Many thousands of good children’s books are available from libraries, stores, and
book clubs, so people often do not know how to begin learning about literature. Literature
is best studied if it is organized into categories called genres (zhän′r∂z). Genres are
groupings of books with similar style, form, or content. The term genres also applies
to other types of media, such as music, movies, plays, television shows, and artwork.Although one can classify and study literature according to genres, not all books
fit into one and only one category. Some books fit well in two categories, and some
books fit into none! For example, I am never sure whether to shelve my copy of The
Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle) with animal fantasy or counting books. And my
copy of Miss Nelson Is Missing (Allard) has been moved several times because it has
aspects of both realistic fiction and fantasy.
Not everyone organizes literature genres in exactly the same way, but a common
organization is outlined in Box 1.2 along with the chapters in which the