A Selection of Canadian Children’s Literature Resources [5]
Organizations
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC)
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s publications include Our Choice, an annual listing of the best in Canadian children’s books, audio, video and CD-ROMs, and Children’s Book News, a quarterly publication that provides information about authors, illustrators, book awards, and book reviews. In addition, CCBC provides a number of services, including scheduling author and illustrator school visits across the country during Young Canada Book Week.
Book Awards
In some provinces, library and other associations sponsor programs in which students vote for their favorite Canadian books; these include the Ontario Red Maple Awards, Ontario Silver Birch Awards, British Columbia Red Cedar Book Awards, British Columbia’s Sheila Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, Alberta Children’s Choice Book Award, and Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. A list of book awards can be found at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Web site.
Reference Books
Egoff, S., & Saltman, J. (1990). The new republic of childhood: A critical guide to Canadian children’s literature in English. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
This text provides a historical overview of Canadian children’s literature, as well as a discussion of various literary genres.
Jones, R., & Stott, J. (2000). Canadian children’s books: A critical guide to authors and illustrators. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
This book provides readers with factual and critical information about the lives and work of 133 Canadian authors and illustrators.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. (1994). Writing stories, making pictures: Biographies of 150 Canadian children’s authors and illustrators. Toronto, ON: Author.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. (1999). The storymakers: Illustrating children’s books. Markham, ON: Pembroke.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. (2000). The storymakers: Writing children’s books. Markham, ON: Pembroke.
The books published by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre include personal and professional information about Canadian authors and illustrators.
Periodicals
The Canadian Book Review Annual, published each year by Joyce M. Wilson, includes a volume devoted to Canadian children’s literature. Reviews are organized into sections including Children’s Picture Books; Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction; Poetry, Plays and Anthologies; Folklore, Native Legends; People and History; and Travel and Geography. Each review contains a brief summary and evaluation about the selection.
Resource Links: Connecting Classrooms, Libraries & Canadian Learning Resources
Resource Links is published five times each year for the Council for Canadian Learning Resources. It examines the availability and school and library use of Canadian learning resources from kindergarten through high school, including print, electronic, and other media.
Canadian Children’s Literature
As well as publishing articles, this periodical reviews children’s and young adult literature.
CM: Canadian Review of Materials
CM is an electronic journal that reviews Canadian materials published for preschoolers through young adults. The site provides descriptions of books, author and illustrator profiles, and reviews of professional materials.
Web Sites
The Children’s Literature Web Guide
D.K. Brown at the University of Calgary, Alberta, maintains one of the most comprehensive Web sites on children’s literature, with information about Canadian and international authors and books.
Canadian Children’s Literature Service: National Library of Canada
Visitors to this site will find information about award-winning books, Canadian authors and illustrators, and Internet sites that pertain primarily to Canadian children’s literature. The site also identifies suitable English and French books for children and young adults.
The creators of this site claim to have identified the best Internet resources that feature information about Canada, Canadian authors, and Canadian literature.
From “Exploring Canadian Identity Through Canadian Children’s Literature,” by Sylvia Pantaleo.
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted September 2001
© 2001 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232