Resources

Other than Through the Magic Door that is. The best source is always a person with deep knowledge of children's literature who also knows your child and their interests well; usually a librarian. Those simple circumstances though are very rare. So what if you don't have access to a knowledgeable librarian or one who knows your child well? The advanced search feature of Through the Magic Door is intended to answer most of your needs but if you have time, here are some other sources that might be helpful. The ones I find myself using most often are LibraryThing, WorldCat, and Library Booklists

California Department of Education

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature

This is a collection of reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.

Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

The Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University (CPBD@MU) is a bibliography for designing literature-based thematic units for all disciplines, including health education.

Our database contains abstracts of over 5000 picture books for children, preschool to grade 3. Search over 900 keywords (topics, concepts, and skills) to locate books with storylines adaptable to your curriculum or program. Teachers, librarians, parents, students, and other professionals love this multidisciplinary, learner-centered resource.

We are continually expanding our database to include new picture book titles and content weblinks for frequently used keywords. Over 800 weblinks provide you with up-to-date content knowledge for each keyword so you can have ongoing professional development in several disciplines. In short, the CPBD@MU offers you two complementary resources: developmentally appropriate literature for use with young children and up-to-date content knowledge for selected topics, concepts, and skills.

Having the CPBD@MU online gives you the advantage of being the designers of learner-centered curriculum and instruction while meeting the needs, interests, and abilities of your students on a local level. The CPBD@MU can also supplement curriculum resources available from professional organizations, including educational, community, federal, and commercial sources.

Database of Award Winning Children's Literature.

The purpose of this database is to create a tailored reading list of quality children's literature or to find out if a book has won one of the indexed awards. I expect the user to be a librarian or a teacher intervening for a child-reader, however anyone may make use of it to find the best in children's literature including parents, book store personnel, and children and young adults themselves.

5 Great Books

Welcome to Anastasia Suen’s 5 Great Books blog!

Children’s books have always been part of my life. The author of 115 books, I wrote my first book when I was eleven. I started teaching elementary school in 1977 (K,1,5,6). I read to my students every day, and I wrote for them too.

Now I teach writing at elementary schools as a visiting author. I talk to the students about how a book is made and I guide them as they write. I focus on the six traits of writing because that’s how I have written for years.

Helping Books

Supporting the Helping Books/Helping Families Program Helping Books Connection is a resource center compiled to assist families and caring adults with finding and using quality children’s literature as a tool for individual and group discussion activities. The Literature Database link is a collection of children’s literature titles, both fiction and nonfiction, covering topics that focus on ethical and personal issues relevant to young people. These titles have been reviewed and selected by librarians, teachers, and other trained adults working with children’s literature. Selection of the titles is based on the guidelines for choosing quality literature. The link to Helping Books Resources lists programs, web sites, books, videos, and other tools that provide guidelines for the use of children’s literature to generate discussion.

Heartwood Look under the dropdown, Teaching Heartwood, for books.

What is the most important thing for children to learn? Heartwood Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping teach children universal attributes of good character that form the foundations of community. Through research, product development, and support for teachers and families, Heartwood is contributing to a better world for all.Heartwood has been at the vanguard of children's character education for 20 years. Heartwood's literature-based ethics and character education program for children:

Boosts Achievement while Building Character
Reduces Bullying and Disciplinary Referrals
Meets Academic Standards for Language Arts and Social Studies

Library Booklists

Welcome to Library Booklists! This website consists of four sections: original booklists on various topics, primarily but not entirely focused on themes, places, characters, and plots of crime novels; annotated lists of other booklists, primarily but not entirely focused on fiction, for adults, kids, and teens; a growing calendar of authors' birthdates, organised by month, with links; and some resources for reading groups (discussion questions, recommended books, how to start a group, etc.).

LibraryThing

WorldCat

WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information.