New Books

How do I find children's literature?

To find children's literature on a particular topic, use the Library Catalog. You can search for a title or author by just typing either or both in the search boxes. 

If you are searching by subject, in one of your search boxes type the term "juvenile" and limit that box to "Subject Terms." You can then type other terms in the additional boxes. 

How do I find children's literature in different languages?

• To find children's literature in a language other than English, use the Language filter below the search boxes in the advanced search and select the language you want to limit your results to.  In our collection, we primarily have books written in Spanish.

Dewey Decimal System

This system is often used in public and school libraries as it works well for smaller collections.  It has 10 major classes that are organized by discipline.  These are then broken down further into divisions and sections.

Award Winners

Our collection includes the winners of the following children's book awards as well as some of the honoree books for each award. Consult the Discovery Search for call number locations.

Popular Topics - Search Terms

When searching popular topics, there are certain search terms that may work better than others. Here are some popular topics with their preferred search terms.

• Bedtime - Bedtime and Sleep
• Disabilities & Special Needs - Disabilities, Blind, Deaf, Autism, etc.
  • Sometimes these books use the broader topic of "People with Disabilities" and sometimes they note the specific disability.
  • You can also browse the Schneider Family Book Award winners for books about disabilities.
• Environment & Nature - Nature, Ocean, Forest, Marine, Pollution, etc.
• Fear & Anxiety - Anxiety and Fear
• Feelings - Emotions, Sadness, Happiness, and Anger
• Friendship - Friendship and Best Friends 
• Grief / Loss - Grief, Death, Bereavement, and Loss
• Identity & Self-Esteem - Identity, Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence, Individuality
• LGBTQIA+ - Lesbian, Gay, Homosexuality, Transgender,  Gender-nonconforming, "Gender Identity," 
• Migration - Refugees, Emigration, Immigration, and Immigrants
• Race or Ethnicity - To search for books about a specific racial or ethnic group, you typically can search that group's name. Sometimes the larger group name may also be used.  For example, for finding books on Mexican Americans, you would want to search both the phrase "Mexican Americans" and the broader phrase "Hispanic Americans"
• Racism - Racism, Race relations, and Prejudices
• Slavery - Slavery, Slaves, and Underground Railroad
• STEM - STEM, STEAM, Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Astronomy, Biology, etc.

Popular Genres and Book Types 

When searching for specific genres or types of books, you may need to search the catalog, browse a part of the physical collection or both. Here are some popular types of books with their preferred search terms and their browsing areas if applicable. Remember when searching the catalog to use these in conjunction with searching the word juvenile as a subject.

• Graphic Novels - Search the phrase "Comic Books" to pull graphic novels and comic books
• Poetry Books - Search the terms Poetry, Poem, or Verse
  • Many poetry books can be browsed in the Dewey section under the 800 call numbers.
• Fairy or Folk Tales - Search the phrase "Fairy Tale" or the term Folklore
  • Many fairy and folk tales will be in the Dewey section under the 300 call numbers.
• Fantasy - Search the terms Fantasy or Magic
• Science Fiction - Search the phrases "Science Fiction" "Space and Time" or "Paranormal Fiction"
• Historical Fiction - Search both the terms History and Fiction as subject terms. You can search the name of a specific historical event instead.
• Biography - Search the term Biography
  • Biographies have their own section in the children's collection. You can browse them by Dewey for biographies related to those people in specific subjects such as the arts or sports.
• Informational - There is no general search term to find informational books.  Instead, try search terms related to your specific topic of interest.
  • Most information books will be given a Dewey call number and can be browsed using the different Dewey numbers and their corresponding subjects like browsing the 500s for books in the sciences.

Books to Read Aloud

Early Chapter Books, Novels, & Graphic Novels

There is both an early chapter book and novels section in the collection. 

• Early chapter books are targeted for readers just moving beyond picture books while novels are targeted for elementary and middle school readers.
• Middle Grade novels are geared toward young readers, usually ages 8-12. They tend to be longer than chapter books, and may feature more complex characters, plot lines, and themes.
• Graphic Novels are integrated into the Novels collection with a few in the Picture Books.
• YA novels (grades 9-12) are now located in our circulating collection with call numbers beginning with PZ.