Watercolour painting of a boy reading a book.

Children’s Literature

Welcome to the Children’s Literature Research Guide. This guide will give you an overview of the children’s books and related resources that we hold in our collections and how to access them. It also provides links to some resources outside the Library.

On this page

Introduction

The guide relates to material held in the National Library (excluding Services to Schools collections) and the Alexander Turnbull Library.

For information about the Services to Schools collections, please refer to the Services to Schools section of the website.

A watercolour painting shows a young boy lying down outdoors reading a book.

Boy reading, from the Hodgkins family album of sketches 1880s, 1890s. Ref: E-312-q-075-1. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Children’s books at the National Library

Children’s literature and related resources are held in both the National Library and Alexander Turnbull Library collections. We have books written for children (including fiction, non-fiction and textbooks) and reference resources to assist researchers in the study of children’s literature. Many titles are held in designated children’s literature collections and sequences, while others are found in collections with a broader scope.

We have books from New Zealand and overseas, ranging in date from ca. 1720 to the present day. The majority of material dates from the early 20th century onwards, reflecting the growth of children’s publishing during this time. Most books are in English, including examples of translated works. Collections also include material in te reo Māori and Pacific Island languages. Our collections are built by a combination of purchase, donation and Legal Deposit.

Information about offering a donation to the collections

National Children’s Collection

The National Children's Collection (NCC) is the Library’s largest collection of books for children and young people. This extensive research collection of around 124,000 books, published post-1940, includes New Zealand and Pacific titles and selected overseas titles.

The NCC is based on the collection built up by the School Library Service which, from its establishment in 1942 until 1993, selected a range of books from publishers in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, the Pacific and New Zealand. From mid-1993, additions to the NCC have focused on New Zealand and Pacific children’s books together with a smaller selection of noteworthy overseas titles.

Most of the books are written in English, and we also have many books in Māori and Pasifika languages and a strong showing of translated books. The collection also includes resources to support the study of children’s literature.

Books from the NCC are available for interlibrary loan.

The National Children's Collection (NCC)

Dorothy Neal White Collection

The Dorothy Neal White Collection (DNWC) is a heritage research collection of children’s books that were enjoyed by young New Zealanders before 1940. The collection also includes a representative selection of children’s annuals and serials, some of which are post-1940. The collection of approximately 11,000 items contains books from Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand that illustrate the overall development of children’s literature during the period.

While fiction predominates, non-fiction of a recreational nature, together with a sample of school textbooks, is also included. Many of the books in the collection were received as prizes from school or Sunday school and many others bear gift inscriptions. Highlights of the collection include many New Zealand and Australian books; examples of early and classic children’s books; a representative selection of annuals, and serials; and examples of popular genres such as school stories and adventure stories.

Books from the DNW are not available for interlibrary loan and can be viewed onsite in Wellington in the Katherine Mansfield Reading Room.

The Dorothy Neal White Collection (DNWC)

Two side by side book covers, on the left showing a young woman with a dog and on the right, a soldier holding a bugle.

L to R: Jane in command: the story of a girl’s war work and its strange results by E.E. Cowper; illustrated by Gordon Browne. London: Blackie and son, 1917. The young ANZACs: a tale of the Great War by Joseph Bowes. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1918.

Susan Price Collection

The Susan Price Collection is a private collection of approximately 20,000 books, gifted to the National Library in 1991.

At present it is curated by Susan Price in her home. At a future date it will be housed in the National Library as an example of an individual’s collection.
Most of the books were published in Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Susan has focused her collecting on books published since World War II, for children aged between 9 and 18. Susan continues to add her choice of the best children’s books written in English from around the world up to the present day. There are also works of literary criticism and biographies of children’s writers.

Highlights of the collection include Susan’s choice of the best historical fiction for children, Oxford University Press titles from the 1950s to the 1980s, Puffin Story Books and Puffin Picture Books.

For a comprehensive description of her collection, read her book Books for Life published by Gondwanaland Press in 1991.

Susan Price Collection

Books for life published by Gondwanaland Press in 1991

Accessing the Susan Price Collection

Visitors are welcome to view the collection in Susan’s home — work space is available for researchers. Please make an appointment with Susan Price, phone 04 475 8092.

Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection (FDNWC)

The Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection (FDNWC) is associated with the National Library of New Zealand and was formed in 1983 to support the work of the Dorothy Neal White Collection. In 2005 it was extended to support the National Children's Collection and the Susan Price Collection. Through its lectures, meetings, research grant and publications the FDNWC helps to foster interest in the general development of children’s literature.

