Key databases
- StoryBox Hub
An Australian digital platform featuring storytelling videos. Includes popular authors and illustrators reading storybooks, teachers notes and activities for students and families.
- AustLit - Australian Literature GatewayA large authoritative database about Australian literature and storytelling, with biographical and bibliographical information, full text, exhibitions and rich online content. Includes production information for works of fiction and poetry, writing for the theatre, biographical and travel writing, writing for film and television, criticism and reviews. Also provides information about publishers, film and theatre companies, writers’ centres and festivals, and literary agencies.
- Literary Reference Center Plus
Full text database of author biographies, plot summaries and essays from leading publishers. It also includes literary reference books, literary magazines and book reviews from prestigious publications. It offers poems, short stories, classic texts, and author interviews.
- NCACL Cultural Diversity databaseA comprehensive collection of books which feature Australia’s culturally diverse population with the focus on understanding cultures, both similarities and differences.
Key journals
- Horn Book Magazine
A bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. - The Lion and the Unicorn
This journal covers the publishing industry, regional authors, comparative studies of significant books and genres, new developments in theory, the art of illustration, the mass media, and popular culture as it relates to children's literature. - Magpies
Contains reviews of new children’s and young adult books published in Australia and overseas; articles; author and illustrator interviews; and information on awards and what’s happening around Australia in children’s literature. - Children's Literature in Education
A source of articles on all aspects of children's literature. It covers classic and contemporary material, the highbrow and the popular, and ranges across works for infants through to material for young adults.
Library search
You can use Library Search to find literature on a theme. For example, if your theme is brothers and sisters and you are looking for picture books, you can search for:
brothers and sisters picture books
Other than picture books, try the following searches for different genres for school-age readers:
- brothers and sisters juvenile literature
- brothers and sisters graphic novels
- brothers and sisters young adult fiction
Books on children's literature
Indigenous Cultural Capital by Publication Date: 2018Winner of the Biennial Australian Studies in China Book Prize 2018 for an Original Work of Scholarship (in English) This book explores how Australian Indigenous people's histories and cultures are deployed, represented and transmitted in post-Mabo children's literature authored by Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers. Postcolonial narratives in Australian children's books enable readers access to Indigenous cultures, knowledge and history, which bring with them the possibility of acculturation.
Was the Cat in the Hat Black? by Publication Date: 2017Racism is resilient, duplicitous, and endlessly adaptable, so it is no surprise that America is again in a period of civil rights activism. A significant reason racism endures is because it is structural: it's embedded in culture and in institutions. One of the places that racism hides-and thus perhaps the best place to oppose it-is books for young people.Was the Cat in the Hat Black? presents five serious critiques of the history and current state of children's literature tempestuous relationship with both implicit and explicit forms of racism.
Essentials of Children's Literature by Publication Date: 2017From a well-known, well-respected author team--a concise resource for successfully teaching reading to children. With a goal of reawakening pre- and in-service teachers to the joy of reading, this widely popular book focuses on teaching reading to children through today's rich array of available trade books.
Literature's Children by Publication Date: 2019Literature's Children offers a new way of thinking about how literature for children functions didactically. It analyzes the nature of the practical critical activity which the child reader carries out, emphasizing what the child does to the text rather than what he or she receives from it.
Children's Literature in a Multiliterate World by Publication Date: 2018The International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) presents a collection by scholars of children's literature about outstanding story and picture books that explore issues of identity, belonging and empathy in many parts of the world.
Children's Literature in Translation by Publication Date: 2020This volume focuses on the complex interplay that happens between text and context when works of children's literature are translated: what contexts of production and reception account for how translated children's books come to be made and read as they are?
Literature for Children by Publication Date: 2018An accessible, concise, and engaging text on children's literature with full-color illustrations. It provides a solid understanding of the foundations of children's literature across genres, from picture books to folk literature. David Russell stresses that teachers need to first appreciate literature in order to teach it effectively. The text's user-friendly format includes a wealth of real examples and its thoughtful presentation allows students to spend more time reading actual children's books.
