Children's and Young Adult Literature: Find Books

Beautifully illustrated free ebooks from around the world, in more than 50 languages. Search books by language, genre, cover color, and even "true or make-believe" stories.

This outstanding collection includes a fascinating variety of materials: early modern printed books intended for adult readers; lavishly illustrated children’s books; nineteenth-century chapbooks that cost just a penny; anthologies of fairy tales from around the globe; and stereoscopic viewing cards. It is not only a treasury of tales to be read, studied, and enjoyed, but also a vibrant museum that documents the visual tradition of fairy tales.

The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 115,000 volumes published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, Aesop's Fables, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.

The Historical Childrens' Literature database chronicles by example the history of educational practice and reading, and the changing perceptions of gender, race and class and the role of religion in teaching. Both European and American books from the 18th to the 20th c. are represented in this collection.