Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader, from picture books for the very young to young adult fiction.
Vashti was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either executed or banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet to show her beauty as Ahasuerus wished, and was succeeded as queen by Esther, a Jew. That refusal might be better understood via the Jewish tradition that she was ordered to appear naked. In the Midrash, Vashti is described as wicked and vain; she is viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist theological interpretations of the Purim story.
Jennifer Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. Beginning her career in the mid-1960s, she released her debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. The album sold very few copies and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career. By 2000, her album had acquired a cult following; it was re-released and Bunyan recorded more songs, initiating the second phase of her musical career after a gap of thirty years. She released two more albums: Lookaftering in 2005, and Heartleap in 2014.
The Trumpeter of Krakow, a young adult historical novel by Eric P. Kelly, won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1929.
A Northern Light, or A Gathering Light in the U.K., is an American historical novel for young adults, written by Jennifer Donnelly and published by Harcourt in 2003. Set in northern Herkimer County, New York in 1906, it is based on the murder of Grace Brown case —the basis also for An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (1925).
Many Moons is an American children's picture book written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. It was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1943 and won the Caldecott Medal in 1944. The book centers around a young girl, Princess Lenore, who becomes ill, and only one thing will make her better: the moon. The book was Thurber's first picture book.
The Hundred Dresses is a children's book by Eleanor Estes, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, published in 1944. In the book, a Polish girl named Wanda Petronski attends a Connecticut school where the other children see her as "different" and mock her.
Edenborn is a 2004 science fiction novel by American writer Nick Sagan. It is the sequel to Idlewild, and takes place 18 years after that book. The sequel to this book and the final installment of the trilogy is Everfree.
Where the Lilies Bloom is a 1974 American drama film directed by William A. Graham and starring Julie Gholson, Harry Dean Stanton, Rance Howard, and Jan Smithers. Based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Bill and Vera Cleaver, it follows four underage siblings in Appalachia who attempt to conceal the death of their widowed father to avoid being separated.
Peter Hamilton Reynolds is a Canadian author and illustrator of children's books and is the founder of the educational media company FableVision.
Rules is the debut novel by author Cynthia Lord. Released by Scholastic, Inc. in 2006, it was a Newbery Honor book in 2007. It is a Sunshine State Young Readers book for 2008–2009 and won A 2007 Schneider Family Book Award. In 2009 it also won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award.
Girl, Missing is an 2006 English-language young adult thriller novel by Sophie McKenzie.
Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. It was her first book for children, and was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis. Diane Goode illustrated a 1991 edition published by Random House.
Feathers is a children's historical novel by Jacqueline Woodson that was first published in 2007. The story is about a sixth-grade girl named Frannie growing up in the '70s. One day an unexpected new student causes much chaos to the class because he is the only white boy in the whole school. Feathers grapples with concepts such as religion, race, hope, and understanding. The book examines what it was like to grow up right after segregation had been outlawed, how all people are equal, and that hope is everywhere. The book was a Newbery Honor winner in 2008.
Nordy Bank is a children's adventure novel by Sheena Porter, published by Oxford in 1964 with illustrations by Annette Macarthur-Onslow. Set in the hills of Shropshire, it features children whose camping holiday seems to engage the prehistoric past. Porter won the annual Carnegie Medal for excellence in British children's literature.
Dear Nobody is a realistic young-adult novel by Berlie Doherty, published by Hamilton in 1991. Set in the northern England city of Sheffield, it features an unplanned teenage pregnancy and tells the story of its effect on the teenagers and their families.
A Grass Rope is a children's novel by William Mayne, first published by Oxford in 1957 with illustrations by Lynton Lamb. Mayne won the annual Carnegie Medal recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.
Aldo Zelnick is a comic novel children's book series intended for middle-grade students, written by Karla Oceanak and illustrated by Kendra Spanjer. These books have titles written in alphabetical order and follow the life of a ten-year-old boy, Aldo, and are written and illustrated as entries in Aldo's sketchbook. The books contain handwritten-looking text mixed with black-and-white cartoon illustrations. Each book also focuses on vocabulary building for each different letter of the alphabet.
The Summer Birds is a children's novel by British writer Penelope Farmer, published in 1962 by Chatto & Windus, and receiving a Carnegie Medal commendation.