For more information, see the Friends' website and Friends' Facebook page.

Alexander Turnbull Library published collections

Children’s books are held across the Alexander Turnbull Library Collections (ATL).

Notable collection content includes:

  • Early 20th century illustrated books for children

  • New Zealand children’s books and books about publications for children that are collected and preserved as part of the Turnbull Library’s commitment to preserve the documentary record of the New Zealand experience. This includes material published overseas by New Zealand authors.

  • Children’s books in te reo Māori and Pacific Island languages

  • Children’s books published by Pacific Island nations

  • Children’s books that have been donated, often as part of a larger collection. These include the Price Collection of textbooks, and titles within the Wood Collection (19th century).

Alexander Turnbull Library Collections

Two side by side book covers, the cover on the left depicts a coastal scene with cliffs and sea birds along with an underwater look at crays, shells and anemones. The book cover on the right shows the entrance to a pa site with a large engraved wooden gate surrounded by tall walls.

L to R: Lizzie Limpet and other stories by Edith Howes. Auckland, N.Z.: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1928. Whitcombe’s pictorial story of New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z.: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1938. Source: International Children's Digital Library.

Alexander Turnbull Library unpublished collections

The Alexander Turnbull Library’s unpublished collections include material relevant to the study of children’s literature in New Zealand in a variety of formats. Some examples include:

You can search for unpublished material on the Alexander Turnbull Library catalogue (Tiaki) database of unpublished collections.

Alexander Turnbull Library catalogue (Tiaki)

Search for the name of the person you are interested in, or use these Alexander Turnbull Library catalogue (Tiaki) subject searches to get started:

Hutu and Kawa (babies with skirts and headdresses resembling pohutukawa in bloom) play on a flowering pohutukawa with a fantail. There is a beach in the background.

Acres, Avis, 1910-1994: New Zealand flower babies. Hutu and Kawa the Pohutukawa babies find a happy playmate in the clever Fantail who visits them in their treetop home by the seashore. . Acres, Avis, 1910-1994 :. Ref: E-508-008. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Search for children’s books in National Library collections

There are a number of ways that you can find books, articles and resources about children's literature including the catalogue, Index New Zealand, journals and magazines and databases that the Library subscribes to. You need to be at the National Library in Wellington get access to the databases.

Search the National Library Catalogue

A good place to start your search for children’s books at the National Library is to do a search on the National Library catalogue. The National Library catalogue includes all published material held in the National Library and Alexander Turnbull Library collections.

It is often best to start with a broad search, without too many search terms, so that you don’t miss useful material. If you end up with too many results to manage, try adding some additional search terms.

There is also a dropdown menu with options to restrict your initial search to a collection or collections, such as the Alexander Turnbull Library Collections, or The National Library Children’s Collections.

If you know what the book is called, or who wrote it, use the search option on the catalogue. Put the title, or keywords from the title, and/or the author’s name into the search box.

To find children’s books about a specific subject do a search using keywords from the subject you are interested in.

Use the filtering options to the right of your search results to further refine your list if necessary. Some of the filters available are: genre/form (for example juvenile literature, juvenile poetry), subject, and country of publication.

National Library catalogue

History and development of children’s literature

You can search the National Library catalogue for books about the history and development of children’s literature, and studies of individual authors and their work. Below are some commonly used searches. Some of them have long results lists, so use your choice of filters to narrow down the results, or add some additional search terms of your own:

Below are some searches for books from the National Library Catalogue.

We have developed a book list of useful works on various aspects of children’s literature at the end of this guide.

Selected works about children's literature

Index New Zealand (INNZ)

Search Index New Zealand, by selecting the INNZ dropdown option on the National Library catalogue. INNZ searches provide you with references to locally published newspaper and journal articles relating to children’s literature. Try these searches to get started:

For a narrower result set, add additional search terms of your choice and use the post-search filter options on the right of the screen.

Find out more about INNZ

Databases

These subscription databases are available onsite at the Library.

  • Gale Literature Resource Center — Offers the broadest and most representative range of authors and their works, including a large collection of full-text critical and literary analysis.

  • Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals — Includes a good selection of popular children’s periodicals, including: Aunt Judy’s magazine; The Boy’s own paper; The Girl’s own paper; Chums; Chatterbox; The Children’s friend.

