporary Authors | R 928 C761 vol. 1- 243 (shelved in the center section) |
| Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature | R 809.30083 C762 |
| Coretta Scott King Awards Book | R 028.162 C797 1999 |
| Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators | R809.30083 E78 |
| Great Books About Things Kids Love | R 809.30083 O23g |
| Myths and Hero Tales | R 398.2 H474m 1997 |
| New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children | R 809.30083 L767n |
| Newbery and Caldecott Awards | R 028.5 N534 2000 |
| 100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators | R 810.99282 M141o |
| Oxford Book of Children's Verse | R 821.00809282 O61o |
| Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America | R 811.00809282 O98 1985 |
| Oxford Companion to Children's Literature | R 809.89282 C295o |
| Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales | R 398.21 O98 2000 |
| Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes | R 398.803 O61o 1997 |
| Something About the Author | R 809.8 S696 vol. 1- 166 (shelved in the center section) |
| Twentieth Century Children's Writers | R 809.9 T971.2 |
| Yesterday's Authors of Books for Children | R 809.89 Y47 vol. 1-2 |
Association for Library Service to Children–Literary and Related Awards-Looking for lists of awarding winning books? Look no further–this website gathers together links for Newbery Medal, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King awards and more. History and criteria for the awards are also listed.
A to Z Lesson Plans - A to Z Lesson plans contains over 300 lesson plans, ideas, activities, and resources submitted by teachers to A to Z Teacher Stuff and arranged in a searchable directory for all grades and subjects.
The Baldwin Project - "The Baldwin Project seeks to make available online a comprehensive collection of resources for parents and teachers of children. Our focus, initially, is on literature for children that is in the public domain in the United States. This includes all works first published before 1923. The period from 1880 or so until 1922 offers a wealth of material in all categories, including: Nursery Rhymes, Fables, Folk Tales, Myths, Legends and Hero Stories, Literary Fairy Tales, Bible Stories, Nature Stories, Biography, History, Fiction, Poetry, Storytelling, Games, and Craft Activities."
The Best Children's Literature (on the Net) - A simple Geocities site that provides an indexed list to hundreds of online texts in children's and young adult literature.
Book Adventure - "Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 6,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read offline, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by the Sylvan Learning Foundation and is a non-profit organization." The "Teacher's Lounge" has links to "Teachers's Toolbox," "Parent Participation," "Educational Links," "Reading Challenges," and more.
Book Hive - Created by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, this site recommends books for children, grouping the books into various categories like Biographies, Fantasy, Folklore, History, and more. Each book is reviewed by a librarian, categorized by reading level, and contains parental notes for more information.
The Center for Children's Books - "The Center for Children's Books (CCB) houses a non-circulating collection of more than 14,000 recent and historically significant trade books for youth, birth through high school, plus review copies of nearly all trade books published in the U.S. in the current year. There are over 1,000 professional and reference books on the history and criticism of literature for youth, literature-based library and classroom programming, and storytelling. Although the collection is non-circulating, it is available for examination by scholars, teachers, librarians, students, and other educators." While the Center itself is located in Illinois it's website and its Bulliten (which reviews children's literature) are useful tools for educators.
Children's Book Council - The Children's Book Council (CBC) is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to encouraging literacy and the use and enjoyment of children's books. A central part of The Children's Book Council's efforts to increase awareness of literacy issues is Children's Book Week, celebrated in schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes across the country each November.
Children's Books Online: the Rosetta Project - The Rosetta Project's collections currently contain about 2,000 antique children's books which were published in the 19th and early 20th century. The collection is comprised of electronic books that include original works and translations into the world's languages. The languanges include English and Spanish as the main languages, but there are many works available in Polish, Italian, Romanian, German, French, Maori, Farsi, Icelandic, Finnish, and others. Future plans include the addition of sound files, so that all children world-wide can read and listen to these stories.
The Children's Literature Web Guide - "The Children's Literature Web Guide is an attempt to gather together and categorize the growing number of Internet resources related to books for Children and Young Adults. Much of the information that you can find through these pages is provided by others: fans, schools, libraries, and commercial enterprises involved in the book world."
Children's Series Books Available Online - A list of online versions of children's book series that are now in the public domain such as The Bobbsey Twins, Pollyanna, The Motor Boys, and the Campfire Girls.
Choosing Children's Books - Choosing Children's Books has book reviews by topic and type rather than age group. They also select what they feel are exceptional books as Word Pool Gems. You can learn when new reviews and articles are added to the site by subscribing to the free monthly newsletter.
¡Colorin colorado! - Colorin Colorado offers Spanish-speaking parents information, activities, and advice on helping their children to become successful readers. It was produced by Reading Rockets, a U.S. Department of Education funded project of the public broadcasting station, WETA in Washington, D.C.
E-Stories from Enoch Pratt Free Public Library - An interesting project that brings the ancient tradition of live-action, storyteller performances to the electronic world. The site has 41 stories from 21 storytellers of national and regional renown, and will continue to grow. The library provides access to their stories "representing diverse cultures including African, African American, Appalachian, Celtic, Chinese, Indian, Iranian, Irish, Jewish and Native American." The creators of the site feel that "the stories can encourage reading related activities in young children which increase verbal skills.
Fairrosa Cyber Library of Children's Literature - A must in Children's Literature research. This site provides a little of everything from electronic copies of children's books to links and booklists to articles and reviews and a children's literature discussion forum.
Index to Internet Sites: Children's and Young Adults' Authors & Illustrators - A simply organized list of print bibliographies, author birthday sites, author and illustrator appearances, author interviews available online, a name pronounciaiton guide, literacy maps, and an alphabetically organized list of author and illustrator Internet sites.
International Children's Digital Library - A project of the University of Maryland and the Internet Archive, the International Children's Digital Library states that its mission "is to select, collect, digitize, and organize children's materials in their original languages and to create appropriate technologies for access and use by children 3-13 years old." The collection contains over 300 items and can be searched by category, author, title, or continent of origin.
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Literature & Language Arts -This site, created by Kathy Schrock, District Technology Department Head for the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District on Cape Cod, MA, features links to many sites of interest to those teaching children's literature. Poetry to mythology, mysteries to picture books–this site links to it all.
Lesson Plans for Children's Books - An extensive collection of lesson plans for educators working with children's literature.
NC Wise Owl - NC WISEOWL, a program from the NC Department of Public Instruction, is an excellent resource for students, teachers, and parents. Periodical databases and other reference materials are available, as well as easy access to other teaching and information resources from the Media and Technology consultants at DPI. Also see links to NCwin, the online technology instruction program, Evalutech, the review tool for software and media, as well as the Technology Planning and Support page.
North Carolina Standard Course of Study - This web page serves as a curriculum terminal from which you can travel to specific goals and objectives based on discipline and grade level. This service provides a convenient way for teachers, administrators, and parents to verify the instructional objectives of the Standard Course of Study at a given grade and subject area.
Page by Page: Creating a Children's Book - Created by the Library and Archives of Canada, this site takes users through the process of creating a children's book.
Reading Rockets -Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that looks at how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Reading Rockets includes:
Scholastic's Lesson Plans Page for Teachers - Scholastic's site provides lesson plans, activities, reproducibles, and thematic units arranged by curriculum area and then by topic or skill.