children's literature research collection

Children's Literature Collections

Approaches to Research

• © 2017
• Keith O'Sullivan 0 ,
• Pádraic Whyte 1

School of English, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

School of English, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

• Presents the culmination of a two-year project on children’s books in Ireland, bringing together books published across five centuries
• Contributes to the critical resources available on children’s literature in collections, and specifically, in terms of collecting, librarianship, education, and children’s literature studies
• Offers a complex view of children’s literature collections by showing the varied approaches to researching collections.

Part of the book series: Critical Approaches to Children's Literature (CRACL)

6834 Accesses

12 Citations

6 Altmetric

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (13 chapters)

Front matter, introduction.

• Pádraic Whyte, Keith O’Sullivan

History and Canonicity

Instruction with delight: evidence of children as readers in eighteenth-century ireland from the collections of dublin city library and archive.

• Máire Kennedy

Irish Children’s Books 1696‒1810: Importation, Exportation and the Beginnings of Irish Children’s Literature

• Anne Markey

The Great Famine in Irish History Textbooks, 1900–1971

• Ciara Boylan

The Development of the Irish Immigrant Experience in Irish-American Children’s Literature 1850‒1900

• Ciara Gallagher

Author and Text

Time and the child: the case of maria edgeworth’s early lessons.

• Aileen Douglas

Picking Grandmamma’s Pockets

• Jarlath Killeen, Marion Durnin

From Superstition to Enchantment: The Evolution of T. Crofton Croker’s Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland

• Ciara Ní Bhroin

‘Firing for the Hearth’: Storytelling, Landscape and Padraic Colum’s The Big Tree of Bunlahy

Pádraic Whyte

Ideals and Institutions

Kildare place society and the beginnings of formal education in ireland.

• Susan M. Parkes

Homespun Books: Creating an Irish National Children’s Literature

• Julie Anne Stevens

The Puffin Story Books Phenomenon: Popularization, Canonization and Fantasy, 1941‒1979

• Keith O’Sullivan

Picturing Possibilities in Children’s Book Collections

• Valerie Coghlan

Back Matter

• Children's literature
• Archival studies
• Collections
• Irish Studies
• children's literature
• English literature
• history of literature
• twentieth century

About this book

This book provides scholars, both national and international, with a basis for advanced research in children’s literature in collections. Examining books for children published across five centuries, gathered from the collections in Dublin, this unique volume advances causes in collecting, librarianship, education, and children’s literature studies more generally. It facilitates processes of discovery and recovery that present various pathways for researchers with diverse interests in children’s books to engage with collections. From book histories, through bookselling, information on collectors, and histories of education to close text analyses, it is evident that there are various approaches to researching collections. In this volume, three dominant approaches emerge: history and canonicity, author and text, ideals and institutions. Through its focus on varied materials, from fiction to textbooks, this volume illuminates how cities can articulate a vision of children's literature through particular collections and institutional practices. 

Editors and Affiliations

Keith O'Sullivan

About the editors

Keith O’Sullivan is Lecturer in English at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin, Ireland. He recently co-edited Children’s Literature and New York City (2014) and Irish Children’s Literature and Culture: New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing (2011). In 2013, he was co-recipient of a major Government of Ireland/Irish Research Council award to establish a National Collection of Children’s Books.

Pádraic Whyte is Assistant Professor of English and a director of the master’s programme in Children's Literature at the School of English, Trinity College Dublin. He is author of Irish Childhoods (2011) and co-editor of Children's Literature and New York City (2014). He was co-recipient of a major Irish Research Council/Government of Ireland award to establish a National Collection of Children’s Book.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Children's Literature Collections

Book Subtitle : Approaches to Research

Editors : Keith O'Sullivan, Pádraic Whyte

Series Title : Critical Approaches to Children's Literature

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59757-1

Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan New York

eBook Packages : Literature, Cultural and Media Studies , Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

Hardcover ISBN : 978-1-137-60311-1 Published: 20 May 2017

Softcover ISBN : 978-1-349-93406-5 Published: 29 October 2020

eBook ISBN : 978-1-137-59757-1 Published: 19 May 2017

Series ISSN : 2753-0825

Series E-ISSN : 2753-0833

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : X, 261

Topics : Children's Literature , European Literature , British and Irish Literature , Twentieth-Century Literature , Literary History

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

News alert: UC Berkeley has announced its next university librarian

Secondary menu

• Log in to your Library account
• Hours and Maps
• Connect from Off Campus
• UC Berkeley Home

Search form

Children's literature research guide: home, about the children's literature collection.

The UC Berkeley Library houses a very selective collection of children's literature shelved in the Main Stacks, the Morrison Library and the Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF). There are also many non-English language children's books held in other campus libraries such as the East Asian Library. The Berkeley Library's collection specializes in literature for school-aged children, books supporting multicultural education and, over the years, has acquired many award-winning books.

Use the UC Berkeley online catalog, UC Library Search , to find children's books in the collection:

• Identify books by title ( where the wild things are ) or author ( myers, walter dean )
• Search subject: juvenile literature ( jazz juvenile fiction )
• Browse: keyword: children's literature collection
• Browse: keyword: jack graves early reader collection (to locate the special collection of early readers and primers donated by Berkeley alum Jack Graves)

Literary Criticism

For academic criticism of children's literature or literature in general, consult the following resources:

Children's Book Awards

• Caldecott Medal For distinguished American picture book for children.
• Coretta Scot King Book Award Awarded annually for outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values."
• Horn Book Award Sponsored by the Boston Globe
• Newbery Medal For distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
• Printz Award For books that exemplifiy "literary excellence in young adult literature."
• Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature (DAWCL) Compiled and indexed by children's librarian Lisa Bartle.

Book Reviews

Web resources.

• Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature: Digital Collection The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and periodicals published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. Noteworthy items include Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
• Center for Children's Books From the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Children's Book Council (CBC) Trade association of children's book publishers
• Children's Literature Association Association of scholars, critics, professors, students, librarians, teachers and institutions.
• Children's Notable Lists Notable children's books, recordings, and videos identified by Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
• Children's Picture Book Database (CPBD) From Miami University
• Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) From the School of Ed, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• International Children's Digital Library The ICDL collection includes digitized scans of 4619 children's books in 59 languages. The majority of the collection consists of contemporary materials that are in copyright. The remainder of the collection is made up of important historical materials that are in the public domain. more... less... 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. The ICDL was created by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Maryland in cooperation with the Internet Archive. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and Microsoft Research
• Publisher's Weekly (Children's Books) Trade magazine for publishing industry.

Other collections

In addition to the collection at UC Berkeley most public libraries have rich and extensive children's book collections managed by knowledgeable and experienced children's librarians.

• Last Updated: Aug 18, 2023 10:12 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/kidlit

University Library

Collections of Children’s Literature

SSHEL Home  >  S-Collection Home   > Research Children’s Literature > Collections of Children’s Literature

Online Resources

Print resources.

