Search Categories

Search Categories

Below are the various search categories and filters used in the Recommended Literature List. 

• Author/Title/Illustrator/Translator: The information for each selection includes the name of the author(s) and the title of the book. If applicable, the illustrator(s), and translator(s) of the book are also noted.  
• Annotation: Annotations are searched by typing in a keyword. Annotations are provided for each title and include a synopsis summarizing the book's subject, content, story line, and characters.  
• Grade Level Span: One of five grade level designations is listed indicating the appropriate audience for a particular title. Grade levels are determined by factors such as interest level, curriculum connections, and readability level. Titles have been divided into the following grade-level spans:  
  • Transitional Kindergarten/Preschool/Prekindergarten (TK/Pre-K) 
  • Kindergarten through grade two (K–2)  
  • Grades three through five (3–5)  
  • Grades six through eight (6–8)  
  • Grades nine through twelve (9–12)  
• Language: This category indicates if the title is written in a language other than English or if the title is bilingual (written in both English and another language). The list includes titles in the six languages most commonly spoken by students in California: English, Spanish, Hmong, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipino. It may also include other languages as available. Note that each update may not include all available languages in this category. 
• Culture: this category reflects the rich cultural diversity of California.  
• Genre: this category covers various genres available.  
• Classification: this category covers different types of books 
• Discipline: this category covers the different academic disciplines reflected in the Recommended Literature List 
• Awards: this lists the special awards won by the author/illustrator of a book. 
• Topic: this category covers areas of focus within academic disciplines or areas of interest. These include: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs, American History, Dance, Earth Science, Economics, Ethnic Studies, Geography, Global Historical Events and Figures, Global Social Institutions, Global Social Issues, Government and Politics, Growth, Development, and Sexual Health, Immigration/Migration/Refugees, International Studies/World History, Law and Legal Studies, Life Science (Biology), Lifestyles Around the World, Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition, Mental, Emotional, and Social Health, Music, Nutrition, Physical Fitness, and Physical Activity, Personal and Community Health, Physical Science (Chemistry and Physics), Psychology/Sociology, Religion/Spirituality, Theatre, Visual Arts, War, Women and Girls, Men and Boys, Gender/Sexuality, Animals, Bullying, Civil Rights, Environmental Science and Conservation, Cooking and Food, Family and Friendship, Grief and Loss, Homelessness.

Awards

This lists the awards in the Recommended Literature List. 

