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C H A P T E R 1 :
Introduction to the World of Children’s Literature

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visited a bakery. This bakery sold carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, German 
chocolate cake with pecan and coconut frosting, beautifully decorated white cakes, 
cheesecake, key lime pie, apple pie, and little pastries with a variety of fillings and 
toppings. The teacher let you buy whatever you wanted. 
That grocery store cupcake satisfied you before you knew there were other desserts 
to be had. After you found out about the abundance and variety of freshly baked cakes 
and pies and pastries, the grocery store cupcake was never quite as satisfying. 
By the same token, I believe that after you indulge yourself in quality literature, 
you will never be satisfied with merchandise books again. I must add one disclaimer. 
In recent years I have seen some grocery stores, drugstores, and large discount chain 
stores carry regular books along with merchandise books that tie in to cartoons, 
comic books, TV shows, and movies. As your knowledge of quality literature grows, 
you will be able to distinguish the good from the mediocre or poor, and you might 
pick up some great bargains in the discount stores.
Series Books 
Series Books 
Have you ever read a book that was so good you felt disappointed when you were 
finished because you wanted to know what would happen next to the characters? 
That is why authors write sequels . When a sequel to a sequel is written, it makes a 
trilogy . If the author writes a fourth related book, it becomes a series . All the books 
in a series will have some unifying element, such as characters or theme. Series also 
exist among nonfiction books, such as the biographies published by Crowell. Some 
series are delightful and of high literary quality, among them J. K. Rowling’s Harry 
Potter series and Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series. Some series, however, are writ-
ten according to a formula, and they vary only slightly from one book to the next. 
Formula books are often found for sale with the merchandise books. Perhaps that 
can partially explain their enormous success—they are readily accessible to parents and 
children. Formula series include Nancy Drew (Stratemeyer), Hardy Boys (Stratemeyer), 
American Girl (Pleasant), Magic Tree House (Random), and Mary-Kate and Ashley 
(HarperEntertainment). Despite their mediocre quality, formula books tend to have
uplifting themes, and these books may help reluctant readers discover pleasure in 
reading—if the books are actually read. There is indication that some children merely 
collect series books as they would Barbie dolls or “any other childhood collectible—
amassed for the sheer joy of having the latest one, counting them up, or trading them” 
(Mesmer, 1998, p. 108 ). Another genuine criticism is that even “‘modern’ serial books 
continue to exude a Dick and Jane white bread aura” in which the theme, tone, lan-
guage, culture, and recurring heroes are not identifiable to any minority group (Old-
rieve, 2003, p. 18 ).
eBooks 
eBooks 
Newest on the scene are ebooks (electronic books). They can be downloaded from a 
variety of sources such as Project Gutenberg and an Internet bookstore. Reading an 
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