• Baldwin Library of Historic Children’s Literature The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 93,000 volumes published in Great Britain and the United States from the early 1700s through the 1990s. Its holdings of more than 800 early American imprints is the second largest such collection in the United States. The product of Ruth Baldwin’s 40-year collection development efforts, this vast assemblage of literature printed primarily for children offers an equally vast territory of topics for the researcher to explore: education and upbringing, family and gender roles, civic values, racial, religious, and moral attitudes, literary style and format, and the arts of illustration and book design.
• The Center for Children’s Books The Center for Children’s Books is committed to promoting quality literature for youth in the school and public library, in the classroom, and at home. Located in the School of Information Sciences (The iSchool at Illinois) building, the Center for Children’s Books is an invaluable resource for locating children’s literature materials on the University of Illinois campus. The Center maintains a non-circulating collection of more than 14,000 trade books for children and more than 1,000 professional and reference works that provide history and criticism of children’s literature. Most of the books in the Center’s Collection have been reviewed in their affiliate publication,  The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books .
• Children’s Collection in the Library at the University of Reading The collection currently comprises over 6,000 volumes, including runs of periodicals, embracing children’s literature primarily up to 1940. It is predominantly English and nineteenth century, and includes an estimated 900 pre-1851 titles. There are good collections of Mrs. Hofland and Mrs. Sherwood, G.A. Henty, unbroken runs of  Aunt Judy’s magazine  and the  Monthly packet . School stories and editions of  Robinson Crusoe  are areas of strength.
• Children’s Literature Collections—the State Library of Victoria (Australia) One of their two collections of Australian children’s literature has strengths in its comprehensive collection of early Australian and contemporary imprints in the subjects of fiction, picture books, folktales, myths and legends and anthologies of poetry. The other collection consists predominantly of early to mid 20th century Australian children’s books, pamphlets, music, songs, games and ephemera. Together the two collections provide an historical perspective to the social trends in publishing for children. A short history is included on the webpage.
• Children’s Literature in the National Art Library This collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London contains more than 6,500 books dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. The collection is designed to show the development of children’s book production and illustration.
• Children’s Literature Research Collections The Children’s Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota, includes the Kerlan Collection which contains over 100,000 children’s books, color proofs, artwork and manuscripts. Included in the vast CLRC holdings are Oziana and other Baum related materials as well as popular culture collections.
• Clarke Historical Library The Lucile Clarke Memorial Children’s Library, located inside the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University, holds a large number of children’s materials including books by and about Native Americans, historical schoolbooks, and a large collection of Arthur Rackham books. This library also has a growing collection of well-regarded international children’s books with a specific focus on nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen award. The Clarke also offers a travel grant for researchers interested in visiting the international children’s collection.
• Cotsen Children’s Library The Cotsen Children’s Library is a historical collection of 23,000 illustrated children’s materials at Princeton University. Included are early editions of Perrault’s fairy tales, Newbery family imprints, moveable and novelty books, children’s songbooks, Soviet Constructivist picture books, and a rich array of other printed books dating from the 16th to 20th centuries.
• de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection The strengths of the University of Southern Mississippi’s leading research collection for children’s literature include historical and contemporary works by British and American authors and illustrators. The collection also contains many original manuscripts and illustrations.
• The Osborne Collection—Toronto Public Library The Osborne Collection encompasses the development of English Children’s literature, including: a fourteenth-century manuscript of Aesop’s fables, fifteenth-century traditional tales, sixteenth-century school texts and courtesy books, godly Puritan works, eighteenth-century chapbooks, moral tales and rational recreations, Victorian classics of fantasy, adventure and school stories, up to 1910 – the end of the Edwardian era.
• Prange Digital Children’s Book Collection The Gordon W. Prange Children’s Book Collection at the University of Maryland consists of 8,000 picture books, story books, and comic books produced in Japan from 1945-1949. These unique books document life in postwar Japan and are a rich source of cultural and social history. Currently 200 books have been digitized and more will be added to the online digital collection. Only cover images and basic bibliographic information is available in both English and Japanese.

Titles listed below are located in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL), the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Main Stacks, and/or the Oak Street Facility. Search for the title of the book in the Library Catalog  to find the location of an item. Addresses and more information about each collection can be found in the individual catalogs.

016.741642 G82b Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood.  Kate Greenaway.  London. 1990. Lists the majority of the Museum’s holdings of materials relating to Kate Greenaway. The catalog is divided into 5 categories: (1) Books containing illustrations by Kate Greenaway; (2) Cards featuring Kate Greenaway; (3) Original drawings; (4) Greenaway imitations; and (5) Related materials. Entries are arranged by author/editor or title where no author is apparent. No index.

MFICHE 011.62 B537e The Birmingham Central Library.  Early Children’s Literature: The Birmingham Central Library Collection to 1830.  Haslemere. 1995. Includes early juvenile fiction, fairy tales, chapbooks, periodicals, and non-fiction works. Items in this collection date from 1530 to 1830, and represent 1,200 volumes by over 740 authors. A guide to the collection is available in the School Collection reference area (MFICHE011.62B537eguide).

026.11 C7523c The Carolyn Sherwin Bailey Historical Collection of Children’s Books : A Catalogue.  New Haven. 1966. Describes the collection of more than 2,000 volumes of early English and American children’s books, primarily from 1657 to 1930, that are housed in the Southern Connecticut State College Library. The catalogue is divided into three major sections — Chap-books, Deportment and Manners, and History and Customs — and is then arranged alphabetically according to author and work.

011.62 UN32c Catalogue of the Collection of Children’s Books, 1617-1939, in the Library of the University of Reading.  Reading, UK. 1988. Collection contains more than 6,000 volumes specifically for children published before 1939. The catalogue is divided into 24 sections, including genres, periodicals, and miscellanies. Includes an author/title index.

026.11 H313 A Catalogue of the Spencer Collection of Early Children’s Books and Chapbooks.  Preston. 1967. The Spencer collection contains more than 200 children’s books and 400 chapbooks, including several first editions. The table of contents divides the collection by genre, subject matter, or type of material. Includes title and author indexes.

S.011.7 Un3e Early American Textbooks, 1775-1900.  Washington, D.C. 1985. Subject guide to a representative selection of the Early American Textbook Collection. Books for supplementary readings are listed with the textbooks.

Q.011.62 B193i Index to the Baldwin Library of Books in English Before 1900, Primarily for Children. Boston. 1981. This 3-volume index lists approximately 40,000 books, half English and half American, dating from the mid-seventeenth century to 1900. Strengths include early chapbooks, long runs of children’s tracts, “toy” books, and many different editions of children’s classics. Also contains extensive runs of magazines and annuals for children and young adults.

808.899282 J631f Johnson, Elizabeth L.  For Your Amusement and Instruction.  Bloomington, Ind. 1987. The Elisabeth Ball collection consists of approximately 8,500 books and related juvenile materials such as hornbooks, paper dolls, games, and some 1200 manuscripts. Also includes works in other languages, such as French, German, Dutch, and Spanish. The catalogue is divided by subjects and types of materials. Includes title and author indexes.