Exploring Children's Literature by Publication Date: 2019Having a good working knowledge of children's literature is vital for primary teachers; the best way to develop switched-on young readers is to ensure they get access to high-quality age-appropriate material that engages and inspires them. This book explores the rich and varied world of children's literature and how it can be used in teaching to promote reading for pleasure and create lifelong readers.
The land of story-books: Scottish children's literature in the long nineteenth century by Publication Date: 2019This volume of twenty essays presents a unique insight into the world of Scottish children's literature throughout the long nineteenth century. As well as revisiting much-loved authors such as Stevenson, Barrie, and MacDonald, it explores the neglected role of women writers in shaping the inheritance of Scottish children's literature, the significant contribution of Gaelic writers, and the role of folklore and tradition. Essays also examine the significance of children as literary protagonists, and as readers themselves. In recovering these marginal voices and texts, and in showing how well-known stories explore questions of culture, identity, and language,
Story in Children's Lives: contributions of the Narrative Mode to Early Childhood Development, Literacy and Learning by Publication Date: 2019Explores innovative ideas and applications of stories beyond typical school-based practices
Offers an expansive view of stories as multimodal texts influencing all developmental areas
Offers practical applications of research-based strategies in early childhood settings
The Routledge Companion to International Children's Literature by Publication Date: 2017Demonstrating the aesthetic, cultural, political and intellectual diversity of children's literature across the globe, The Routledge Companion to International Children's Literature is the first volume of its kind to focus on the undervisited regions of the world.
Literacy eBook : Reading, Writing and Children's Literature by Publication Date: 2020The most comprehensive text for pre-service teachers to learn how to teach literacy. It covers the whole literacy curriculum: reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing, and illustrates how pre-service teachers can use theory in their classrooms. This accessible text is rich with practical examples, classroom scenarios, and revision questions to help readers put theory into practice.
Charlotte Huck's children's literature : a brief guide by Publication Date: 2019Provides essential information for designing pre-K-to-8 literature programs with a strong emphasis on researching, evaluating, and implementing quality books in the classroom. This book gives the tools needed to evaluate books, create curriculum, and foster a love of reading for young students.
Transforming practice : transforming lives through diverse children's literature by Publication Date: 2021Children from marginalised and minority backgrounds are very often at greatest risk of poor academic outcomes, yet are still largely invisible in the resources used in our schools, including the literature through which students learn to communicate, understand, and express ideas. This critical text explores the research and evidence-based best instructional practice to assist teachers to select and use literature with children as they implement the Australian Curriculum.
Teaching Tough Topics by Publication Date: 2020This book focuses on topics that can be challenging or sensitive yet significant for building an understanding of social justice, diversity and equity. Racism, homophobia, bullying, religious intolerance, poverty, and physical and mental challenges are just some of the themes explored. The book is rooted in the belief that, by using picture books, novels, poetry, and nonfiction, teachers can enrich learning with compassion and empathy as students make connections to texts, to others and to the world.
Teaching Diversity Through Children's Literature by Publication Date: 2019Teaching Diversity and Multiculturalism through Children's Literature The What and the Why: Diversity and Multiculturalism What Is Children's Literature? Common Core and Teaching Diversity through Children's Literature How Can This Book Be Used and Why Will It Be Helpful?
A Multimodal Approach to Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Childrens Picture Books by Publication Date: 2021This collection offers a thorough treatment of the ways in which the verbal and visual semiotic modes interrelate toward promoting gender equality and social inclusion in children's picture books. Drawing on cutting-edge theoretical work in multimodality, including multimodal cognitive linguistics, multimodal discourse analysis, and visual social semiotics, the book expands on descriptive-oriented studies to offer a more linguistically driven perspective on children's picture books.
Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11 by Publication Date: 2019Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11 is a guide for primary teachers to the many kinds of texts children encounter, use and enjoy in their nursery and primary school years, providing an invaluable insight into the literature available. Addressing important issues and allowing for the voices of teachers, reviewers and children to be heard, it contains suggestions of best practice which offer a more creative approach to learning. Including both fiction and non-fiction, with genres ranging from picturebooks to biographies.
