Finding books for children and young adults
Once you learn of a title from any of these sources, search a library catalog to see if it is available. The USC library catalog section on this page has tips on finding books in the children's collection of Thomas Cooper Library as well as advice on searching the catalog for other USC libraries. Talk to your public and school librarians to see if there are ways to best search those library catalogs.
There's not a great way to confidentally limit by age or grade level in our catalog, but if you want picturebooks, one strategy is to use unpaged as part of your keyword search.
Identifying Children's Books
- Children's Literature Comprehensive Database This link opens in a new windowMany more ways to search to find children's books, including Lexile ranges. Then you'll need to search our catalog to see if we have them in the library.
- Multicultural Literature (Cooperative Children's Book Center, UW-Madison)Some of the links list books, other links are about using multicultural children's literature.
- NoveList K-8 Plus This link opens in a new window
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Find fiction and non-fiction. In Advanced Search you can enter the author's nationality or cultural identity among other things. Also lists "high interest/low vocabulary" books. - TumbleBooks Library This link opens in a new window
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Contains read-aloud storybooks, chapter books, graphic novels, songs, and National Geographic videos. Books are available in English, Spanish, and French. For access outside of SC, you may need to contact the library for current DISCUS login details.
- Lexile Framework for ReadingNot a library database, but you can enter a Lexile range and then browse categories to identify books. Some of the English Programs for Internationals instructors use this.
Finding Children's Books with the Library Catalog
Try different key words and many searches! Zero in on your subject, but also think about broader terms. For example, search freedom riders sucz but also search civil right* united states sucz The asterisk * is a wildcard and will find different endings to words.
sucz is a code for the children's books section on level 1 of Thomas Cooper Library.
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Add sucz to a keyword search if you want to limit your results to books in the Juvenile Collection in Thomas Cooper Library, Columbia.
You can then modify the search if you want books published after a certain date, or use the Advanced Keyword form.
If you want books published in 2010 or after, in our catalog enter year: after 2009 (otherwise it won't include books published in 2010)
Click on the title of the book. There might be clues as to the grade level, but you may have to either look at the book or search for the title in one of the databases in the "Identifying books" box above. |
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Have the call number and book title for children's books. Once you get close to area on the shelf for small books it will be easier to read the title on the spine of the book.
For all the USC library catalogs, add search terms to this search
The words juvenile (ex. juvenile literature, juvenile fiction, juvenile works) or children's (ex. children's stories, children's poetry) are usually in the subject terms for children's books.
- Library of Congress Call NumbersWe use the same call number system in the juvenile section as the rest of the library. For non-fiction you could try browsing the shelves.
Best books: Children
After-School Clubs for Kids by Publication Date: 2013
Picture Books for Children by Online, available from ebrary or EBSCOhost
Best books: Young adult
Booklist's 1000 Best Young Adult Books since 2000 by Call Number: Available onlinePublication Date: 2014
- Best Fiction for Young Adults (Young Adult Library Services Association)Also links to other lists of best books, like Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
Mind-Bending Mysteries and Thrillers for Teens by Publication Date: 2014