• Alex Award: The YALSA Alex Award  is annually awarded to ten fiction or nonfiction works, published for adults, with significant appeal to teen readers. 
• Caldecott Honor/Winner: The Caldecott Medal  was named in honor of nineteenth century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. 
• California Young Reader Medal: The California Young Reader Medal Program encourages recreational reading of popular literature among the young people of our state. Since its inception in 1974, millions of California children have nominated, read, and voted for the winners of the California Young Reader Medal.  
• Cardinal Cup: the Cardinal Cup  Committee’s goal is to promote reading about America’s past; to encourage the quality writing of United States history, biography, and historical fiction for young people, and to recognize authors in these disciplines.  
• Christopher Award: The Christophers  uses print and electronic media to spread a message of hope and understanding to people of all faiths and of no particular faith. Each year, the creators of films, television programs, and books which "affirm the highest values of the human spirit" are honored at a ceremony in New York City.  
• Cook Prize: Presented for the first time in 2011, the Cook Prize  honors science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture books published for children aged eight to ten, and is awarded by the Center for Children’s Literature at Bank Street College.  
• Coretta Scott King Author/Illustrator Honor/Winner: The Coretta Scott King Award  is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table. Recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream." The Award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and honors his widow, Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination in continuing the work for peace and world brotherhood. 
• Golden Kite Author/Illustrator Honor/Winner: The Golden Kite Award  is the only award presented to children's book authors and artists by their fellow authors and artists. Four Golden Kite Statuettes - for fiction, nonfiction, picture book text, and picture-illustration - are awarded each year to the most outstanding children's books published during that year and having been written or illustrated by members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. An Honor Book plaque in each category is awarded as well. The works chosen are those that the judges feel exhibit excellence in writing, and in the case of the picture-illustrated books - in illustration, and genuinely appeal to the interests and concerns of children.  
• Hugo Award: The Hugo Award  is also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award and was named in honor of Hugo Greenback, the "Father of Magazine Science Fiction." It is given annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The distinguishing characteristics of the Hugo Award are that it is sponsored by WSFS, administered by the committee of the World Science Fiction Convention held that year, and determined by nominations from and a popular vote of the membership of WSFS. 
• John and Patricia Beatty Award: Sponsored by Book Wholesalers, Inc., the California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award  honors the author of a distinguished book for children or young adults that best promotes an awareness of California and its people. 
• Michael L. Printz Honor/Winner: The Michael L. Printz Award  is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.  
• National Book Award: A consortium of book publishing groups has presented the National Book Award  since 1950. Its goal is to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans and to increase the popularity of reading in general. The award is given in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. 
• Nebula Award: The Nebula Awards  are voted on and presented by active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Since 1965, the Nebula Awards have been given each year for the best novel, novella, novelette, and short story eligible for that year's award. An anthology including the winning pieces of short fiction and several runners-up is also published every year. 
• Newbery Honor/Winner: The Newbery Medal  was named for eighteenth century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The Newbery Medal is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious children's book prizes. 
• Nobel Prize: Literature is one of the five prize areas mentioned in Alfred Nobel's will. Nobel stated that a Nobel Prize  be given to those who, during the preceding year, "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" and that one part be given to the person who "shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency." 
• Orbis Pictus Award: The National Council of Teachers of English established the Orbis Pictus Award  for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, an annual award for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. The world of children's literature contains a variety of genres, all of which have appeal to the diverse interests of children as well as potential for classroom teaching. In recent years, however, nonfiction or information books have emerged as a very attractive, exciting, and popular genre. This award centers specifically on nonfiction books for children. 
• Pulitzer Prize: In the latter years of the nineteenth century, Joseph Pulitzer stood out as the very embodiment of American journalism. His innovative New York World and St. Louis Post-Dispatch reshaped newspaper journalism. In writing his 1904 will, which made provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes  as an incentive to excellence, Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one for education, and four traveling scholarships. Since the inception of the prizes in 1917, the board, later renamed the Pulitzer Prize Board, has increased the number of awards to 21 and introduced poetry, music, and photography as subjects, while adhering to the spirit of the founder's will and its intent. 
• Pura Belpre Narrative/Illustration Honor/Winner: The Pura Belpré Award , established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian from the New York Public Library. The awards are given biennially. 
• Robert F. Sibert Award: The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award was established and administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. This award will be awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished informational book published during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the longtime President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois, and is sponsored by the company. 
• Schneider Family Award: This annual award honors an author or illustrator for a book emphasizing the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and or adolescent audiences. Books selected for the Schneider Family Book Award portray an aspect of living with a disability that may be physical, mental or emotional. 
• Scott O'Dell Award: The Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award was established in 1984 by Scott O'Dell, recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, Newbery Medal, and many other awards. This award recognizes outstanding works of historical fiction. The criteria require that the book be published in English by a U.S. publisher and that it be set in the New World (North, Central, and South America). 
• Stonewall Book Awards: The Stonewall Book Award honors books that relate to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience. The children and young adult literature award was added in 2010. 
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award: The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award  is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of an American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States in the preceding year. The award was established in 2004 and first presented in 2006. Named for children’s author, Theodor Geisel, also known as “Dr. Seuss.” 
• Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award Honor/Winner: The California Reading Association has established an award to celebrate and honor nonfiction children’s books. The Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award will assist teachers, librarians, and parents in identifying outstanding nonfiction books for their students and children. 
• American Indian Youth Literature Award: Awarded biennially, the American Indian Youth Literature Award  identifies and honors the very best writing and illustrations by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America. Books selected to receive the award present Indigenous North American peoples in the fullness of their humanity. 
• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature: The Asian Pacific American Award for Literature  honors and recognizes individual works reflecting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and/or Pasifika experiences (either historical or contemporary) and cultures created by Asian American, Asian Canadian and/or Pasifika authors and illustrators. 
• Sydney Taylor Book Award: The Sydney Taylor Book Award  is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. 
• Walter Dean Myers Award : We Need Diverse Books awards the Walter Dean Myers Award, celebrating diversity in children’s literature. 
• The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award: The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards recognize and reward excellence in literature for children and young adults in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and picture books.  
• Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People: The Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People awards books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text. 
• Carter G. Woodson Book Awards: The Carter G. Woodson Book Award  is presented to exemplary books written for children and young people each year at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference. 

