Library: Education: Children's Literature

The Lynn Library uses Library of Congress classification, and books in our children's collection will have the prefix JUV (for picture books), JUV ChB (for chapter books, which includes beginning reader, juvenile, and some young adult books), or JUV OS (for oversized, non-standard format books).

Browse by Subject
Click links to view print books in Lynn Library's children's collection filtered by subject.

Find Free Books Online

Barnes & Noble: Free Kids eBooks
Books for elementary through high school age readers. Includes both public domain and some newer, high interest titles.
Funbrain: Reading
A selection of high interest titles for elementary and middle grade readers. These are not full-text books, but the previews include several chapters. Recommended for review purposes.
Project Gutenberg: Children's Bookshelf
The internet's first archive of free ebooks. Their children's bookshelf is the most comprehensive online source of "classic", public domain children's books.
ManyBooks: Young Readers Books
Includes many of the same public domain "classics" as Project Gutenberg, but has different filter features and a range of newer, self-published books.
Open Library: Student Library
Open Library is a project of the non-profit Internet Archive. If you create a free account, you can check out books from the K-12 collection for 1 hour (some titles have a longer check-out period). Open Library has a number of high interest titles that are organized by grade level.

"Early Childhood" is an umbrella term for books intended for infants and young children. These books are commonly grouped by format in libraries and bookstores.

Early Childhood Book Formats

Board Books

Picture Books (Also: Easy Picture Books)

Beginning Reader Books (Also: Easy Reader/Easy-to-Read, Leveled Reader, Guided Reader)

Early Childhood Book Awards

Caldecott Medal
Recognizes illustrators of American books for children.

Newbery Medal
Recognizes authors of American, English-language books for children.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal
Recognizes authors and illustrators of beginning reader books.

"Juvenile Fiction" (also "Middle Grade Fiction" and, rarely, "Chapter Books") refers to fiction books created primarily for 8-12 year olds. Juvenile fiction books are longer than beginning reader books and feature more complex language and themes.

Juvenile Fiction Genres

Speculative Fiction (Also: Fantasy, Science Fiction, *Animal Fantasy, *Modern Fantasy)

Realistic Fiction (Also: Adventure/Survival, "Issue" Books, School Stories, *Contemporary Fiction)

Historical Fiction

Other Genres (May overlap with one or more of the above: Mystery, Humor, Horror)

*Indicates a category specific to the EDU 215 course text.
For "Traditional Literature" (fairy tales, myths, etc.) see the Juvenile Nonfiction tab.

Juvenile Fiction Awards

Sunshine State Young Readers Award
Recognizes fiction for 3-5 grade and 6-8 grade readers. Used extensively in Florida schools.

Newbery Medal
Recognizes American books for children.

Walter Dean Myers Award
Recognizes fiction & nonfiction by diverse authors for younger readers & teens.

Coretta Scott King Award
Recognizes African American authors & illustrators of books for children & young adults.

Pura Belpré Award
Recognizes Latino/Latina authors & illustrators of culturally-centered books for children.

"Juvenile Nonfiction" refers to fact-based, informative books created primarily for 8-12 year olds. In libraries, the juvenile nonfiction section may also contain beginning reader nonfiction and specific categories of fiction.

Juvenile Nonfiction Categories

Biography & Autobiography

Informational Books

Traditional Literature & Poetry*

*The EDU 215 course text uses "Traditional Literature" to describe fairy tales, myths, & related story forms. Following the Dewey Decimal Classification, these books are usually shelved in the nonfiction section, under 389. Poetry is shelved in the 800s.

Juvenile Nonfiction Awards

Orbis Pictus Award
Recognizes nonfiction books written for children.

YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Recognizes nonfiction written in the last year for young adults (ages 12-18).

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