Youth Collection Links to Additional Sources

See these other great youth and children's resources!

Youth Collection Home
Rod Library

Authors and Illustrators--Biographical Information

  • Teachingbooks.net - This resource offers a database of K-12 instructional materials such as guide books, lesson plans, book lists, and author/illustrator biographical information and audio name pronunciation.
  • Readingrockets.org - This resource offers videos and podcasts of author/illustrator interviews. It also features book lists and biographical information.
  • Something About the Author Online - This resource provides web access to the Something About the Author series and includes options to search for author biographies, autobiographies, and obituaries.

Book Awards

  • American Indian Youth Literature Award - The American Indian Library Association biennially awards this honor to children's and youth books that best capture the American Indian cultural experience. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners.
  • Caldecott Award - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) annually awards this medal to the artist of the most distinguished children's picture book. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners. 
  • Coretta Scott King Award - The Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (ALA) annually recognizes exceptional young adult and children's books by African American authors and illustrators that capture the African American experience. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners. 
  • Geisel Award - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) annually awards this honor to authors and illustrators of the most distinguished contribution to American beginning reader books published during the preceding year. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners. 
  • Newbery Award - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) annually awards this medal to the author who has made the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners.
  • Orbis Pictus Award - The National Council of Teachers of English annually awards this honor to outstanding nonfiction children's books. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners. 
  • Printz Award - The Young Adult Library Services Association (ALA) annually awards this honor to the author of a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners.  
  • Pura Belpre Award - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) annually awards this honor to an author and illustrator whose work best captures the Latino cultural experience through children's and youth literature. Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners.
  • Robert F. Sibert Award - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) annually awards this honor to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book.  Click the link for more information about this award as well as a list of winners.

Iowa Book Awards

  • Bridge to Reading Picture Book Award - The Youth Services Subdivision (ILA) gives this award annually to a book voted on by Iowa children in kindergarten and younger.
  • Goldfinch Award - The Iowa Association of School Librarians (ILA) annually awards this honor to a book voted on by Iowa students in grades K-2.
  • Iowa Children's Choice Award - The Iowa Association of School Librarians (ILA) annually awards this honor to a book voted on by Iowa students in grades 3-6.
  • Iowa Teen Award - The Iowa Association of School Librarians (ILA) annually awards this honor to a book voted on by Iowa students in grades 6-9.  
  • Iowa High School Book Award - The Iowa Association of School Librarians (ILA) annually awards this honor to a book voted on by Iowa students in grades 9-12.

Book Identification / Review Sources

Databases (require CatID authentication)

  • Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database [UNI only] – This source provides entries for old and new books. It includes bibliographic citations, award information, readability levels, and reviews from well-known journals. Search by author, title, or keyword.
  • Children's Core Collection - This source provides entries for fiction and nonfiction books and magazines geared toward children, grades PreK-6, as well as review sources and other professional development tools for librarians and school media specialists.
  • Middle and Junior High Core Collection - This source provides entries for fiction and nonfiction books and magazines geared toward children and teens, grades 5-9, as well as review sources and other professional development tools for librarians and school media specialists.
  • Senior High Core Collection - This source provides entries for fiction and nonfiction books and magazines geared toward teens, grades 9-12, as well as review sources and other professional development tools for librarians and school media specialists.
  • Education Full Text - This source provides access to education scholarship dealing with a wide range of subjects, including book reviews from School Library Journal, Horn Book Magazine, Booklist, and other trade journals.
  • Databases A-Z - See a full list of Rod Library's databases.

Other Sources (no login required)

