Research Guides at CSU Pueblo Library: ED 351: Children's Literature: Genres

Genre Awards

Each of the following links will provide you with details on a different award for a particular genre.

Fantasy - Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature
Honors fantasy novels, multi-volume novels, or single-author story collections for younger readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia.
Folklore - Aesop Prize
Awarded for outstanding work in children's folklore.
Historical Fiction - Geoffrey Bilson Award
Rewards excellence in the writing of an outstanding work of historical fiction for young readers, by a Canadian author, published in the previous calendar year.
Historical Fiction - Scott O’Dell Award
Awarded to an author for a meritorious book of historical fiction published in the previous year for children or young adults.
Horror - Bram Stoker Award
Awards superior achievement in horror literature
Humor - Sid Fleischman Award
Awarded to authors whose work exemplifies excellence in the genre of humor.
Mystery - Edgar Allen Poe Award
Honos the best in mystery fiction.
Mystery - John Spray Award
Honors excellence in the mystery book genre written by a Canadian
Nonfiction - Boston-Globe Horn Book Award
Awarded to a children's or young adult nonfiction title published in the United States.
Nonfiction - Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
Presented annually for a distinguished work of nonfiction which serves as an inspiration to young people.
Nonfiction - Norma Fleck Award
Recognizes and raises the profile of exceptional non-fiction Canadian books.
Nonfiction - Orbis Pictus Award
Promotes and recognizes excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.
Nonfiction - Robert F. Sibert Medal
Awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year.
Poetry - Claudia Lewis Award
Given for the best children's poetry book of the year.
Poetry - Lee Bennett Hopkins Award
Presented annually to an American poet or anthologist for the most outstanding new book of children's poetry published in the previous calendar year.
Poetry - NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children
Honors a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13. Links to books by each poet is provided.
Science Fiction - Golden Duck Award
Awarded to children's science fiction
Science Fiction/ Fantasy - Andre Norton Award
Annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the author of the best young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy book published in the United States in the preceding year.
Science Fiction/ Fantasy - Monica Hughes Award
Honors excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing for children and adolescents.
Western - Spur Awards
Given annually for distinguished writing about the American West.

Poetry

Poetry includes Nursery Rhymes, Lyric Poems, and Narrative Poems.

Lemonade by Bob Raczka; Nancy Doniger (Illustrator)
Call Number : Rac
Publication Date: 2011
Nursery Rhyme Comics by Leonard S. Marcus (Introduction by); Chris Duffy (Editor); Roz Chast (Illustrator); Jules Feiffer (Illustrator)
Call Number : 398.8 Nur
ISBN: 9781596436008
Publication Date: 2011
Pocketful of Posies by Salley Mavor
Call Number : 398.8 Poc
ISBN: 9780618737406
Publication Date: 2010
A hand-picked collection of classic nursery rhymes, all delicately and painstakingly illustrated by Salley Mavor, who is reknowned for her incredibly detailed fabric and cloth scenes.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Call Number : 811 Sil
Publication Date: 1974
Shel Silverstein, the York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

Plays

Plays include both original plays as well as adaptations.

James and the Giant Peac by Roald Dahl
Call Number : Dah R
Publication Date: 1961
This dramatization of Roald Dahl's beloved book can be performed in school and at summer camp, acted out at home or simply read together by a group of friends
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz; Robert Byrd (Illustrator)
Call Number : 812 Sch
Publication Date: 2007
A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor
Pushing up the Sky by Joseph Bruchac; Teresa Flavin (Illustrator)
Uses drama to tell seven different stories from Native American traditions including the Abenaki, Ojibway, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Snohomish, Tlingit, and Zuni
Paddington on Stage by Michael Bond; Peggy Fortnum (Illustrator); Alfred Bradley
Call Number : 822 Bra
ISBN: 0395251559
Publication Date: 1977-03-03

Short Stories

When I Was Your Age by Amy Ehrlich (Editor)
ISBN: 9780763658922
Publication Date: 2012-02-14
Award-winning authors tell stories of pivotal moments in their childhoods
The Cabinet of Curiosities by Stefan Bachmann; Alexander Jansson (Illustrator); Katherine Catmull; Claire Legrand; Emma Trevayne
Call Number : PCCLD
Thirty-six eerie short tales, most of which were originally published on the blog of the same name, relate to an imaginary museum of creepy artifacts and are arranged into such thematic "drawers" as love, luck, song, and fairy tales
28 Good Night Stories by Eve Tharlet (Illustrator)
A beautiful anthology of all-new good-night stories

Traditional Literature

Traditional literature includes myths, epics, legends & tall tales, folktales, fables, and religious stories.

