Page Contents
Our Collection
The CCB houses a non-circulating research collection of children’s and young adult books. Our emphasis is on children’s books published within the last year and a small reference collection, and older books are being added to the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) collection in the Main Library.
Our Space
We moved! We are now located in Room 211/212, 501 E Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820.
Map of the CCB
Featured Collection: Native American Heritage Month
Below are some of the featured books on display at the CCB.
Graphic Novels
The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa, 8 – 12 years old
“A joyful coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel by debut Indigenous creator Cameron Mukwa about the journey of a two-spirit kid who wants to create a ribbon skirt for the upcoming powwow.”
Indiginerds: Tales From Modern Indigenous Life ed. by Alina Pete, 15 – 18 years old
“Featuring an all-Indigenous creative team, Indigenerds is an exhilarating anthology collecting 11 stories about Indigenous people balancing traditional ways of knowing with modern pop culture. Includes work by Alina Pete, PJ Underwood, Kameron White, Rhael McGregor, and many more!”
Young Adult
The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs, 13 – 18 years old
“In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged. When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten . . .”
My Good Man by Eric Gansworth, 14 – 18 years old
“A literary tour-de-force sure to turn the coming-of-age genre on its head from Printz honor author, Eric Gansworth. Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade’s City Desk, is navigating life as the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom, being lumped into reporting on stereotypical stories that homogenize his community, the nearby Tuscarora reservation. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of Brian’s mother’s late boyfriend in the hospital, Brian must pick up the threads of a life that he’s abandoned . . .”
Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer, 10 – 16 years old
“Best of the Year: New York Public Library – Chicago Public Library – American Indians in Children’s Literature – Cooperative Children’s Book Center! A tightly woven Indigenous YA thriller that explores masculinity and love between generations of family. Ezra Cloud hates living in Northeast Minneapolis. His father is a professor of their language, Ojibwe, at a local college, so they have to be there . . .”
A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, 13 – 18 years old
“Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.”
Middle Grade
Sheine Lende: A Prequel to Elatose by Darcie Little Badger, illus. by Rovina Cai, 10 – 15 years old
“Best of the Year: NPR – Common Sense Media – BookPage – Kirkus, Hugo Award Winner. Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.”
The Sea in Winter by Christine Day, 8 – 12 years old
“American Indian Youth Literature Award: Middle Grade Honor Book. In this evocative and heartwarming novel for readers who loved The Thing About Jellyfish, the author of I Can Make This Promise tells the story of a Native American girl struggling to find her joy again.”
Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of the American Indian Boarding Schools by Dan SaSuWeh Jones, 9 – 12 years old
“Part American history, part family history, Stealing Little Moon is a powerful look at the miseducation and the mistreatment of Indigenous kids, while celebrating their strength, resiliency, and courage–and the ultimate failure of the United States government to erase them.”
Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson, 8 – 12 years old
“A Newberry Honor Award-winning novel. A magical middle grade adventure about a boy in the Arctic who faces a series of challenges presented to him by a family of eagle gods. Through this, he learns important lessons about respecting nature, building compassion, and bringing a community together. With beautifully hand-drawn full color art throughout!”
Picture Books
Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story by Mavasta Honyouti, 4 – 8 years old
“From master Hopi woodcarver Mavasta Honyouti, the story of his grandfather’s experience at a residential boarding school and how he returned home to pass their traditions down to future generations.”
Remember by Joy Harjo, illus. by Michaela Goade, 4 – 8 years old
“THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER • AN AMERICAN INDIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HONOR BOOK • A BOSTON GLOBE–HORN BOOK HONOR AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY School Library Journal • Publishers Weekly • The Horn Book • NPR • The Bulletin • Kirkus Reviews
US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s iconic poem “Remember,” illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around them, and to remember the importance of their place in it.”
Being Home by Traci Sorell, illus. by Michaela Goade, 4 – 8 years old
“From Sibert Honor–winning author Traci Sorell and Caldecott Medal–winning artist Michaela Goade comes a heartwarming picture book about a Native American family and the joy of moving back to their ancestral land.”
The Gift of the Great Buffalo by Carole Lindstrom, illus. by Aly McKnight, 4 – 8 years old
“In this beautiful and dramatic story, bestselling author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Aly McKnight show readers how life was lived by Indigenous communities, offering the true history of life on the prairie.”
Campus Resources
Here is a list of other collections on the UIUC campus that may be of interest to scholars of children’s literature.
The School (S)-Collection in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign consists of over 178,000 cataloged volumes of children’s and young adult literature.
Founded in 2008, HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust offers reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law, computational access to the entire corpus for scholarly research, and other emerging services based on the combined collection. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.
Illinois is co-host (with Indiana University) of the HathiTrust Research Center, which offers data sets, consultations, training, longer-term collaborations, and a variety of text-mining and analytic tools for working with the enormous collections of the HathiTrust Digital Library.
The American Library Association Archives is the repository for the American Library Association, the world’s oldest and largest national library association.
The ALA Archives consists of official records, correspondence, publications, photographs, sound recordings, films, and videotapes. Research material is arranged in five general areas: administrative and staff offices, associations and divisions, round tables, committees and members’ papers, and affiliated and associated organizations.
The National Council of Teachers of English Archives documents the history of the National Council of Teachers of English and the teaching profession. The University Archives has over 130 cubic feet of NCTE materials. These records, dating from the organization’s founding in 1911 to the present, document NCTE’s history of advocacy for literacy, as well as its affiliates’ history, including the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and the Conference on English Education (CEE). Further information can be found on NCTE’s homepage.