Essentials of Children's Literature (8th Edition)

In the new edition of this widely popular resource, the well-known, highly respected author team presents a brief compendium of information about and resources for helping future and new teachers share literature with children. Essentials of Children’s Literature, 8/e is designed to awaken and motivate readers to the joy of reading. It presents a rich array of available trade books that can be used effectively to teach children’s literature, while also ensuring coverage of the most important knowledge about literature and about teaching literature to children. Clear, concise, and direct, the book uses recommended book lists, examples, figures, and tables in combination with narrative and prose to empower teachers to free classroom time to involve children with literature.

Kathy G. Short teaches graduate courses in children’s literature, inquiry, and curriculum at the University of Arizona and has taught elementary school in Indiana and Ohio. Her books include Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers, Literature as a Way of Knowing, and Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity. Kathy is director of Worlds of Words (www.wowlit.org), an initiative to encourage the use of literature to explore global cultures; she is on the 2014 Caldecott Committee; and is the Vice President of NCTE.

Carol Lynch-Brown taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children’s and young adult literature, reading, and language arts education at Florida State University. She was a teacher in elementary school and middle school in St. Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools, and taught English in French Public Schools. With Carl M. Tomlinson she co-authored Essentials of Young Adult Literature, 2/e, published by Pearson in 2010, and is a former editor of “The Reading Teacher,” a journal of the International Reading Association.

Carl M. Tomlinson taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children's literature and language arts at Northern Illinois University. He was an elementary and middle school teacher in Thomasville, Georgia public schools, and taught classes in English in Norway. He co-authored with Carol Lynch-Brown Essentials of Young Adult Literature, 2/e, published by Pearson in 2010, and is the editor of “Children's Books from Other Countries,” published by USBBY and Scarecrow Press in 1998.