Searching for Children's Books in the Library Catalog

Books in the library catalog are given specific subject terms so that you can search by topic.  For basics on how to search the library catalog, use the Finding Books Using the SCC Library Catalog" tutorial which can by found by going to the main page of this class and clicking on “Research Tools” and “Using Book Sources.”  

Knowing what subject words you can search by will help you with this assignment.  Children’s books will have the location “Children’s literature” unless they have been put on reserve by ECD instructors.

Note: with any of these, check the actual book to make sure it meets the assignment requirement (i.e. if you are looking for an alphabet book, make sure it really is one!)

See the tips below for searching for books in the different categories:

Caldecott winners

Use the “Caldecott Medal Winners” handout to find these books in the SCC library. This handout can be found on the ECD 131 assignment page of the Library Research Online Class.

Mother Goose Books

There are two ways to find these:

 Keyword: “mother goose”  OR

Subject: “nursery rhymes”

Poetry Anthologies

Note: A poetry anthology is a book with poems by several authors.

Subject: “Children’s poetry”

You will still need to look at the book to make sure the poems are by more than one author. Often in the book record there will be a “compiler” or “editor” listed instead of an author.

Alphabet or ABC books:

Subject: Alphabet

Counting or 123 books:

Subject: counting

Wordless picture books:

Subject: “stories without words”

Informational books

These type of books cover a wide range of subjects (anything from animals to safety to science) so there isn’t one specific topic they can be found under.

 To find out if there is a children’s book on a specific topic, you will need to search by that topic and add the word juvenile (this will eliminate most non-children’s books). Be aware that not every book that comes up will fit this category.

Sample search: science and juvenile

 A way to limit your search to only children’s books is to do a “Power search” in the library catalog. Be aware that not every book that comes up will fit this category. See below for how to do this.

Contemporary realistic fiction books

  These are fiction stories that have a modern setting (i.e. people act and dress much as they do now—so no stories set during the revolutionary war or the 1920’s), they stories that could really happen (realistic—i.e. no talking bunnies or genies in bottles). Because these type of books cover a wide range of subjects (they can be about families, friends, school, etc) there isn’t one specific topic; instead to find out if there is a book of this type on a specific topic, you will need to search by that topic and add the word juvenile (this will eliminate most non-children’s books). Be aware that not every book that comes up will fit this category.

Sample keyword search: friends and juvenile

A way to limit your search to only children’s books is to do a “Power search” in the library catalog.  Be aware that not every book that comes up will fit this category.

Searching for Children's Books in the Library Catalog: Power Search
A way to limit your search to only children’s books is to do a “Power search” in the library catalog. 

1.  On the catalog’s main page,  click on “Power search.”
2.   In the keyword or subject box, put in your search
3.   In the box marked “location,” select “Children’s literature.” This will limit your results to books in the children’s literature collection.
4.   The results that come up will be books related to the topic you entered in the children’s literature collection.  Note: you will still need to examine the books to make sure they fit the requirements for the category you are searching.