S.028.8088 Sp312 1995 Jones, Dolores Blythe.  Special Collections in Children’s Literature: An International Directory.  1995. Provides information on special collections of children’s literature, 300 of which are located in the United States and 119 in forty other countries. A subject index lists collections with strengths in specific foreign languages and language groups.

S.741 G828vd Kate Greenaway: A Catalogue of the Kate Greenaway Collection.  Detroit. 1977. Descriptions of works contained in the Kate Greenaway collection. Divided into four major categories (books; magazines and annuals; calendars, cards, etc., original Kate Greenaway materials). Numerous illustrations.

S.016.8 K457k Kerlan Collection: Manuscripts and Illustrations.  Minneapolis, Minn. 1985. Catalog of the manuscript and illustration collection at the University of Minnesota arranged by main entry, and also by subject, title, author, and editor entries.

016.80989282 M692f Mitchell, David.  From Pilgrim’s Progress to Pinocchio: a Selection of Books Before 1900 from the Historical Collection of Children’s Literature at the University of Albany.  Albany, N.Y. 1987. Lists 65 exhibition titles from the collection’s 5,000 volumes that date from the early 19th century through the mid-twentieth century. Subject matter ranges from early religious tracts to primers and ABC books. Special emphasis was placed on inexpensive girls’ and boys’ series books and the large number of holdings in this area make the collection unique. Some entries include brief discussions of the author or title.

Q.S.305.23 Op3t Opie, Iona.  The Treasures of Childhood.  New York. 1989. A social history of childhood through an analysis of children’s books, toys, and games. Large, colored photographs of children’s artifacts and literature (from the Opie collection) make up a major portion of the book. Additional writings by Iona and Peter Opie are listed. Further readings and an index are also included.

S.028.52074 OP3 Opie, Peter and Iona.  The Opie Collection of Children’s Literature: A Guide to the Microfiche Collection.  Ann Arbor, Michigan: U.M.I., 1990. This three-volume guide to the Opie Collection of Children’s Literature on microfiche covers pre-1850 fiction. The guide is indexed by fiche number, author, title, and Opie number. The microfiche collection is available at Illinois State University and can be obtained through interlibrary loan.

026.11 T687o The Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books.  Toronto. 1958. A select listing of 3,000 titles from the Osborne collection of early English children’s books published prior to 1910. Titles are divided by subject, genre, and types of material. Includes a chronological list of editions (1566-1799), a list of illustrators and engravers, and a general author/title/series index. Volume Two, published in 1975, revises the original catalogue while adding approximately 1,600 new titles.

S.011.62 P918d 1988 Prentice, Jeffrey.  Dromkeen: A Journey into Children’s Literature.  New York. 1988. Traces the history of Australian children’s literature from the 1890’s to 1985 through the Dromkeen collection of historical books, illustrations, memorabilia, and records. Also discusses activities and programs sponsored by the Dromkeen institution. Includes a title/author index with limited subject access.

820.9 R188m Rathbone, Niky.  Mirth Without Mischief.  Birmingham, England. 1982. Provides an overview of the Parker collection of early children’s books and games housed at the Birmingham Reference Library in England. The collection of nearly 7,000 books and 100 games dates from 1538 to the 1980’s and includes educational materials as well as early adventure stories, fairy tales, and school stories. A special emphasis was placed on illustrated books to trace the history of book illustration and illustrative methods. No index.

026.11 R73l Roginski, J.  Little Truths Better Than Great Fables: a Collection of Old and Rare Books for Children in the Fort Worth Public Library.  Fort Worth, Texas. 1976. This catalogue is an alphabetic arrangement of titles in the Fort Worth Public Library’s collection. All entries include full bibliographic information and some include direct quotations from the prefaces and/or introductions of the original work. Includes some illustrations and author-illustrator, publisher-printer, and series indexes.

Q.016.8208 Sh52m Shercliff, W.H.  Morality to Adventure: Manchester Polytechnic’s Collection of Children’s Books 1840-1939.  Manchester, England. 1988. Lists children’s books from 1840-1939 from the Manchester Polytechnic collection in England. Full coverage of most popular mid-late 19th century authors (including many first editions and successive editions) make this collection unique. The collection also includes examples of some of the most heavily used textbooks of the time. The catalogue is divided into 21 sections by genre, type of material, or year of publication. Individual entries are alphabetical by author and include bibliographic information and a descriptive annotation (physical not critical). Includes a general index and an index of illustrators, engravers, and local publishers.

011.62 C28 Sinclair, Susan.  Catalogue of Children’s Books from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Collection and the Personal Libraries of John Lowell and Isabella Stewart Gardner. Boston. 1988. Highlights selections from the museum’s exhibition “From Babes in the Wood to Doctor Dolittle.” The exhibition traces the major trends in children’s literature in England and America from the early 18th to the early 20th centuries. Also includes fiction from France, nursery rhymes from China, and fairy tales from Japan. Includes author index.

Princeton University Library

Children's literature and culture: home.

• Discover book titles
• Digitized Primary Sources
• Children's Literature
• Childhood Studies
• Collection Highlights
• External Resources
• Youth programs

This guide serves as a starting point for researchers and students interested in primary and secondary sources for children's literature research, childhood studies, and children's culture. Please use the tabs above to explore a range of resources offered by the Princeton University Library.

Cotsen Children's Library

The Cotsen Children's Library is a very special library within Special Collections at Princeton University Library. It is home to  an international research collection of illustrated children's books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys in English, German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and dozens of other languages from the fifteenth century to the present day. The library is the benefaction of Lloyd E. Cotsen '50 .

Support for research, teaching, and learning

The Cotsen collection is non-circulating and used in the Special Collections Reading Room, located in the atrium of the Firestone Library. We continue to provide support for your research, teaching, and learning onsite or remotely.

For the latest policy on onsite services, please check Special Collections - Services & Policies .

You may also --

• Access children's materials listed under Digitized Primary Sources ;
• Curator for reference questions, or
• Metadata Librarian for questions concerning non-Roman language materials;
• Read the curatorial blog for interpretative essays on collection materials;

Cotsen Curatorial Blog

• Cotsen Homepage
• Cotsen Page at Special Collections
• Cotsen Collection at Princeton's Digital Repository
• Pop Goes the Page Blog Cotsen's outreach blog on literary enrichment programs for children
• Cotsen's Facebook Page
• Library Research Grants
• Next: Search >>
• Last Updated: Apr 16, 2024 11:35 AM
• URL: https://libguides.princeton.edu/cotsen

Children's Literature Research Guide

Find children's literature at atkins library, reference works, secondary source databases, scholarly journals, find primary sources.

• Book Reviews & Author Research
• Book Awards
• We Need Diverse Books
• External Resources
• PreK-12 Materials in Atkins Library
• Find Support Beyond this Guide

Atkins Library Quick Links

• Library Homepage
• Library Hours
• Library Databases
• Research Guides
• Citing Your Sources
• Reserve a Study Room
• My Library Account
• My Interlibrary Loan Account

Humanities Librarian

This guide provides links to useful resources to begin exploring the study of children's literature. Need help? Just ask --  please contact me at  [email protected] .

