Education Commons^™

Popcorn N' Picture Books: Promoting Children's Books In Academic Libraries, Laurie Charnigo, Carley Suther

The Southeastern Librarian

The educational value of children’s literature is supported by a numerous body of research. Helping children to read, write, develop fluency, critical thinking skills and multicultural awareness are just a few of the essential benefits children’s books provide. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, children’s book publishing has risen from a small publishing venture to big business. About 2,000 books were published for children in 1960. By the nineties, this number increased to 5,000 and has continued to rise. The “voluminous body of high-quality literature” published yearly makes selection by librarians difficult. As Bernice Cullinan and Lee Galda note, “Our …