Children's literature: Finding Resources

At Virginia Tech children's literature is poetry, prose, and drama written for children under the age of 12. Young adult literature is sometimes included in the study of this genre. This genre is often illustrated.

How to Find Children's Books in Newman Library

Children's Literature Section

On the 3rd floor of Newman Library, you will find the children's literature collection which consists of both fiction and non-fictions. Titles often have historical and critical value.

Browsing this Collection

To browse the collection physically, just head up to the third floor. To browse digitally, you can use the library's catalog.

Start on the catalog's home page
Then click advance search
Under shelving location on the bottom of the advance search page, choose "Newman Juvenile" and search.
Then filter to what you are looking for using the filters on the left.

Finding a Physical Book

If you know what book you are looking for, you can do a title search in Discovery search on the library's home page lib.vt.edu.

Children's Literature in Electronic Format

We also have children's literature available in ebook via discovery search and in International Children's Digital Library listed below.

International Children's Digital Library
The International Children's Digital Library provides over 4,000 ebooks written to appeal to 3 to 13 year olds. Each book was originally published in a printed form; the site includes both copyrighted and public domain titles. Scanned images (JPEG) or pages or spreads are presented for each book. Ebooks cannot be downloaded. Late 1800s-present.
The ICDL project has five primary research goals: to create a collection of more than 10,000 books in at least 100 languages that is freely available to children, teachers, librarians, parents, and scholars throughout the world via the Internet; to collaborate with children as design partners in the development of computer interface technologies that support children in searching, browsing, reading, and sharing books in electronic form; to better understand the concepts of rights management and "fair use" in a digital age; to evaluate the impact that access to digital materials may have on collection development and programming practices in school and public libraries; and, to develop a greater understanding of the relationship between children's access to a digital collection of multicultural materials and children's attitudes toward books, libraries, reading, technology, and other countries and cultures.

The ICDL collection has two primary audiences. The first audience is children ages 3-13, as well as librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers who work with children of these ages. The second audience is international scholars and researchers in the area of children's literature.

Finding Critical Sources on Children's Literature

Critical Writing on Children's Literature

To find critical writing on children's literature, you should look in a number of places.

Start with Discovery Search

Discovery search is the main search box on the library's website. While it does not search everything the library owns, it does search a lot of it. Discovery search has physical books listed as well as e-books, scholarly articles, newspaper articles, gray literature, and numerous other kinds of information. To learn more about how to use Discovery Search check out this guide.

Note that physical books about Children's Literature (not the actual children's literature) will be located in the P section of the 3rd floor.

Databases Dedicated to Children's Literature

Databases dedicated to children's literature are listed below with short descriptions

Literature Criticism from Gale
This database has 3 main collections: Short Story Criticism, Dram Criticism, and Children's Literature Review. The Children's Literature Review is why I list it here. In the Children's Literature Review, the most popular and influential authors of the genre are assessed through criticism of their major works.

College Librarian for Liberal Arts & Humanities

Katlyn Griffin

she / her / hers

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Contact:

317 Newman Library

540-231-9243

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Interlibrary Loan Services

All current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, regardless of your location, may request through ILLiad for materials:

not owned by Virginia Tech (books, articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
owned by Virginia Tech but are unavailable for use (print books)
owned by Virginia Tech and available in print (scans of articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)

We ship requests via UPS to users outside the immediate Blacksburg area (Montgomery, Giles and Pulaski counties).

Articles, book chapters, and many technical papers are delivered in PDF format to your ILLiad account. Occasionally, due to copyright restrictions, a paper copy of an article or standard is held for your at the Newman User Services Desk or sent o the mailing address listed on your account.

Background Information On Children's Literature

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature by Jack Zipes (Editor)
ISBN: 9780195146561

Publication Date: 2006-05-04

For much of its history, children's literature has been overlooked or looked down on by scholars. This Encyclopedia offers comprehensive coverage of children's literature, from medieval chapbooks of moral instruction for children to J. K. Rowling's immensely popular Harry Potter books. General essays illuminate prominent trends, themes, genres, and the traditions of children's literature in many countries. In addition, the Encyclopedia provides biographies of important writers, as well as extensive coverage of illustrators with numerous examples of their work.
The Cambridge Companion to Children's Literature by M. O. Grenby (Editor); Andrea Immel (Editor)
ISBN: 9780521868198

Publication Date: 2009-12-10

This Companion offers a state-of-the-subject survey of English-language children's literature from the seventeenth century to the present. With discussions ranging from eighteenth-century moral tales to modern fantasies by J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, the Companion illuminates acknowledged classics and many more neglected works. Its unique structure means that equal consideration can be given to both texts and contexts.

Last Updated: Jul 1, 2025 1:53 PM
URL: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/subject-guides/engl/childrens-literature
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Subjects: Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

Tags: languages, literatures