Classifications

These classifications can be used as additional filters for the Recommended Literature List. 

• Alphabet Book: A book that utilizes letters of the alphabet in different ways and may or may not tell a story. Alphabet books can include simple object recognition or can be thematic and are often told in rhyme or alliteration. 
• Chapter/Early Chapter Book: Fiction formatted into short chapters. Early chapter books are written for readers in grades one to three. 
• Concept Book: A type of informational book that introduces a single concept, such as shape, color, size, or numbers. It includes alphabet books and counting books. 
• Counting Book: A type of picture book that focuses on numbers and counting. 
• Epistolary: a work of literature told through letters. 
• Graphic Novel: A format in which image and print are interdependent. Graphic novels may be of any genre, including nonfiction. 
• Photo Essay: A book that presents information on a concept or illustrates a story using photographs and text. 
• Picture Book: A book in which the message depends upon pictures as much or more than text. The pictures extend the text in a way that would not be possible from the words alone. 
• Rhyming Book: a book that relies on rhyming and rhythm to tell a story. 
• Struggling Reader: A title that is engaging to students reading below grade level. The title's interest level is age appropriate for students who are reluctant to read and/or are challenged by the complexity of text at their grade level. 
• Wordless Book: A picture book that tells a story or presents information through the pictures with very little or no text. 

Cultural Designations

The Recommended Literature List includes high quality literature that reflects a rich cultural diversity. Cultural designations include, but are not limited to:  

• African 
• Asian/Asian American 
• Australian 
• Black/African American 
• Cambodian/Cambodian American 
• Chinese/Chinese American 
• Differently-Abled/Diverse Abilities 
• East Indian/East Indian American 
• Eastern European 
• Filipino/Filipino America 
• Hmong/Hmong American 
• Indigenous Peoples 
• Jamaican 
• Italian/Italian American 
• Japanese/Japanese American 
• Jewish/Jewish American 
• Korean/Korean American 
• Latino/Latino American 
• LGBTQ+ 
• Middle Eastern 
• Multicultural 
• Muslim/Muslim American 
• Native American 
• Pacific Islander 
• Russian/Russian American 
• South Asian 
• Taiwanese/Taiwanese American 
• Vietnamese/Vietnamese American 
• Western European 

Literary Genres

Genres contained within the Recommended Literature List include: 

• Adventure 
• Biography/Autobiography 
• Drama 
• Dystopian 
• Essay 
• Fable 
• Fairy Tale 
• Fantasy 
• Fiction 
• Fiction in Verse 
• Folklore 
• Historical Fiction 
• History 
• Holiday 
• Horror 
• Humor 
• Legend 
• Memoir 
• Mystery 
• Mythology 
• Narrative Nonfiction 
• Nonfiction 
• Poetry 
• Realistic Fiction 
• Romance 
• Science Fiction 
• Short Story 
• Speech 
• Sports 
• Tall Tale 

Connections to Standards

The Recommended Literature List is a resource for supplemental reading materials that teachers can use to extend and deepen students' understanding. The Recommended Literature List committee updates this list annually to reflect the latest and best published children’s and young adult literature. The titles that they select illustrate the quality and complexity of literature which may be used to support the teaching of a variety of subjects. 

Because many content area standards may be addressed through the use of challenging and complex text, individual standards are not listed for each title in this collection nor have specific titles been suggested for each of the standards. Efforts to match standards to titles were found to insufficiently reflect the countless ways teachers may use the list to support students in reading a variety of complex texts. To read such text, students need to be challenged to extend their reading abilities and also know the pleasure of easy, fluent reading within the level of text complexity appropriate for them.  

Reading and the use of literature are of great benefit beyond the boundaries of the classroom as well. Teachers can enrich their students' understanding through the integration of quality literature selections into a variety of subject area lessons. Whether students read literature independently or it is read to them, students who are engaged in quality texts will have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and specific concepts. 

The disciplines contained within the Recommended Literature List include: 

• Health 
• History/Social Science 
• Physical Education 
• Visual and Performing Arts 
• World Language 
• English Language Arts 
• Mathematics 
• Science