Below are some examples of this genre.

Trickster: Native American Tales by Matt Dembicki (Editor)
Call Number : 741.5 Tri
Publication Date: 2010
All cultures have tales of the trickster - a crafty creature or being who uses cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. In Native American traditions, the trickster takes many forms, from coyote or rabbit to raccoon or raven. The first graphic anthology of Native American trickster tales, Trickster brings together Native American folklore and the world of comics.
Henny Penny by Paul Galdone (Illustrator)
Call Number : 398.2 Hen
Publication Date: 1979
Convinced the sky is falling, Henny Penny and a band of gullible friends march off to tell the king, only to meet their end at the hands of a wily fox.
Women Warriors by Marianna Mayer; Julek Heller (Illustrator)
Call Number : 398.2 May
Publication Date: 1999
From days of old, they have intrigued people all over the world: brave, defiant warrior women who stir imaginations, rouse passions, and often inspire thousands of followers.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka; Lane Smith (Illustrator)
Call Number : Sci J
Publication Date: 1999
This interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs story allows the reader to play the part of the big bad wolf.

Modern Fantasy (and Science Fiction)

Modern fantasy includes modern folktales, animal fantasy, personified toys & objects, unusual characters & situations, worlds of little people, supernatural events & mystery fantasy, historical fantasy, quest stories, and science fiction & science fantasy.

Click! by Jeffrey Ebbeler
After bedtime a house comes alive as a lamp in the shape of a bird solves an array of problems including a leaky faucet, a creaking chair, and sneezing broom, all while the family sleeps
The Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale; Sam Nielson (Illustrator)
Call Number : PCCLD
Marlin, a stutterer, can talk smoothly and freely with the jungle animals that populate his father's zoo in South America--until a mysterious man-eating black jaguar that his father catches and brings back home talks back
Creature Keepers and the Hijacked Hydro-Hide by Peter Nelson; Rohitash Rao (Illustrator)
Call Number : PCCLD
Creature keepers #1

Twelve-year-old Jordan Grimsley discovers the existence of the Creature Keepers, a team of humans assigned to protect mythical beasts
Dragon's Extraordinary Egg by Debi Gliori
A dragon finds an abandoned egg and lovingly raises the hatchling as her own, although Little One is very different from the baby dragons, and when disaster strikes it is the small, feathered hatchling that saves the day
Go to Bed, Blue by Bonnie Bader; Michael Robertson (Illustrator)
Blue, a little alien from outer space, drives his human companions to distraction when he resists going to sleep

Mystery

Disappearance at Hangman's Bluff: a Felony Bay Mystery by J. E. Thompson
Call Number : PCCLD
Felony Bay mystery #2

When Abbey and Bee's neighbor's dog, Yemassee, is kidnapped, they decide it's their job to find the men who took him
Bones and the Apple Pie Mystery by David A. Adler; Barbara Newman (Illustrator)
Call Number : E Ad59b10 (Exam)
Detective Jeffery Bones and Grandpa visit Grandpa’s friend Sally—the best apple pie baker around. Today, she’s practicing for the pie contest held at the county fair. But when it’s finally time to eat the pies, they are nowhere to be found—not in the oven, on the counter, or on the table. Did Sally’s dog Oliver eat them? Detective Jeffery Bones is on the case!
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
Call Number : Tim A
2014 ALA Notable Book for Children, 2014 Edgar Allen Poe Juvenile Novel Award, 2014 Newbery Honor

In 1871 Wisconsin, thirteen-year-old Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters
Cinderella Smith by Stephanie Barden; Diane Goode (Illustrator)
Call Number : PCCLD
Cinderella Smith #3

A trip to the zoo has Cinderella Smith and her friends excited to start their endangered species reports--until all of the books on Cinderella's chosen animal go missing from the school library, leaving the Group in Cahoots to solve the mystery
Secret Agent Splat! by Rob Scotton (Illustrator)
Call Number : PCCLD
Splat notices that his favorite wooden ducks keep going missing--can Secret Agent Splat solve the mystery?