Search for books, articles, and more through our   library search system.

• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Provides access to scholarly research pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.
• JSTOR This link opens in a new window Provides access to academic journals and books covering a wide range of disciplines; it also includes some limited primary source collections.
• Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window Biographical, critical and bibliographical information on authors.
• Project Muse This link opens in a new window Scholarly journals and ebooks in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics.
• ERIC Database (via EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window Provides a comprehensive bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information for educators, researchers, and the general public.
• Children's Literature Review (LCO) This link opens in a new window Critical essays covering more than 750 authors and includes numerous entries focusing on individual titles and topics in children’s and young adult literature, including picture books, folklore, and graphic novels.
• Children's Literature Available from 1972 volume: 1 issue: 1.
• Children's Literature Association Quarterly Available from 03/01/1976 volume: 1 issue: 1.
• The Lion and the Unicorn Available from 1977 volume: 1 issue: 1.
• Children's Literature in Education Available from 03/01/1970 volume: 1 issue: 1.
• The Looking Glass Available from 1997 volume 1: issue 1.
• Journal of Children's Literature Available from 03/01/2011.
• Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures Available from 06/01/2009 volume: 1 issue: 1.
• Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature Available from 01/01/1998.
• Children's Literature and Culture (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new window This collection brings together rare books, games, and artwork from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries revealing the socio-cultural views and environment of the time. It examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination and introducing them to lessons in morality, nationality, and their place in society.
• Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window 19th Century African American newspapers, American County Histories to 1900, American Civil War Primary Sources, and more.
• Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans 1639-1800 This link opens in a new window Provides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets and broadsides printed in America from 1639-1800.
• New York Times Historical Archives (1851-2010) This link opens in a new window Major global newspaper including news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, as well as photos and advertisements.
• Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive This link opens in a new window Full coverage from 1902-2019. Reviews of books in many disciplines, theatre, musical performances, art exhibitions, film, media, and other cultural events as well as editorial and commentary articles.
• New York Times Book Review
• Next: Book Reviews & Author Research >>
• Last Updated: Jan 2, 2024 8:31 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.charlotte.edu/childrensliterature

About The Kerlan Collection

Dr. Irvin Kerlan

The Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature stands at the forefront of children’s literature archives worldwide. An internationally recognized children’s literature library and archive, The Kerlan holds more than 100,000 children’s books, original manuscripts, correspondence, artworks, galleys, color proofs, and other material for more than 1,700 authors and illustrators. Open to the public, The Kerlan is a rich resource for researchers, educators, families, and all who love children’s literature.

The Kerlan Collection was established in the 1940s by University of Minnesota alumnus Dr. Irvin Kerlan (1912-1963), medical research chief at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He collected rare books as a hobby and soon turned to children’s books. Dr. Kerlan chose what was best and representative of each current year and — when he could afford it — bought children’s classics and past Newbery winners.

It was not long before Dr. Kerlan took his collection one step further, pursuing the background material that went into making the books. He wrote letters to authors and illustrators, and they replied by forwarding their original manuscripts, artwork, and selected correspondence with editors and children.

From his collection, Dr. Kerlan organized exhibitions and shipped them to libraries and art galleries in North America, Europe, and the Far East. In 1949, he made arrangements with the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, to provide a permanent home for his collection. He died in a traffic accident in 1963.

The Kerlan Collection is a truly rich resource for researchers, educators, children’s literature creators, and all who love children’s literature. Today, The Kerlan continues to grow with materials from contemporary authors and illustrators.

“When I visited the Kerlan, seeing a school group of kids. They were giggling, there was chatter, there was discovery, there was excitement. I stood back for a moment and I watched these young people, and I thought these are the curators of tomorrow, the children’s book authors of tomorrow, the illustrators, the teachers, the lawmakers, the thought leaders of tomorrow, and right now, today, they are being informed about children’s literature, the creators of children’s books. ”

Selected collections within the kerlan, john p. borger comic book collection.

A life-long collector of comic books, John Borger donated more than 40,000 to the University of Minnesota, along with science-fiction and fantasy novels, comic anthologies, and comic-related magazines. In addition, the James E. and Deborah S. Nicholson Comic Book Collection has about 1,200 Marvel and DC Comics.

Denis R. Rogers — Edward S. Ellis Collection

About 1,100 hardcover books by Edward S. Ellis, giant of the American dime, pulp, and series novel genre, and a few contemporaries, along with European editions, 60 series, and 57 periodicals were collected by Denis R. Rogers.

George Hess Collection

About 100,000 examples of inexpensive popular literature from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as dime novels, series, Big Little Books, pulps, and comic books, make the Hess Collection one of the largest pulp collections in North America.

Laura J. Musser Oz Collection

The Laura J. Musser Oz collection includes books, fan fiction, and other L. Frank Baum-related materials.

The Paul Bunyan Collection

The Paul Bunyan Collection contains books, manuscripts, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, drawings, photos, phonograph records, and other memorabilia.

The Lionel Johnson Collections

The Lionel Johnson Collections include numerous editions of “Treasure Island” and “Alice in Wonderland,” as well as books related to pirates.

Search The Kerlan

To search the Kerlan, you can use:

• Collection guides, which describe a collection of archival records, personal papers, or manuscripts to locate material for your research. The guide may be a brief summary or a detailed description and inventory.
• Images and other digital materials, including photos, maps, films and videos, audio tapes, rare volumes and publications, and select items from archival collections.
• The Libraries catalog, which includes information about rare and special books, periodicals, and other publications held by the Children’s Literature Research Collections.
• About The Kerlan
• About the Curator
• Ask the Curator
• The Ridgway Award

Visit The Kerlan

The Kerlan Collection is available to anyone with a desire to explore, discover, and learn.

Building hours, location, parking, and more

" * " indicates required fields

Upcoming Events

• Explore The Kerlan
• Kerlan Blog
• Kerlan Podcast
• Kerlan Videos
• Online Exhibits
• Publications
• The Kerlan Campaign

© 2024 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Privacy Statement | Acceptable Use of IT Resources

