How Do I?
Find Children's Literature Reviews, Guides, and Recommendations
Electronic Resources
Full Text Reviews from the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) [Penn State users only]
Access the CLCD through the E-Resource list or go directly to the website:
The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database offers information about children's books, videos, and audio books ranging from baby board books to novels and nonfiction for young adults. Of the more than 500,000 MARC format records; about 50,000 include full textbook reviews from well-respected sources such as KIRKUS Reviews, Science Books & Films, and Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). A green dot in the results list denotes a full textbook review. The powerful search engine allows searching by standards such as title, author, subject, but also allows searching by genres such as historical fiction, poetry, folklore, and picturebooks.
http://www.lias.psu.edu/dball.html#CHILDLITIND
The Horn Book Guide to Children's and Young Adult Books
Two issues cover each year for the last twelve years (1989-2001). Complemented by the print version, The Horn Book Guide evaluates all hard cover children's books published in the United States, and in addition to a 60 to 75-word review, gives each book a numerical rating from 1 (outstanding) and to 6 (poor). Reading reviews, rather than relying on numbers, is always wise. The Horn Book Guide is an excellent source for finding reviews of books in hand, as long as they are published between 1989 and today. It is an even better resource for finding recommended books by particular subjects, and then searching the CAT to see if Penn State owns the recommended titles.
http://www.lias.psu.edu/dball.html#HORNBOOK
Full Text Reviews from Lexis-Nexis Academic [Penn State users only]
This database is particularly useful for finding reviews of titles and authors. To access full text book reviews from some of the nation's larger newspapers, select the News category from the main screen and then select Arts & Sports because it contains Reviews as well as entertainment & sports news. Select book, movie, music, & play reviews from the source pull down menu. Date ranges for the search can be adjusted, as the search requires.
http://www.lias.psu.edu/dball.html#ACUNIVERSE
Review Citations from Library Literature
Another good database for tracking down citations of book reviews is Library Literature, found on the E-Resource list. Go to Library Literature and search using the keyword command for book review and your topic, e.g., book review and bats or book review and folktales. Once you find the citations you need, go back to the CAT to find out if Penn State owns the Journal in question.
http://www.lias.psu.edu/dball.html#LIBLIT
Print Resources
Children's Book Review Index
The Children's Book Review Index is especially useful for its coverage of 1965 through 1997. Find the author of books written during those periods, find the title of the book you are seeking within the author's section, and see a list of places that the book was reviewed. Go to the appropriate journal or newspaper to find the review. Many of the cited periodicals will be in Pattee, if not owned in the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library on the 5th floor of Paterno. The abbreviation list of review journal and newspaper titles is located in the front of every volume.
Z1037.A1 C475 Reference Educ & Behav Sci Lib 5th Floor Paterno
Children's Literature Review
When an author or illustrator has published several books, this is a particularly useful and thorough resource. Find the author or title in the cumulative index in the latest volume and go to the citation in a previous volume for biographical and bibliographical information, including full text children's book reviews.
PN1009.A1 C5139 Educ & Behav Sci Lib 5th Floor Paterno
Using Journals to Find Children's Book Reviews
Among the many journals that review children's books, three of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library's holdings stand out.
The Horn Book Magazine
Contains reviews from its first issue in 1924 through today. Known as a "positive review" journal, typically the selection of a book for review is considered an achievement since only about 350 books are reviewed annually among the six bi-monthly issues.
A cumulative index to the magazine, the Horn Book Index covers 1924 through 1989, the year the Horn Book Guide began.
Z1037.A1A15 suppl.Periodicals Educ & Behav Sci Lib 5th Floor Paterno
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Published since 1947, Penn State has holdings beginning with Volume 11 in 1957. Published 11 times per year, the Bulletin publishes about 750 children's book reviews per year.
Z1037.A1C5 Periodicals Educ & Behav Sci Lib 5th Floor Paterno
School Library Journal
Published 12 times per year and contains about 2500 reviews annually, nearly half of the children's books published in the United States each year. Reviews of media and software are two additional types of materials evaluated. University Park has SLJ from 1994 to the most recent issue.
Z1037.A1S38 Periodicals Educ & Behav Sci Lib 5th Floor Paterno