Children's Literature Interdisciplinary Collection - CLIC: Research Support

Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons

The Digital Commons Network provides free access to full-text scholarly articles and other research from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, this dynamic research tool includes peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work.

Clicking "Explore" anywhere on the multicolored Discipline Wheel opens a Commons page for a particular academic discipline. From here, you may browse popular and recently added articles, search all content, or "Follow" authors and publications to receive monthly email updates on new work in that field. You'll never run into pay walls or empty records, because only full-text, open-access research and scholarship are included in the Network.

To locate a review on a particular title in a particular journal, use the Ebsco or ERIC Database. Select Journal Name, from the drop-down menu, and type in the journal title. Then, in a separate search box, type in the title of the book or the author's name.   

Links to these databases appear on the upper-left of this guide. If you would like assistance, visit the reference desk (in-person or online) or, contact the CLIC librarian, Sylvia Tag.

Journals that review children's literature: The Horn Book, Book Links, Reading Teacher, Multicultural Review,  Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal are all available in print or full-text online via the Western Libraries Home Page: library.wwu.edu

Published online, The Voice of Youth Advocates, VOYA  and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books  are excellent resources. 

Children's Literature Review, is a multi-volume series (over 150!) that contains history and criticism of authors and illustrators. Cumulative indexes, for finding entries, are located within the series.

Horn Book Published since 1924, The Horn Book offers interviews, articles, reviews and editorials. Go to the Website for links to the newsletter, blog and awards: www.hbook.com

Book Links is for teachers, youth librarians, school library media specialists, reading specialists, and curriculum coordinators. Articles provide comprehensive information on using books in the classroom, including thematic bibliographies with related discussion questions and activities, author and illustrator interviews and essays, and articles by educators.

Reading Teacher includes:

• Articles written by reading professionals, for reading professionals
• Practical, evidence-based teaching ideas
• Information on the latest developments in research
• Columns on critical issues in the field
• Reviews and information about great children's books for classroom use 

MultiCultural Review: Dedicated to a Better Understanding of Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Diversity, includes discussions, bibliographic essays, ethnographic articles, and reviews of non-print resources.

Kirkus Reviews, founded in 1933, is published twice monthly and reviews, one to three months before the publication date, 4,000-5,000 titles per year: fiction, mysteries, science fiction and fantasy, translations, nonfiction and children's and young adult books. The reviews are reliable and authoritative, written by specialists selected for their knowledge and expertise in a particular field.

School Library Journal was first published in 1954. It is  a  monthly publication with articles and reviews for school and public librarians  who work with young people. Lots of material is available on the Web site: www.schoollibraryjournal.com