Queer Anxieties of Young Adult Literature and Culture by Publication Date: 2020Young adult literature featuring LGBTQ+ characters is booming. In the 1980s and 1990s, only a handful of such titles were published every year. Recently, these numbers have soared to over one hundred annual releases. Queer characters are also appearing more frequently in film, on television, and in video games. This explosion of queer representation, however, has prompted new forms of longstanding cultural anxieties about adolescent sexuality. What makes for a good "coming out" story? Will increased queer representation in young people's media teach adolescents the right lessons and help queer teens live better, happier lives?
Space, place and children's reading development: mapping the connections by Publication Date: 2022Based on a qualitative study into the experiences of readers when they were children, this is an innovative exploration of the effect of place and social geographies on reading development and textual interpretation.
Graphic Novels and Comics in the Classroom by Publication Date: 2013Sequential art combines the visual and the narrative in a way that readers have to interpret the images with the writing. Comics make a good fit with education because students are using a format that provides active engagement. This collection of essays is a wide-ranging look at current practices using comics and graphic novels in educational settings, from elementary schools through college.
Studying Comics and Graphic Novels by Publication Date: 2013This introduction to studying comics and graphic novels is a structured guide to a popular topic. It deploys new cognitive methods of textual analysis and features activities and exercises throughout. Deploys novel cognitive approaches to analyze the importance of psychological and physical aspects of reader experience.
Wham! by Publication Date: 2013Graphic novels are an excellent medium to motivate today's youth to become independent learners and thinkers. This practical guide shows secondary school teachers how to incorporate graphic novels into content area instruction as a tool for meeting the needs of diverse learners and achieving the goals of the Common Core State Standards.
101 Outstanding Graphic Novels by Publication Date: 2015With an all-encompassing variety of genres, including both fiction and nonfiction, this serves as a great introduction to this increasingly influential world of pop culture and entertainment while also serving as a reference list for fans on what they may have possibly overlooked.
- Let's Get Graphic : 100 Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels
This website provides a selection of Graphic Novels that may be useful to your studies in Children's Literature.
Worth a Thousand Words by Publication Date: 2018This book details how and why graphic novels are complex texts with advanced-level vocabulary, and demonstrates how to read and analyze these texts. It includes practical advice on how to integrate these books into both ELA and content-area classrooms and provides an extensive list of appropriate graphic novels for K-8 students, lesson suggestions and paired graphic/prose reading suggestions. Provides research to back up why graphic novels are such powerful educational tools and opens up an exciting new world for teaching children visual and verbal literacy.
Graphic Novels As Pedagogy in Social Studies by Publication Date: 2020In this text the author argues that utilizing graphic novels in the classroom not only helps to teach important concepts, skills, and dispositions of the social studies, but can also empower students with the means to grapple with the complexities of our current times. From the primary school classroom through high school and beyond, graphic novels provide a rich platform to explore a diverse array of issues such as history, critical geography, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, leadership, feminism, sexual identity, philosophy, and social justice issues, as well as provide a multidisciplinary lens for discourse on citizenship.
Representation and Memory in Graphic Novels by Publication Date: 2019This book analyses the relationship between comics and cultural memory. By focussing on a range of landmark comics from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the discussion draws attention to the ongoing role of visual culture in framing testimony, particularly in relation to underprivileged subjects such as migrants and refugees, individuals dealing with war and oppressive regimes and individuals living with particular health conditions.
Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom by Publication Date: 2017This collection highlights the diverse ways comics and graphic novels are used in English and literature classrooms, whether to develop critical thinking or writing skills, paired with a more traditional text, or as literature in their own right. From fictional stories to non-fiction works such as biography/memoir, history, or critical textbooks, graphic narratives provide students a new way to look at the course material and the world around them.
The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel by Publication Date: 2018The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel provides the complete history of the graphic novel from its origins in the nineteenth century to its rise and startling success in the twentieth and twenty-first century. Essays address the masters of the form, including Art Spiegelman, Alan Moore, and Marjane Satrapi, and reflect on their publishing history as well as their social and political effects. This ambitious history offers an extensive, detailed and expansive scholarly account of the graphic novel, and will be a key resource for scholars and students.
Book of the Year awards
- Book Week Theme 2024Reading is magic