Children's Literature

A picture book is a book in which the illustrations play a significant role in telling the story. This is a very broad category and there are several types of books under this group.

These stories feature common people, often peasants, and commonplace events. There are sometimes some "make-believe" elements, such as talking animals, but the stories, overall, are logical and even realistic. Folk tales seek to explain things about life, nature, or the human condition.

Fairy tales feature magical and enchanted creations. They always have a "happily ever after" ending, where good is rewarded and evil is punished.

These are short stories, written in verse or prose, with an moral ending. These types of stories are credited to Aesop, who used the tales of animals and other inanimate objects to teach lessons about life.

While based in history, these stories embellish the life of a real person. The facts and adventures of the person are exaggerated, making the individual famous for their deeds.

Myths contain common themes and characters, and often "gods." Myths attempt to explain the beginning of the world, natural phenomena, the relationships between the gods and humans, and the origins of civilization. Myths, like legends, are stories told as though they were true.

Poems and drama are important genres that introduce children to verse, prose, rhythm, rhyme, writing styles, literary devices, symbolism, analogies, and metaphors. The simple language used in some poems and drama can be appreciated by readers of varying abilities, providing a context to teach a variety of language arts skills.

Books that are written for today's youths, representing contemporary times, based on real-world situations are called realistic fictions.

Books that are designed to help readers learn more about real things. They provide young readers information without the literary devises common to fiction.

These books are imaginative tales that require young readers to accept elements and story lines that clearly cannot be true. The stories may be based on animals that talk, elements of science fiction, supernatural or horror, or combinations of these elements.

These are stories that are written to portray a time period or convey information about a specific time period or an historical event.

A form of non-fiction that is based on the life of a person

A picture book whose story is told entirely with illustrations.