LibGuides: AMS S 370: Children's Literature and American Culture: Book Reviews &amp; Historical Newspapers/Magazines

Types of Book Reviews

A book review is a written analysis of a book that critiques its scholarship, content, and overall quality. There are three different types of book reviews you can find in library databases.

Popular/Literary Reviews: Article-length reviews published soon after a book is released. Find in popular (non-scholary) publications like the New York Review of Books or the Times Literary Supplement, which are often included in periodical databases.

Academic Reviews: Longer in length and published in scholarly journals, about books released by scholarly/university presses. Often published several months, even years, after a book is released. Find them in scholarly journal databases.

Library Reviews: Short, often only paragraph-length, intended to help librarians choose books for collections. Find them in publications like Choice or Kirkus Review.

Databases with book reviews

Children’s Literature comprehensive database
Book reviews of children's literature
Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive
Reviews for books published in the U.K. Keep in mind, books first published in the U.S. typically were published later in the U.K. Covers 1902-2015.
Book Review Digest Plus
A database of book reviews, going back to 1983. Mostly covers scholarly books, but has some coverage of mainstream publishing.
New York Times (Historical)
The New York Times backfile in an easy-to-search interface, from 1851-2013.
Academic Search Complete
A massive database of magazines, scholarly journals, and other publications. Use the facets "Review" or "Book Review" to limit your search to reviews.

New York Review of Books
Search the New York Review of Books backfile from 1963-2018. Some articles are behind a paywall, but you can access the print at the PCL.

Children's Book Review Publications

The Horn Book Magazine
A magazine focused on children's book publishing, focusing on reviews, author profiles, and news from the publishing industry, from the 1920s to the 2010s.

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Use the Horn Book Index (call no. Z 1037 A1 A15 SUPPL.) to search for articles from 1924-1989. Use Academic Search Complete to search for articles from 1990-present
Library Journal
Library Journal is a magazine of book reviews intended to aid librarians making collection purchases. Useful for historical context.

Newspaper, Magazine, and Other Articles

Articles from newspapers, magazines, and similar publications can give you historical context around the time a book was written and published. Look for profiles on authors, editorials, and pieces about film adaptations.

Readers' Guide Retrospective
Includes general-interest magazines from the 20th Century.
NOTE: Please close your browser window when you're done.
Academic Search Complete
Includes magazines like the New Yorker, Newsweek, and Time.
Women's Magazine Archive
Includes Seventeen, Essence, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and more.
New York Times (Historical)
Unlimited users.
Updated annually. Includes all the articles published since the first issue of the paper in 1851. Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, photos, and advertisements.
More recent years are also available in other full text resources.
American Periodicals Series (APS)
American newspapers, magazines, literary publications, and professional publications, from 1740-1940.
Titles include Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine, the first American professional journals, and several consumer magazines still in publication, such as Vanity Fair, Harper's Magazine, and Ladies' Home Journal.