Children's Literature

• Children's Literature Home
• Find Articles
• Book Awards
• Children's Authors

Online Collections

• Graphic Novels
• Fairytales & Folktales
• Alphabet Books
• Wordless Books
• Citing Sources This link opens in a new window
• Need Help? Ask a Librarian This link opens in a new window
• The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection is one of North America's leading research centers in the field of children's literature. Although the Collection has many strengths, the main focus is on American and British children's literature, historical and contemporary. Founded in 1966 by Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, the Collection holds the original manuscripts and illustrations of more than 1200 authors and illustrators, as well as 100,000+ published books dating from 1530 to the present.
• The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art The mission of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is to inspire, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book. In fulfilling their mission, they aspire to build bridges to an appreciation of art of every kind and to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy.
• Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University A website which gives teachers, librarians, parents, and students a place for designing literature-based thematic units for all subjects. The site includes: abstracts of over 5000 children's picture books; search capabilities for over 950 keywords, including topics, concepts, and skills which describe each book; weblinks for keywords so you can integrate your up-to-date content knowledge with our picture book resources.
• Category:Children's Bookshelf - Gutenberg Contains books and picture books by Louisa May Alcott, Beatrix Potter, Randolph Caldecott, Edith Nesbit, and many, many others.
• ICDL - International Children's Digital Library The ICDL Foundation promotes tolerance and respect for diverse cultures by providing access to the best of children's literature from around the world.
• The Literature For Children Collection Literature for Children is a collection of the treasures of children's literature published largely in the United States and Great Britain from before 1850 to beyond 1950.
• Children's Books Online A collection of antique children's books, indexed by age/interest reading levels.
• The Alice M. Jordan Collection The Alice M. Jordan Collection was contributed to the ICDL by Boston Public Library in honor of Alice Jordan (1870-1960), its first Supervisor of Children's Services. The collection at Boston Public Library contains historic, contemporary and international titles including picture books, fiction, non-fiction, toy and moveable books from the infant to the young adult level from the 19th Century to the present day. The materials represented in the ICDL provide examples of 19th-century tract titles including cautionary tales, religious and moral stories and instruction, natural history, rhymes, and stories of amusement and riddles. Additional items include numerous editions of Mother Goose, 19th- and early 20th-century editions of Aesop's Fables, series titles by G. A. Henty, Grimm's fairy tales, and stories by Hans Christian Andersen.
• Library of Congress Children's Book Selections This special collection presents children’s books selected from the General and Rare Book Collections at the Library of Congress. The collection includes classic works that are still read by children today, and lesser-known treasures drawn from the Library’s extensive collection of historically significant children’s books. The books in this collection were published in the United States and England before 1924, are no longer under copyright, and free to read, share, and reuse however you’d like.
• << Previous: Children's Authors
• Next: Graphic Novels >>
• Last Updated: Oct 11, 2022 12:17 PM
• URL: https://library.mcla.edu/childrenslit

Kerlan Collection

The Kerlan Collection contains more than 100,000 children's books, as well as original manuscripts, artwork, galleys, and color proofs, and other production materials for over 1,700 authors and illustrators.

About the Kerlan Collection

The Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota is one of the world's great children's literature archives. It includes books that are significant in the history of children's literature, award books, classics, and representative books from around the world, a large number of which are inscribed by the creators.

To search for books, using the on-line catalog, you must use the  University of Minnesota's libraries catalog . The libraries catalog is a catalog for the all of the University's libraries, and any books in our collection have the location "TC Andersen Library Children's Lit." For archival collections, including original manuscripts and art, please browse our complete list of online  collection guides  or search for them directly in our  online database .

Back to top

The Kerlan Collection Endowed Chair Fund

To ensure that the Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature remains at the forefront of children's literature archives worldwide, please consider a gift to the Kerlan Collection Endowed Chair Fund.

About Dr. Irvin Kerlan

The Kerlan Collection was established in the 1940s by University of Minnesota alumnus Dr. Irvin Kerlan (1912-1963). Dr. Kerlan was long time chief of medical research for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Washington D.C., and an authority on toxicity and related matters. He collected rare books as a hobby and soon turned to children's books.

Dr. Kerlan chose what was best and representative of each current year and bought children's classics and past Newbery winners. It was not long before he took his collection one step further, pursuing the background material that went into making the books. He wrote letters to authors and illustrators, and they replied by forwarding their original manuscripts, artwork, and selected correspondence with editors and children.

From his collection, Dr. Kerlan organized exhibitions and shipped them to libraries and art galleries in North America, Europe, and Asia. In 1949, he made arrangements with the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, to provide a permanent home for his collection. Dr. Kerlan was just 51 years old when he was killed in a traffic accident in 1963. Since then, the Children's Literature Research Collections and the University of Minnesota Libraries have supervised collection development.

Information and resources

Collection guides.

An alphabetical list of the inventories for all author's and illustrator's original materials held in the Kerlan Collection.

Newsletters

View current and past Kerlan Collection newsletters online.

The Kerlan Friends

Learn more about joining the Kerlan Friends, which supports the Kerlan Collection and sponsors the annual Kerlan Award.

Children's Literature Research Collection (CLRC): Children's Literature Research Collection

• Children's Literature Research Collection
• Gold gold gold!
• Gilbert Collection
• Heroes and villains
• Lucy Collection
• Old land - New Writers
• A strange new land
• Toys and toy books
• Unitarian Church Children's Library
• 20th century overseas books

CLRC background

The Children's Literature Research Collection (CLRC) was established in 1959 as a research and reference library for the study of children's literature of the world, with particular emphasis on Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. To support this research function there is a collection of reference books and periodicals relating to the study of children's literature and child play. A number of games and toys enhance the collection.

Scope of the collection

The CLRC consists of over 66,000 items, mostly children's books from Australia, the United Kingdom and America. They have been predominantly published in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, although there are earlier books, with the oldest,  De re vestiaria libellus, : ex Bayfio excerptvs: addita uulgaris linguae interpretatione, in adolescentulorum gratiam atque utilitatem published in Paris in 1542.

The Collection also contains:

• 2800+ books in languages other than English (LOTE)
• comics and children's newspapers and magazines
• school textbooks
• scraps and scrapbooks
• greeting cards
• 800+ board and table games
• 500+ toys and toy books

The collection has been enhanced over the years by donations of books, toys and games, from families and from many individuals and so strongly reflect the interests of South Australian children from the days of early settlement until the present. Examples of the Collection are on display in the To be a child exhibition in the Mortlock Building and can be viewed in our Digital Collections .

Notable collections

The CLRC contains a number of notable collections from South Australian families:

• The Gilbert and Lucy families donated books, toys and games from the 19th and early 20th centuries to the Library during the 1960s and 1980s. These collections are known as The Gilbert Collection and The Lucy Collection .
• In the 1990s, the Crompton Family donated toys and books from the 19th century.
• In 1990, the Unitarian Church in South Australia donated its Sunday School Library which was begun in 1859. This contains approximately 700 books and is known as the Unitarian Church Children's Library .
• In 2000, the CLRC's substantial holdings of board games, were enhanced by a donation of 160 games from the National Trust of New South Wales.

Copies of this image from the Antarctica game may be used for private research/study. You may order a high quality photographic copy . Any other use requires permission from the State Library of South Australia .

Access Conditions

At this stage only a portion of books in the Collection have been added to the State Library catalogue . This includes books from the Australasian region (Australia, New Zealand and Papua), some 19th century books and selected games. These catalogued materials can be requested online and are subject to a 24 hour retrieval time. Items must be used in the Somerville Reading Room , for which a Library card is required. This is available from the Information Desk.