Journals and magazines

Use the National Library catalogue to find journals and magazines about children’s literature, in print and digital formats. Below are some of the best-known examples. You need to be at the National Library in Wellington to access these titles.

Two side by side images, on the left, a group of children is led through a park by a woman with hair dyed multiple colours. On the right, a black and white portrait of a young girl holding an open book next to a window.

L to R: Author Margaret Mahy leads a group of children through Frank Kitts Park, Wellington. Photograph taken by Phil Reid. Dominion Post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1992/2237/9. Young girl with book. Printed in Prussia. GG Co. 1148/3 . . Ref: Eph-POSTCARDS-Women-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

Borrow and read children’s books from the National Library

You can read and borrow books from our Children's collections.

Viewing books at the Library in Wellington

If you are visiting the Library in Wellington you can request items from the National Library catalogue and view them in our reading rooms. You need to complete a short form to register on the National Library catalogue. As soon as you register you will be able to request books.

If you already have a National Library Catalogue account sign in to request books.

Register with the National Library Catalogue

Sign in to the National Library Catalogue

Information about visiting and using our collections

Interloan books

If you are not able to visit us in Wellington, items from the National Library’s lending collections (including the National Children’s Collection) can be borrowed using the interloan system.

Interloan requests should be made through your local public library or your tertiary institution library.

Interloaning from our collections

The School Journal

The School Journal has been read by New Zealand primary school students since 1907 and it has been published continuously since then. Over the years there have been some minor title changes and variations in the pattern of parts and numbers. The School Journal is currently published in three parts, corresponding to levels 2-4 of the New Zealand curriculum (roughly years 4-8). Younger students are now catered for with the Ready to Read series and the Junior Journal.

Sequences of the School Journal are held in both the National Library and Alexander Turnbull Library. Earlier issues are in bound annual volumes.

Finding the School Journal

You can search for the School Journal on the National Library catalgoue or using the National Library website search. Title changes mean there are several separate catalogue records for the School Journal, which you can find at these links:

Indexes to the School Journal

There is no single index to the contents of all the School Journals that have been published. Earlier editions of the School Journal include annual and/or monthly indexes.

Some cumulative indexes are available, from 1954:

History of the School Journal

To find out more about the history of the School Journal, start with this centenary publication: A nest of singing birds: 100 years of the New Zealand school journal by Gregory O’Brien. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 2007.

Artwork from the School Journal

Some of the original artwork for the School Journal and other Education Department publications is held at Archives New Zealand. Find out more in their Photography and Art research guide.

Teacher and children, reading outside under a tree, circa 1935.

Teacher and children, reading outside, ca. 1935. Ref: 1/2-068959-F. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Online resources about children’s literature

There are lot of online resources. These include information about New Zealand children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, reading promotion, news, reviews and education.

Find digitised children’s books

Below are some of the children’s literature digitisation projects available online.

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre includes some early New Zealand children’s novels, notably:

The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

Other online digitised children’s books

Toronto Public Library’s Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books contains over 80,000 items. Around 5,000 of them have been digitised as part of the Library’s digital archive and can be searched and read.

The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature at the University of Florida includes over 120,000 children’s books and periodicals, published from the mid-1600s to the present day. Over 7,000 titles from the collection have been digitised and can be searched and read here.
Library of Congress Children's Book Selections. A small selection of about 70 books from the General and Rare Book Collections at the Library of Congress, published prior to 1924.

The International Children's Digital Library includes a selection of about 4,000 digitised books from around the world, including New Zealand. This site is no longer being added to and has limited searchability.

Internet Archive Children's Library has books for children from around the world.

Children's Books Online: The Rosetta Project is a growing collection of illustrated books dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Library of Congress Children's Book Selections a small selection of about 70 books from the General and Rare Book Collections at the Library of Congress, published prior to 1924.

How do I find a “forgotten” book?

When you want to find a book you have read before, but can’t remember the title or author, sometimes a quick Google or Google Books search using some keywords about the book will be enough to find it.

Google Books search

If you cannot easily find the book, try online second-hand bookselling sites, such as Bookfinder or Biblio.

Bookfinder
Biblio

These two online groups allow you to post queries so other readers can help you identify your book:

Our collections include subject indexes to children’s literature, including poetry, short stories and fiction. These can be useful for identifying older titles. To find them, try these searches:

Or our ‘Ask a librarian’ service may also be able to help.