Romance

The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine
Call Number : PCCLD
Wren was the average girl; Grayson was not the average boy. They both wanted to change but they didn't know how, until one night their lives crossed paths and things starting changing for the better
Secret Admirer by Jane O'Connor; Robin Preiss Glasser (Illustrator)
Call Number : PCCLD
Nancy Clancy #2

When Nancy Clancy finds out that both her guitar teacher, Andy, and her favorite babysitter, Annie, have broken up with the people they were dating, she decides to make them fall in love on Valentine's Day
Penguin in Love by Salina Yoon
Call Number : PCCLD
One day, Penguin goes looking for love and finds, instead, a mitten but as he tries to locate the mitten's owner, he knits his way through a blizzard to an unexpected meeting
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
17-year-old Gwen Castle is a working-class girl determined to escape her small island town, but when rich-kid Cass Somers, with whom she has a complicated romantic history, shows up, she's forced to reassess her feelings about her loving, complex family, her lifelong best friends, her wealthy employer, the place she lives, and the boy she can't admit she loves

Nonfiction

Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Call Number : 943.086 Bar
Publication Date: 2005
In her first full-length nonfiction title since winning the Robert F. Sibert Award, Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups. Her research includes telling interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members.
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell; Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
Call Number : 792.8 Pow
Publication Date: 2014
An emotionally powerful biography told in verse of a dancer, singer, comedienne, and enduring figure - Josephine Baker - from her birth in the slums, her fantastic success, and her fight against racial prejudice.
Frogs by Nic Bishop
Call Number : 597.8 Mar
Publication Date: 2008
Nic Bishop's signature up-close, stop-action photographs show frogs larger than life. For the first- to third-grade set, frogs are an endless source of fascination, especially when looked at VERY close up. See tiny poison dart frogs and mammoth bullfrogs, as Nic Bishop's amazing images show the beauty and diversity of frogs from around the globe. And simple, engaging text conveys basic information about frogs -- as well as cool and quirky facts. Nic Bishop Frogs is a fun and informative tour through an exciting amphibian world.
She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton; Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator)
Call Number : 920.72 Cli
Publication Date: 2017
Throughout American history, there have always been women who have spoken out for what's right, even when they have to fight to be heard.

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction includes the beginnings of civilization, civilizations of the ancient world, civilizations of the medieval world, emergence of modern nations, development of industrial society, world wars in the 20th century, and post-World War II.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Call Number : Gan J
Publication Date: 2011
Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year's best contribution to children's literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional,Dead End in Norveltis a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets.
Chickadee by Louise Erdrich (Illustrator)
Call Number : Erd L
Publication Date: 2012
Twin brothers Chickadee and Makoons have done everything together since they were born--until the unthinkable happens and the brothers are separated. Desperate to reunite, both Chickadee and his family must travel across new territories, forge unlikely friendships, and experience both unexpected moments of unbearable heartache as well as pure happiness.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number : Wil R
Publication Date: 2011
In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp..

Realistic Fiction

Realistic fiction includes books on families; peers; physical, emotional, mental, & behavioral challenges; communities; animals; sports; mysteries; moral choices; romance & sexuality; coming of age; and adventure & survival.

The best way to find these books is to perform a keyword search by a specific type of realistic fiction (see top-left for instructions).

Below are some examples of this genre.

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
Call Number : Fed T
An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of "E.T."
The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt
Call Number : YA Fic L4894c (Exam)
Sixteen-year-old Holly's grandfather leaves her his financially-strapped Las Vegas wedding chapel in his will, along with a letter asking her to reach out to Dax, the grandson of her family's mortal enemy and owner of the chapel next door, who is both cute and distracting
The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods
Call Number : PCCLD
A biracial girl finally gets the chance to meet the African American side of her family
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes (Illustrator)
Call Number : Hen K
Seven-year-old Billy Miller starts second grade with a bump on his head and a lot of worries, but by the end of the year he has developed good relationships with his teacher, his little sister, and his parents and learned many important lessons
Dee Dee and Me by Amy Schwartz
Call Number : E Sch955d (Exam)
Tired of the way she is treated by her big sister, Dee Dee, and Dee Dee's friends, a little girl decides to leave home
Anna Was Here by Jane Kurtz
Call Number : PCCLD
Three generations of the Nickel family reunite when fourth-grader Anna, her Mom and Dad, and four-year-old sister Isabella relocate to Oakwood, Kansas