Analyzing Book Quality

A necessary skill for any educator is to think critically about the quality of a book they are considering using in the classroom or with a student. In many cases this judgement should be context specific. Therefore, it is important to know resources to turn to when making a decision. These resources can both provide information and also provide frameworks to guide your own analysis. They are also helpful when crafting a rationale regarding your pedagogical choices.

Two such resources are:

NoveList Plus
Find detailed information on your book including story elements, book reviews, awards, subjects, read-alikes, interest level, text complexity, and more.
Diverse Book Finder
A searchable database of books for K-3rd grade with Black, Indigenous, or People of Color characters; books are tagged with themes which identify: categories, ethnicity, awards, settings, content, genres, tribal affiliation/homelands, race/culture, immigration status, gender, religion, and character prominence. This can be used to think about intersectional representation as well as the type of diverse representation in a book.