If you need help, please contact Elyse Neufeld, Education Librarian at 778.782.7419 (eneufeld@sfu.ca ), Ivana Niseteo, Librarian for English at 778.782.6838 (iniseteo@sfu.ca) or Ask a librarian.
Research on children's literature
See the Books + Articles page for key databases and journals to search for your research paper.
Collection development
Curriculum Collection
- The Curriculum Collection is located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Library (Burnaby). It's designed for students in the teacher education program in the Faculty of Education, and it includes books for children and young adults, among other resources for teaching and lesson planning.
- To find fiction books by topic, search the 'Curriculum Collection' in the Library catalogue by keyword, in combination with fiction, e.g. autism fiction. You can also browse the PZ call number range.
- To find juvenile non-fiction, search the 'Curriculum Collection' in the catalogue by keyword in combination with 'juvenile literature', e.g. autism juvenile literature.
Book awards
Find children's literature that has won awards or received honorary mention:
- ALSC Book & Media Awards (Association for Library Service to Children - a division of the ALA)
- BC Book Prizes (Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize ; Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize)
- BC's Young Readers' Choice Awards (Red Cedar Book Award)
- BC's Teen Readers' Choice - Stellar Award
- Canadian Children's Book Centre Book Awards
- Click on the ‘Awards Index’ to find a full list of all of the Children’s Book Awards in Canada.
- Governor General Awards (Children’s literature – text ; Children’s literature – illustrated books)
Book reviews
Find critical reviews of children's literature at these websites:
- Canadian Review of Materials
- Book reviews, media reviews, web reviews, news, features, and stories of interest to teachers, librarians, parents, and kids.
- Click on ‘Search within the publication’, and then in the ‘Document Type’ select ‘Book review’.
- Horn Book Magazine
- Reviews of children's books, articles and interviews of authors and illustrators.
- School Library Journal
- Review source for books, multimedia and technology for children and teens.
- Booklist
- Reviews materials for public libraries and school library media centers.
- Through the Looking Glass
- Use the 'Library of Reviews' tab to find book reviews in various categories, e.g. picture books, graphic novels, etc.
Challenged or controversial literature
Find books that have been challenged, banned or censored:
- Freedom to Read (Canada)
- Challenged Works List. Not comprehensive.
- Banned & Challenged Books (US, American Library Association)
- Yearly Lists of Challenged and/or Banned Books, as reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, 2004-2015. (Scroll down the page to find the links)
- Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom. It reports attempts to remove materials from school and library shelves across the US.
- Access via the catalogue; once in the journal, click on 'Search within this publication', and then type in ‘Censorship dateline’ to find a state-by-state survey of challenges and bannings in the US.
More information
Find articles and books about collection development:
- Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text (LISTA)
- Find articles about collection development in children's literature.
- Search the Library Catalogue by subject term. Find books containing bibliographies of children's literature. For example: (To search for books by subject heading, use the Browse Search option in the SFU Library Catalogue, then select Subject browse from the drop-down menu.)
- Children's literature -- Bibliography
- Young adult literature -- Bibliography
- Children's literature, Canadian -- Bibliography
- Best books -- Children's literature
- High school libraries -- United States -- Book lists
- Teenagers -- Books and reading -- United States
- High school students -- Books and reading -- United States
- ALA Collection Development Wiki
- A wiki developed by and for librarians with information about collection development practices.