The remainder of the books in the CLRC are itemised in a card catalogue by author and title, accessible to staff only. To access books from this part of the Collection, the first approach is to the Information Desk or by telephone enquiry. If the book or other item is available, it will be made available for viewing in the Reading Room. These items are also subject to a 24 hour retrieval time, however requests for a number of items, larger items or matters which involve complex research may take more time. Access to the historical toys and games within the collection is by appointment, subject to the nature of the request, curator availability and the condition of the item. Researchers may view a list of the pieces held upon application. Again, the first approach is to the Information Desk, via telephone enquiry or through the Ask Us online enquiry form facility.

Donations of books, toys, games, children's magazines, comics and other childhood ephemera will be considered. Community support ensures that the Children's Literature Research Collection will continue to reflect the reading and play interests of South Australian children from the past, present and into the future.

Inter-Library Loans

As the CLRC is a reference and research collection, materials from it are not available for general loan. Inter-library loans will be considered for certain books for use in public libraries outside of the metropolitan area. Please refer to your nearest public library to enquire about an Inter-library loan request. Conditions apply.

• Next: Games >>
• Last Updated: Mar 19, 2024 1:31 PM
• URL: https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/clrc

Ask Us a research query Contact Us Visit Us : Corner North Tce and Kintore Ave, Adelaide www.slsa.sa.gov.au

• University of Michigan Library
• Research Guides

Children's Literature

• Searching the Online Catalog (Library Catalog Search)
• Finding Books in the Library
• Journals and Databases
• Children's Literature Awards
• Young Adult Literature Awards
• Keeping Current
• About the Children's Literature Collection
• Children's Literature in the Special Collections Research Center
• Book Challenge Research Resources

Librarian Contact Information

Welcome! 

The Children's Literature Research Guide is intended to assist children's literature researchers, School of Education students and School of Information students by providing access to the University of Michigan Library children's literature resources in one place. It also includes other external resources that you may find helpful.

The Children's Literature Collection was originally designed and is primarily a collection of award winning children's books.  A portion of the original collection was donated by the School of Education.  

The Children's Literature Research Guide is maintained by Angie Oehrli , Learning Librarian at Shapiro Library.  Angie is a former middle school and high school teacher who selects and maintains the items in the Children's Literature Collection which is located on the 3rd Floor (South) of the Hatcher Library.  Please contact her if you need help researching any topic relating to children's literature.

Good luck with your research!

Research Guides

Children's literature/school library media: a guide to information resources.

• Reading Fundamentals
• Book Reviews, Abstracts and Summaries
• Library Programming
• Collection Development Resources
• Awards and Prizes
• Associations
• Digital Children's Collections

