Children's Literature

Use Librarians' Review Sources or

Need a credible book review?  Search for any author AND choose "book reviews" or "reviews" under "Tweak My Results."  You can also limit results to one of these great review sources (and others):

• Horn Book
• Kirkus Reviews
• School Library Journal Each review includes recommended age/grade range.
• New York Times Book Review
• Voice of Youth Advocates

Nutmeg Awards: Connecticut kids vote for their favorite books.  Grouped by school grade: 2 - 12.

Notable Books By Age (birth through age 14): Association for Library Service to Children has 2020 notable books organized by age (up to age 14); past years' lists also available.

Concept Book recommendations posted by The Horn Book. (Pre-School; K-3)

Association for Library Service to Children:  Book awards in many categories.  Includes lists of books, audiobooks and films recognized for excellence in writing, illustration, video production, fiction, or nonfiction for children and young adults.

American Library Association & Affiliated Awards: Find books recognized for cultural representation.

Disability in Kid & Teen Lit: Fiction recognized for its inclusion and representation of characters with disabilities. (middle grade & young adult)

We Need Diverse Books: This website provides links to many lists and awards, organized by culture.  Includes books for children through young adult.

A Mighty Girl: Lists of books, movies and toys for "smart, confident, and courageous girls."  See also their "books" tab for genre choices and their "best of" tab for lists ranging from best graphic novels to best books about spring.

Voice of Youth Advocates: Find reviews of young adult (age 12-18) fiction.

No Flying No Tights is a great source for reviews and best-lists for graphic novels.

YALSA Best of the Best lists curated by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

ReadBrightly offers lists by Ages & Stages (child through adult) and also topical collections, such as this one: "What it's like to be a refugee."

Crowd opinions can be explored at GoodReads.

Start here with a basic search, then use the drop-down options to limit to QMC titles (young adult) or use the options on the left to limit "location" to "ECE Collection" to find kids' picture books. Sign-in to save results.

Quickly find books in a series, coded by age, with the Mid-Continent Public Library series tool. 

We Read Too App:  Created by Kaya Thomas, this FREE app is an ever-expanding list of childrens' and young adult books by authors of color, featuring characters of color.  Currently only available for iOS; but the website is great, too.

Educator's Assessment:  Use this questionnaire to review your classroom library.  How culturally responsive and diverse is your collection of children's books?