Ask a librarian

Two side by side book covers, on the left showing a leather-bound book with gilt lettering and illustration of a fox and flowers and leaves. On the right, a faded light-blue book cover with a dim image of a man trekking on ice.

The most delectable history of Reynard the Fox / Henry Cole. Macmillan and Co,1895. A Southern Cross fairy tale / Kate McCosh Clark. London: Sampson Lowe, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1891. Read the digitised version in the International Children's Digital Library.

Research collections for children’s literature

Below is a list of research collections for children’s literature.

New Zealand

Auckland Libraries Special Collections includes a Children’s Historical Collection of almost 8,000 items dating from the 17th century through to the present day. This collection includes the original historical collection developed out of the Colson bequests of the 1960s and 1970s and continues to grow with purchases, transfers and donations relating to publications primarily in English, written for children.

Christchurch City Libraries, Margaret Mahy Collection of New Zealand Children's Books

Dunedin Public Libraries, Children's Literature Research Collection

The University of Auckland Sylvia Ashton Warner Library Special Collections

University of Canterbury Library Young Person's Fiction Collection

The Renwick Museum, Olga Watson Memorial Library

Australia

The National Centre for Australian Children's Literature Inc (formerly Lu Rees Archives) is a comprehensive collection of books and other resources about Australian authors, illustrators, publishers and their creative works.

National Library of Australia children’s literature collections including the Marcie Muir Collection, the Kerry White Collection and the O’Neill Collection.

State Library of South Australia Children’s Literature Research Collection (CLRC)

State Library of Victoria children’s literature collections

The State Library of Western Australia holds The Peter Williams Collection of artwork from Australian picture books. Illustrations in the collection date from 1920 to the present day, the majority from 1970 and later.

Organisations supporting children’s literature research

Below are links to some organisations supporting children’s literature.

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) — An organisation for the advancement of research and scholarship in children’s literature.

Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection (FDNWC) — The Friends offer a biennial grant for a researcher to undertake research that will make use of the Dorothy Neal White Collection and/or the National Children’s Collection.

International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) — An international scholarly organisation established to support and promote research in the field of children's literature. It includes members from over forty countries worldwide.

Selected works about children’s literature

Below are some selected works about children’s literature including information about the history of New Zealand and Australian children’s literature, New Zealand children’s book authors and illustrators, and histories, encyclopedias and genre studies.

History of New Zealand children’s literature

A sea change: 145 years of New Zealand junior fiction / Betty Gilderdale. Auckland, N.Z. : Longman Paul, 1982.

Young emigrants: New Zealand juvenile fiction, 1833-1919 / J.B. Ringer. Hamilton, N.Z.: Thackeray Street, 1980.

The Oxford history of New Zealand literature in English / edited by Terry Sturm. Auckland, N.Z. : Oxford University Press, 1998. p. 525-574 “Children’s Literature”

The power of place: landscape in New Zealand children's fiction, 1970-1989 / Diane Hebley. Dunedin, N.Z. : University of Otago Press, 1998.

School books published in New Zealand to 1960 / Hugh Price. Palmerston North, N.Z. : Dunmore Press with Gondwanaland Press, 1992.

Whitcombe's story books: a trans-Tasman survey / Ian F. McLaren ; with George J. Griffiths. Parkville, Vic.: University of Melbourne Library, 1984.

Whitcombe's story books: a trans-Tasman survey. First supplement / Ian F. McLaren. Parkville, Vic.: University of Melbourne Library, 1987.

New Zealand children’s book authors and illustrators

Marvellous codes: the fiction of Margaret Mahy / edited by Elizabeth Hale and Sarah Fiona Winters. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria University Press, 2005.

Piano rock: a 1950s childhood / Gavin Bishop. Auckland, N.Z.: Random House New Zealand, 2008.

The life and art of Lynley Dodd / Finlay Macdonald. Auckland: Penguin, 2022.

100 contemporary New Zealand children's writers and illustrators / New Zealand Children’s Book Foundation. Auckland, NZ : New Zealand Children’s Book Foundation, 2000.

Introducing twenty-one New Zealand children's writers / Betty Gilderdale. Auckland, N.Z. : Hodder & Stoughton, 1991.

The Story makers : a collection of interviews with Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators for young people / edited by Margaret Dunkle. Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press, 1987.

The Story makers II : a collection of interviews with Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators for young people / edited by Margaret Dunkle. Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Tea tree and iron sands: a guide to present-day New Zealand children’s writers / Tom Fitzgibbon and Barbara Spiers. 2nd. Ed. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland College of Education, c1989.