Historical Children's Literature Collections

• Makerspaces

Information Science Librarian

• Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection - University at Albany The Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection includes over 12,000 children's books and periodicals published in the 19th century and up to 1960. The collection is strong in the literature of the first half of the 20th century, but there is also extensive coverage of the 19th century, the latter half in particular. There is an especially strong concentration on neglected and forgotten works published in the United States, 1875–1950.
• Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature - California State University, Fresno The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature is in the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno. The Center is one of North America's leading resources for the study of children's and young adult literature. The growing collection of 60,000 books, periodicals, manuscripts, original art, and papers of authors and illustrators, has an international and multicultural emphasis. Its materials are available to anyone for use in the Center's reading area.
• The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature - University of Florida This collection contains more than 115,000 volumes published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. The Library also has small holdings in manuscript collections, original artwork, and assorted ephemera such as board games, puzzles, and toys. The Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.
• Brooklyn Public Library's Hunt Collection The Hunt Collection is comprised of approximately 7,000 American and European books for children, dating primarily from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among its many rarities are first editions of several books by E. Boyd Smith (1860-1943), the preeminent American picture-book artist of the generation before the Caldecott Medal was created to honor artists in his field.
• Children's Books - State Library Victoria The Library has more than 100,000 children’s books from Australia and overseas, and this collection grows by approximately 2500 books – antiquarian and contemporary – each year. The earliest children’s book held is The Scholemaster by Roger Ascham, former schoolmaster to the young Queen Elizabeth I, and subsequently published under her patronage in 1571. This book and other readers and primers reflect the instructional nature of the earliest books for children.
• Children’s Historical Collection - Texas Woman's University The Children’s Historical Collection contains children’s books of historical note or value including rare, out-of-print, and autographed books; books by award-winning/notable authors or illustrators; books by Texas authors or illustrators; or books set in Texas past or present. Some notable items include a rare edition of Pilgrim's Progress, a 1777 New England Primer, and an 1898 edition of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales. more... less... The collection began as a gift to Texas Woman’s University and was established as a resource for scholarly study and teaching of children’s literature of the 20th century, including milestone books from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as general fiction, nonfiction, novelty picture books, series titles, story collections, poetry, Mother Goose, and biographies. Related professional reference works and early readers are used for instruction
• Children's Literature Center - Library of Congress The Children's Literature Center assists users in gaining access to all children's materials dispersed throughout the Library. The Library holds between 500,000 and 600,000 children's books and periodicals including maps, visual and audio media and secondary material.
• Children's Literature in the Special Collections Research Center - University of Michigan The Special Collections Research Center houses approximately 25,000 published volumes of children's literature, in addition to other archival artwork, correspondence, and manuscripts of authors and illustrators. Several gifts have greatly contributed to the collection. The Lee Walp Family Juvenile Book Collection was acquired in 2001-2002. The Walps had collected primarily American children's books for their two daughters, because they did not want them reading comic books. When received, this collection contained more than 6,000 books plus over 1,000 additional pieces of art, posters, publishers' proof sheets, and other manuscripts. more... less... In 1924, the Lucius Lee Hubbard Imaginary Voyages Collection was given to the collection by Regent Hubbard. This collection consists of editions, translations, adaptations, and spin-offs of three children's classics: The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner by Daniel DeFoe, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss. Finally, the Janice Dohm purchase in 2003 contributed English chapter books, fairy tales including seven shelves of editions of Hans Christian Andersen, and eight shelves of editions of Beatrix Potter's books.
• Children's Literature Research Collections- University of Minnesota The Children's Literature Research Collections (CLRC) is an internationally recognized children's literature library and archive. A member of the University of Minnesota Libraries' Archives and Special Collections department (ASC), we hold books, manuscripts, illustrations, comic books, story papers, and other materials related to the creation of historical and modern children's literature, including archival materials and original artwork for 1700 authors and illustrators
• Cotsen Children's Library - Princeton University The Cotsen Children's Library is a unit within the Department of Special Collections at the Princeton University Library. The Cotsen research collection of illustrated children's books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys date from the 15th century to the present day in over thirty languages. The collection has important holdings of materials in the English, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian languages. more... less... Among the collection's treasures are an early-Coptic Christian schoolbook; medieval manuscripts; incunables; two scrapbooks assembled by Hans Christian Andersen; drawings by Edward Lear, K. F. E. Freyhold, and Samuil Marshak; many of Beatrix Potter's famous picture letters; early editions of the fairy tales of Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and the brothers Grimm; one of the largest collections of children's books published by John Newbery and his successors; Soviet Constructivist children's books
• de Grummond Children's Literature - University of South Mississippi The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection is one of North America's leading research centers in the field of children's literature. Its main focus is on American and British children's literature, historical and contemporary items. The Collection houses original manuscripts and illustrations, produced by more than 1,300 children's authors and illustrators, that document the entire creative process. The original materials are complemented by an ever expanding book collection of more than 160,000 volumes dating from 1530 to the present.
• Eloise Ramsey Collection of Literature for Young People 1880-1923 - Wayne State University The Eloise Ramsey Collection of Literature for Young People was named for its creator, Eloise Ramsey. Ramsey believed that it was important for future teachers to take courses in children's literature. She provided over 400 rare or notable books to start this collection, which is now part of the Special Collections in the Wayne State University library system. Important books from this collection have been digitized for online access. The physical copies of these books, as well as others, can be found in WSU Special Collections.
• Frances Hooper Kate Greenaway Collection - Carnegie Mellon University The extensive collection consists of books, letters, manuscripts, and artwork by Kate Greenaway and is housed in the Fine and Rare Book Room, Special Collections of the Hunt Library, Carnegie Mellon University. Her books, cards, and almanack series show Greenaway's sensitivity of line and instinct for figure composition. The decorative effect of her innocent children in garden settings holding nosegays, garlands and wreaths is characteristic of the enchanting appeal of Kate's world.
• The Hockliffe Collection - University of Bedfordshire The Hockliffe Collection is a unique cache of over a thousand British children's books dating predominantly from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were originally collected by Frederic Hockliffe (1833-1914), a Bedford publisher and bookseller. In 1927 his eldest son, Frederic Rich Hockliffe (1861-1929), bookseller and mayor of Bedford, donated the collection to Bedford Training College. This later became Bedford College of Higher Education, then part of De Montfort University and is currently owned by the University of Bedfordshire. The Collection itself is housed in the Polhill Library of the University of Bedfordshire.
• Lilly Library - Indiana University, Bloomington The Lilly Library holds nearly 10,000 children's books, most of them from the Elisabeth Ball collection.The emphasis of the collection is on English language books of the 18th and 19th centuries, but also includes a large number of 20th century books and representative works in French and German. There are hornbooks, mechanical books, thumb Bibles, miniature libraries, Newberry and Marshall imprints, and original art by children's book illustrators, including Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Ernest Shepard.
• Lucile Clarke Memorial Children’s Library - Central Michigan University The Clarke Library holds a rich collection of books written for children and young adults. This section of the website includes descriptions of some aspects of the children’s collections including the library’s Arthur Rackham books, children’s books written by and about Native Americans, information about our school textbook collection, and information about children’s books published outside of the United States and often in languages other than English.
• National Art Library Children's Literature Collections - Victoria and Albert Museum The National Art Library has been collecting children's publications since the mid-19th century. It now holds nearly 100,000 books dating from the 16th century to the present day. Acquired as examples of the art of the book, they show the development of children's book production and illustration. more... less... The Renier Collection, with over 80,000 books, represents major authors and artists and most subject areas and genres. Other collections are particularly rich in late 18th-century and early 19th-century imprints from Britain and north-west Europe. They are moderately rich in late 19th- and early 20th-century British illustrated children's books. The Library holds a fine selection of Russian (mainly Soviet) books, plus an extensive collection of North American, European and Japanese comics.
• Northeast Children’s Literature Collection (NCLC) - University of Connecticut The purpose of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection is to preserve the history of the creation of our best literature written for children. Emphasis is given to the perception of children’s literature as a form of art over other educational or social intentions. Archives are collected to document the process of children’s book creation by authors and illustrators in collaboration with agents, editors, designers and publishers. Includes a collection of Children’s Christmas Books; over 800 monographs written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak; and 440 discrete editions of Black Beauty .
• Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books - Toronto Public Library The Osborne Collection holds items encompassing the development of English children’s literature up to and including 1910. The Lillian H. Smith Collection's are items of literary and artistic merit published in English after 1910, including picture books; fairy tales; and early and first editions of modern children’s classics. The Canadiana Collection is a representative selection of 19th- and 20th-century children’s books related to Canada. Also, includes books whose illustrators or publishers are associated with Canada. The Jean Thomson Collection of Original Art contains over 5,000 original illustrations of children’s books ranging from woodcuts to watercolors, from aquatints to multimedia.

Children's Historical Collection Treasures

Illustration from The Garden of Paradise and Other Stories from Hans Christian Andersen from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives' Elements of Book Design Display.  University Libraries, University at Albany, SUNY

Illustration from Adventures of Henny Penny and her friends , printed during the 1860s. Unknown author and illustrator. Available from Special Collections in the Wayne State University library system.

Illustration from The Bitter Bit: The Sad End of a Tail . Written and illustrated by William Foster. Available from  Th e   Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature  in the  Department of Special Collections  at the University of Florida's  George A. Smathers Libraries 

From  The Railroad Book Story,  story and pictures by E. Boyd Smith. A part of Brooklyn Public Library's Hunt Collection.    

The Great Blue Heron, from The Book of Birds for Young People . Written and illustrated by F. Schuyler Mathews. Located in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository. 

W.W. Denslow wrote and illustrated   Humpty  Dumpty , Found in the Library of Congress' Rare Book and Special Collections Division.  

Illustration from Doctor Dolittle in the Moon,  from the Children's Historical Collection at Texas Woman's University. 

Of interest

• The History of Children’s Books The History of Children’s Books, written by C.M. Hewins, January 1888 in The Atlantic .
• Digging for Treasure: An Adventure in Appraising Rare and Collectible Children's Books By Justin G. Schiller, in the Indiana University Digital Library.
• << Previous: Digital Children's Collections
• Next: Makerspaces >>
• Last Updated: Jan 5, 2024 11:56 AM
• URL: https://libguides.library.albany.edu/childrensliterature

• Directories
• Subject Definition
• Departmental Focus
• UW, Local & Regional Collections
• Support Collections
• Children's Literature Subject Guide
• Start Your Research
• Research Guides
• University of Washington Libraries
• Library Guides
• UW Libraries
• Collection Guidelines: Children's Literature

Collection Guidelines: Children's Literature: Subject Definition

About this guide.

These are the guidelines by which materials are purchased for the Children's Literature collections of the UW Libraries (Seattle Campus).  For questions or more information, please contact the Children's Literature Selector, Kathleen Collins .  

UW Libraries: Collection Goals

The UW Libraries is committed to providing convenient and timely access to collections and information resources that are outstanding with respect to their quality, depth, diversity, format and currency to support the research and teaching missions of the University of Washington.

Definition of Children's Literature

Children's literature is literature written primarily for a juvenile audience, defined as ages 0 to 18. Divisions such as young adult literature (literature aimed at teenagers, age 13-18) is included in the broader category of children's literature. Children's literature includes fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry.