  • American Indians in Children's Literature - "Established in 2006, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society." Includes several lists of recommended books and links to scholarly articles, in addition to regular reviews and analysis.
  • CCBC Booklists - The Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a wide range of thematic booklists, as well as a page of resources specific to building a diverse, representative collection.
  • Celebrating Diverse Latino Cultures, Literature, and Literacy Everyday - a handout from Dr. Jamie Naidoo with many resources for serving Latinx children in the library and finding quality literature by and about Latinxs. (Note: this is from 2010, so some information may be outdated.)
  • De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children - "Modeled after the award-winning A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children [...], De Colores reviews and critiques children's and young adult books about Raza peoples throughout the Diaspora." Includes topical collections of book reviews about popular subjects such as Cinco de Mayo and Sonia Sotomayor.
  • Disability in Kidlit - "Disability in Kidlit is dedicated to discussing the portrayal of disability in middle grade and young adult literature. We publish articles, reviews, interviews, and discussions examining this topic from various angles—and always from the disabled perspective." Their Honor Roll features enthusiastically recommended books, while their reviews cover books of varying accuracy and quality.
  • DIVerse Families - "DIVerse Families is a comprehensive bibliography that demonstrates the growing diversity of families in the United States."
  • Frequently Challenged Books - Lists of challenged books by year, decade, and other criteria, compiled from reports sent to the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Annual lists are released during Banned Books Week in late September.
  • Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation - List of elementary and secondary books (fiction and nonfiction) on various agriculture topics available from Iowa Ag Literacy's lending library. 
  • Latinxs in Kidlit - Latinxs in Kidlit reviews and promotes Latinx children's and young adult literature. There are masterlists of the books they have reviewed, divided by age range, under the REVIEWED BOOKS navigation tabs.
  • Rich in Color - "Rich in Color is dedicated to reading, reviewing, talking about, and otherwise promoting young adult fiction starring or written by people of color or people from First/Native Nations." Their content includes author spotlights, release information, and analytical reviews.
  • We Are Kid Lit Collective - Since 2015, We Are Kid Lit (formerly We're The People) has published a recommended summer reading list of books for children and teens "written or illustrated by Native Americans or writers/illustrators of color that have withstood a critical review."
  • YA Pride (formerly GayYA)- The pages under "LGBTQIA+ YA Masterlist" attempt to list every young adult and middle grade book with major gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual/aromantic characters. YA Pride also posts information about new releases, book reviews, author interviews, etc.

Children’s and Young Adult Recommended Lists

  • American Library Association’s Children’s Notable Book List – Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) develops a list of best children’s books, recordings, videos, and computer software published/produced the previous year.
  • Best Fiction for Young Adults – This annual list from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), part of ALA, covers fiction for ages 12 to 18. Before 2010, it was the Best Books for Young Adults list and included nonfiction as well. 
  • CCBC Choices – ​The Cooperative Children's Book Center at UW-Madison publishes an annual "best-of-the-year" list including fiction and nonfiction.
  • Notable Social Studies Books for Young People – The National Council for the Social Studies works with the Children’s Book Council to compile an annual list of high quality books that are particularly useful in social studies education, K-8.
  • Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 – The National Science Teachers Association in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council assembles an annual list of high quality books featuring different aspects of science.
  • Rainbow List - The Rainbow Round Table works with the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association to compile an annual list of LGBTQ+ books for a wide range of readers.

Intellectual Freedom

K-12 Databases

UNI has access to a number of databases specific to K-12 students and educators. These databases contain primary and secondary information about subjects such as history and geography as well as magazine guides, encyclopedias, research, and much more.

Nonprint Identification/Review Sources

  • Children's Technology Review (CTREX) [UNI Only] – "An independent, subscriber supported review and curation service designed to help parents, teachers, researchers, publishers and librarians find interactive media products." Reviews evaluate digital media with both numerical rubrics and narrative information about the experience.
  • Super Kids Educational Software Review – Alphabetical links by program title of reviews for ages 3-18. Also includes a subject index. Reviewers include parents and educators.
  • Excellent in Early Learning Digital Media Award -- This ALSC/ALA award is for "distinguished digital media for an early learning audience." Its first year was 2019.
  • Notable Children's Digital Media – This ALSC/ALA committee evaluates, selects, annotates, and presents high-quality digital media for children ages 0-14.
  • Articles for Families on Digital Media -- This article collection is managed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
  • Libraryvideo.com – Library Video Company, a distributor of educational media, including video, CD-ROM, audiobook, and DVD formats, indexes and reviews over 16,000 titles covering different curriculum areas and grade level abilities. Although this source is a commercial product, it can assist in locating hard to find materials.

Iowa Core

  • Iowa Core - The Iowa Department of Education's Iowa Core webpage lays out the academic expectations for Iowa's K-12 students and provides information concerning implementation and planning, a helpful Q & A forum, webcasts, and the history of the Iowa Core.

Iowa History