Research Databases
- Children's Literature and CultureThis subset of the Adam Matthew Primary Sources database archives a collection of rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reveals the socio-cultural history of these times. Showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature, from mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated ‘book-beautifuls’, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.
- ERIC - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThe ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to education-related literature.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowMLA BIBLIOGRAPHY (online) is the largest and most comprehensive database covering current scholarship in the modern languages, literatures, and folklore. Use advanced search to locate children's books by author or title.
Centers of Study
- Cooperative Children's Book CenterThe CCBC is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas, and expertise in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is a noncirculating examination, study, and research library for Wisconsin school and public librarians, teachers, early childhood care providers, university students, and others interested in children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, and receives additional support from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
- International Research Society for Children's LiteratureThe purpose of the IRSCL is to enhance research into children's and young people's literature, reading, and related fields. The Society aims to provide a forum for the exchange of professional information and for the discussion of theories of children's literature and their application to texts of all kinds. IRSCL also seeks to encourage collaborative research among its members.
- Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature"CSMCL is among the leading educational research centers in the field of multicultural literature. Our mission is to preserve the richness of the many cultures in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Further, our mission is to provide children, teachers, parents, educators, students, and librarians access to multicultural children’s books with high literary and artistic standards."
- National Center for the Study of Children's Literature"Developed in tandem with the Children’s Literature Program, the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature is a growing hub for undergraduate and graduate research at the intersection of children’s literature. Our work ranges from writing book reviews about the latest releases in children’s literature to working with educators to organizing panels and events centered on children’s literature."
History of Children's Literature
The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature by Call Number: Purdy/Kresge Library PN 6071 .C5 N67 2005 (3rd Fl.)ISBN: 9780393975383Publication Date: 2005The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature brings together the work of 170 writers and illustrators, tracing the historical development of genres and traditions over 350 years of children's literature in English.
Children's Literature by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780226473024Publication Date: 2009Charts the makings of the Western literary imagination from Aesop's fables to Mother Goose, from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to Peter Pan, from "Where the Wild Things Are" to Harry Potter.
Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780810860803Publication Date: 2010The Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature relates the history of children's literature through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on authors, books, and genres.
Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature by Call Number: Purdy Library Juvenile 820.9 C226sISBN: 0395352932Publication Date: 1985Humphrey Carpenter examines the lives and writings of Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame, George Macdonald, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, A.A. Milne and others whose works make up the Golden Age of children's literature. Both a collective biography and a work of criticism, Secret Gardens forces us to reconsider childhood classics in a new light.