The UW children's literature collections will be useful to those researching and studying in the education, library science, art, comparative literature, and other disciplines.  The Children's Literature Research Guide will help you to begin using both materials written for children and materials written about children's literature (books, electronic databases, journals, magazines, newspapers) in the UW Libraries collection.

Children's Literature Subject Classifications

Library of Congress (LC) Classification:

• PZ 7.1 : Genl. juvenile lit., 2015-

Children's nonfiction is shelved under the relevant Library of Congress designation ,

• Support material is cataloged throughout the LC range, but major overlaps occur in GR, folklore; L, education ; NC, drawing and illustration; and the literature call numbers, especially PN, general drama , PR, British & Canadian literature, and PS, American literature.
• Next: Departmental Focus >>
• Last Updated: May 1, 2018 10:56 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/childrenslitcollections

• Collection Development Policies

Children's Literature Collection Development Policy

Accordion list, collection description.

Children's literature and secondary works about children's literature are both collected by the Penn Libraries, first, as a form of literature with intrinsic value and interest; second, as a literary form taught within the contexts of literature and education classes; and third, as a body of critical literature with interests for students in many different fields. "Children's Literature" refers both to books for young children and to young adult literature (meant for audiences up to 12th grade.) The Libraries purchases comics and graphic novels as well as traditional books, and focuses on works written for and by diverse audiences. 

These materials are normally found in the various literature classifications in the stacks of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center (including a significant portion on the third floor at PZ, for children’s literature fiction and juvenile belle lettres), as well as on the sixth floor in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts . Works of nonfictional children's literature—history, biography, science, etc.—are scattered in non-literary classifications, and fictional children's works by authors who also publish for adult audiences may be located in the adult literature section. Materials that are less frequently used are found in  LIBRA , the Penn Libraries Research Annex in West Deptford, New Jersey. 

A collection of children's books once housed together, the Illman-Carter Collection, is now dispersed to the general circulating stacks, Rare Books, and  LIBRA . From 1904 to 1946, the Illman School for Children, directed by Miss Adelaide T. Illman and Mrs. Alice Carter Dickinson, existed at the corner of 40th and Walnut Streets. In 1946, the school was incorporated into Penn's School of Education as the Illman-Carter Unit, forming the elementary education branch of the School. When the School of Education became a graduate school in 1965, the Illman-Carter Unit was disbanded. The Illman-Carter Library was incorporated into the Penniman Library, then the library of the Graduate School of Education. 

Although many of the books were absorbed directly into Penniman, the children's books presented a particular and unique group. With the death of Miss Illman in 1968, a group of the Illman alumnae contributed a sum of $800 to the Penniman Library for the formation of an appropriate memorial and the alcove in which the books were housed became the Illman-Carter Collection of Children's Literature in 1970. When the Penniman Library was merged into the general Van Pelt collections, the Illman-Carter Collection was housed in an alcove on the 2nd floor of Van Pelt until 2006. The majority of the books had been published during the 1920s and early 1930s and form a period collection in the history of children's literature. For a while, subsequent Caldecott and Newbery Award titles were added to the Illman-Carter Collection, but are now added to the general collection. 

More recently, the Libraries have used the GOBI Children's awards approval plan to purchase hundreds of books retrospectively and prospectively about, by and for diverse audiences . Young adult books regularly arrive through our Best Sellers collection. In 2018, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscript received  a major collection of African American children’s books  from collector  Joanna Banks . Then, in 2019, the Kislak Center also received  the archive  of African American children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan. These collections join papers of  Atha Tehon , children’s books designer who worked on notable works like Julius Lester’s  The Old African  (2005) and the award-winner  Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions  (1976); holdings of Soviet children’s books from the 1920s and 1930s; early children’s books, including many fictional works for youth in the  Singer-Mendenhall collection ; early children’s series books and dime novels; and titles in the  Caroline F. Schimmel Fiction Collection of Women in the American Wilderness . In 2021, librarians identified over 1000 works to create  The Immigrant and Refugee Experiences in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Collection , which is housed in the general collection. 

The most significant other resources for children's books in the Philadelphia area include the Free Library of Philadelphia, whose  Children's Literature Research Collection ,  Illustrated Children's Books , and  Early American Children's Books  all have great historical strength and depth. At Princeton University, the resources of the  Cotsen's Children's Library  are remarkable. 

Juvenile literature from Africa and South Asia are supplied to us as part of Library of Congress plans for those regions. Aside from the GOBI plan, books are purchased though reference to annual “best of” guides such as the one created by GSE, by recommendation and through special projects.

Guidelines for Collection Development

The Libraries collects English language books for juvenile audiences that have won or been nominated for DEIA awards or been featured on DEIA lists of notable books extensively. Additional material is collected at a more representative level through domestic and foreign approval plans. Thematic collections of contemporary and historic juvenile literature are added as special projects or collections at the discretion of relevant bibliographers. Print is the preferred format, although other formats—web based comics, for example—are collected as they become the norm or represent distinct developments.  

Principal Sources of Supply and Major Selection Tools

The GOBI Juvenile Literature Awards and Keyreview plans account for the bulk of regular purchases, although other approval plans and firm orders with many vendors also supply books on a regular basis.

Subjects excluded

Bibliographer.

Mayelin Perez

• Locations and Hours
• UCLA Library
• Research Guides

French Literature

• Children's Literature
• Finding Articles
• Finding Books and More
• Reference Sources
• Chivalric Romances
• Comics and Graphic Novels
• Crime Fiction
• Folk and Fairy Tales
• Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure
• Literary Awards
• Media Adaptations

UCLA's Library Special Collections

• Children's Book Collection in UCLA's Library Special Collections UCLA Library's rare and antiquarian children's book collection contains many foreign language titles, including more than 600 sixteenth to nineteenth century books in French.

France has a rich and varied corpus of children's literature, with many work that have been highly influential on an international scale. For example, according to the Guinness Book of World Records , Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince ( The Little Prince)  has been translated into 382 languages and dialects (as of April 2024). Authors like Jules Verne and Alexandre Dumas, whose works often appeal to children, and the literary fairy tales of Charles Perrault and Madame d'Aulnoy, are familiar to young and old alike. This section provides merely a sample of French children's literature. See also the "Folk and Fairy Tales" section, as well as the "Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure" section for other related works.

Selected Works

Selected Resources

• << Previous: Resources
• Next: Chivalric Romances >>
• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 10:47 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/frenchliterature

• Help & FAQ

Update 2024: Nematode taxonomy and systematics online - The Loof Literature Collection: Particularly for rare taxonomical articles

• Laboratory of Nematology

Research output : Contribution to conference › Poster › Academic

T1 - Update 2024: Nematode taxonomy and systematics online - The Loof Literature Collection: Particularly for rare taxonomical articles

AU - Groeneveld-Vervloed, E.M.P.

PY - 2024/4/18

Y1 - 2024/4/18

M3 - Poster

T2 - 35th Symposium of the European Society of Nematologists

Y2 - 15 April 2024 through 19 April 2024