Finding Children's Literature By Theme, Grade, etc.
Tip Sheet: finding books by theme, grade/age, etc.
Predictable Books for Children: From the library home page, select the Advanced Search. Enter cumulative as a keyword, and juvenile fiction OR juvenile literature OR picture books as subject terms.
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Teacher's Book Bank This database of Canadian historical fiction and non-fiction books is brought to you by the Canadian Children's Book Centre with Historica Canada. These titles may be used by teachers to introduce topics and themes in Canadian history and by students carrying out research projects. Many of the books also offer opportunities for cross-curricular connections in language arts, geography, the arts, science and other subjects. In most cases, publishers have indicated specific grade levels and age ranges to guide selection.
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Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for LearningInteractive web resource designed to assist educators with weaving Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into their teaching and learning, starting with story. Audience: preservice and professional teachers.
Topic Based Juvenile Literature
Use keyword "juvenile" to your catalog search to limit your results to items appropriate for K-12 students. See the Division I and II pages for more resources and search tips.
- For finding fiction titles, use the term "Juvenile fiction" combined with keywords that describe the topic of interest. For example:
"juvenile fiction"
AND
friendship
- For finding non-fiction literature, use the term "juvenile literature" keywords that describe the topic of interest. For example:
"juvenile literature"
AND
Alberta
Finding Reviews for Assignments: Start Here
Search for book reviews in the library catalogue:
From the Library home page, select Advanced Search. Then, enter the search terms describing the book (e.g. title, author name) along with "book review*" as shown in the following sample search.
Birdsong
AND
Flett
AND
"book review*"
Search for book reviews in selected databases and e-journals:
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Book Links For teachers and all other adults interested in connecting children with high quality books.
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The Horn Book Magazine Essential for everyone who cares about children’s and young adult literature. Includes articles, reviews and editorials. In publication since 1924.
Predictable and Song-based Books for Children
From the library home page, select the Advanced Search. Enter the keywords: (cumulative OR predictable) AND (juvenile fiction OR juvenile literature OR picture books). Run the search only across Library Catalog items to avoid retrieving book reviews.
Be sure to check your course information, or with your instructor, to see if individual titles reflect the characteristics of predictable books.
Song based picture books : Search the Library Catalogue using the following subject terms
- Children's songs -- Texts OR songs AND music -- Juvenile fictions -- OR Songs -- Juvenile fiction
Search Tips
To find curriculum materials, try these subject searches:
- English Language Composition and Exercises
- English Language Study and Teaching
- Reading Comprehension
- Composition and exercises
- Reading
- Creative writing
- Grammar
Try combining your topic with these terms:
- Problems, exercises, etc.
- Juvenile literature
- Juvenile fiction
- Juvenile poetry
- Juvenile software
- Interactive multimedia
- Creative activities and seatwork
Sample searches to try:
Social Justice and Diversity
CCBC Social Justice and Diversity Book Bank: Search by keyword or browse by one of the A-Z topics such as: Asperger's, Blended Families or Class Issues.
Social Justice through Postcolonial Literature: Themes include: Civil Rights, Holocaust, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Newcomer, Residential Schools, Refugee and War/Conflict. Highlights the texts selected by Elementary and Secondary teachers participating in a national Canadian research project entitled Developing a Pedagogy of Social Justice in the Classroom through Postcolonial Literature (2014-2019) funded by SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada).
LGBTQ2S+ Book Awards & Lists
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Building and Maintaining LGBTQ+ Picture Book Collections This toolkit provides instruction on how to develop and manage a library collection of LGBTQ+ children’s picture books. It is split into four sections that include a guide to evaluating materials, recommended picture books, a guide to fighting censorship, and a list of recommended resources.
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Fab & Spectacular LGBTQ Books for TeensA list of young adult LGBTQ books selected by youth librarians Mary Gen Davies and Tanvi Rastogi (and compiled for presentation at the 2014 Iowa Pride Conference).
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Stonewall Book Awards ListStonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table.
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YALSA Guide to LGBTQ YA Literature This list provides an overview of the variety of YA literature that features queer characters, from coming out stories to sci-fi adventures.