Children's Literature in Action

Updated with new content and expanded to include a chapter on comics, manga, and graphic novels, this fourth edition of the classic children’s literature textbook remains an enduring staple for LIS coursework in youth services. The addition of Martens voice complements Vardell’s work expanding on important key topics related to audio and book-based apps. Packed with more recommended books, research on the power of books to transform lives, and timely information on developing policies to protect school and youth librarians, this is the essential guide for aspiring and practicing library professionals choosing print and digital materials to serve the literacy needs of children in a variety of library settings. -- Jamie Campbell Naidoo, Ph.D. * Foster-EBSCO Professor, University of Alabama, SLIS, USA *
Children’s Literature in Action is well grounded in the scholarship of noted experts in the fields of literacy and literature with numerous engaging, easy-to-implement ideas and activities on ways to use children’s books in libraries and classrooms. I highly recommend this book. -- Jonda C. McNair * Charlotte S. Huck Endowed Professor of Children’s Literature, The Ohio State University, USA *
If Martens and Vardell position children’s librarians as “the tour guides to the ‘literate’ life,” then they must be the master tour guides, inspiring and supporting librarians’ professional journeys! Scholarly insights, captivating anecdotes, and foundational knowledge scaffold opportunities for instruction, library services, and reader engagement, proffered by the authors, expert practitioners, and children’s book creators. Action certainly shines through the recommended children’s titles, resources for further exploration, and robust take-aways for librarians, teachers, and library educators. -- Rebecca J. Morris * Teaching Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information, USA *