The goal of this list is to organize high quality children’s literature by genre and age level. Please note that many books will fit into several genres, so I chose the category that seemed most appropriate to me. Each genre is organized by approximate age range, from youngest (early readers) to oldest (young adult).

 

I elected to omit many books that are already common in schools and some books that educators may want to reconsider using in their classrooms. I included resources for reading about some of these authors and books in Appendix A. 

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In order to help teachers, parents, and learners find texts, I attempted to also provide key words (organized into an index). Most of these key words are group identifiers (e.g., Latinx American author or characters, characters with disabilities, LGBTQIAP+ author or characters, etc.), and there are footnotes to help clarify why certain terms were chosen. Please email me if any texts are mis-identified or if you think any terms were misused. It is important to remember that no culture can be defined by any one text or any set of characteristics. The goal of these key terms is primarily to help find windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors for all children.