Matapihi: a guide to contemporary New Zealand children's book illustrators / editors, Tom Fitzgibbon and Barbara Spiers. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland College of Education, 1988.

History of Australian children’s literature

Australian children's books, a bibliography / Marcie Muir, Kerry White. Carlton South, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1992-2004.

A history of Australian children’s literature 1941-1970 / H.M. Saxby ; with supplementary chapters by Marjorie Cotton. Sydney: Wentworth Books, 1971.

Offered to children: a history of Australian children’s literature 1841-1941 / Maurice Saxby. Sydney: Scholastic Australia, 1998.

The proof of the puddin’: Australian children’s literature 1970-1990 / Maurice Saxby. Sydney: Ashton Scholastic, 1993.

The Oxford companion to Australian children’s literature / Stella Lees and Pam Macintyre. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Other histories, encyclopedias and genre studies

Children’s literature: an illustrated history / edited by Peter Hunt. Oxford, England; Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Children’s books in England: five centuries of social life / F.J. Harvey Darton. 3rd ed. / revised by Brian Alderson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

A history of children’s book illustration / Joyce Irene Whalley and Tessa Rose Chester. London: Murray with the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1988.

Oxford encyclopedia of children’s literature / Jack Zipes, editor in chief. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

The Cambridge guide to children’s books in English / [edited by] Victor Watson. Cambridge, England; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

The Continuum encyclopedia of children’s literature / Bernice E. Cullinan & Diane G. Person, editors. New York : Continuum, 2003.

The Continuum encyclopedia of young adult literature / Bernice E. Cullinan, Bonnie L. Kunzel, Deborah A. Wooten, editors. New York : Continuum, 2005.

International companion encyclopedia of children’s literature / edited by Peter Hunt. 2nd ed. London; New York: Routledge, 2004.

The Oxford companion to children’s literature / Daniel Hahn ; foreword by Michael Morpurgo. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Understanding children’s literature: key essays from the second edition of The international companion encyclopedia of children’s literature / edited by Peter Hunt. London: Routledge, 2005.

Who’s who in children’s books: a treasury of the familiar characters of childhood / Margery Fisher. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, c1975.

The gothic in children’s literature: haunting the borders / edited by Anna Jackson, Karen Coats and Roderick McGillis. New York: Routledge, c2008.

New directions in children’s gothic: debatable lands / edited by Anna Jackson. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Young readers’ companion / Gorton Carruth. New Providence, N.J. : R. R. Bowker, 1993.

Fantasy and reason: children’s literature in the eighteenth century / Geoffrey Summerfield. London: Methuen, 1984.

Re-enchanted: the rise of children’s fantasy literature in the twentieth century / Maria Sachiko Cecire. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019.

Popular children’s literature in Britain / edited by Julia Briggs, Dennis Butts, M.O. Grenby. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, c2008.

Children’s literature and social change: some case studies from Barbara Hofland to Philip Pullman / Dennis Butts. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2010.

Imperialism and juvenile literature / edited by Jeffrey Richards. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, c1989.

From colonial to modern: transnational girlhood in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand children’s literature, 1840-1940 / Michelle J. Smith, Kristine Moruzi, Clare Bradford. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018.

Engines of instruction, mischief and magic: children’s literature in England from its beginnings to 1839 / Mary V. Jackson. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, c1989.

Secret gardens: a study of the golden age of children’s literature / Humphrey Carpenter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Minders of make-believe: idealists, entrepreneurs, and the shaping of American children’s literature / Leonard S. Marcus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

Touch magic: fantasy, faerie and folklore in the literature of childhood / Jane Yolen. New York: Philomel Books, 1981.

Romanticism and children’s literature in nineteenth-century England / edited by James Holt McGavran, Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, c2009.

Children’s literature: a reader’s history, from Aesop to Harry Potter / Seth Lerer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Only connect: readings on children’s literature / edited by Sheila Egoff, G.T. Stubbs and L.F. Ashley. 2nd ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Feature image at top of page: Detail Boy reading From the Hodgkins family album of sketches 1880s, 1890s. Ref: E-312-q-075-1. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Collection Highlight

Isabel Jane Hodgkins, 1867-1950, Boy reading, 188-

Isabel Jane Hodgkins, 1867-1950, Boy reading, 188-, E-312-q-075-1.