Literature by Genre

Since Aristotle, man has been busy classifying things. Adam was the classification pioneer (naming the animals), but it was the Greek philosopher who turned it into an art form, an obsession, and an intellectual sport. We've had 2300 years to get better at it, and today a book isn't just a "book": it's a novel, or a treatise, or a poem, or a drama. But it isn't even just a novel, anymore—it's a satire, or historical fiction, or science fiction, or a philosophical novel, or an autobiographical collection of short stories set in a dystopian near-future.

There may be no examples of the last type, but genres (rather than being confusing, as some claim) are invaluable guides to navigating the endless stream of books that flows through our bookstores, libraries, and online distribution centers. For instance, you know just by hearing the phrase "romance novel" there won't be much quality in any section so named, and if the normal romance novel is to be shunned, you can be certain the growing field of paranormal romance fiction will be even more useless.

I will not take this opportunity to describe each and every genre we've included in our selection; that's what the sidebar is for. However, before you dismiss the genre distinctions as useless generic terminology, consider what they can do. If you've just finished a book by Jane Austen, or Tim O'Brien, or Rudyard Kipling, and want to read similar books but don't know where to start, you could start by looking at other books included in their respective genres.

Some of the genres are pretty basic. Obviously, if you want to read poetry you aren't going to look under Novels. Well, you might, but you'd be mostly out of luck. Others, like Epic & Saga, can be much more helpful for more specific searches—our Epic & Saga category includes 42 items; our Literature & Adult Fiction includes 2,397.

Most of the books found here are for older students or adults (though that doesn't mean younger readers can't enjoy most of them as well, as long as you preview and discuss each title with them). For kid-oriented reading, check out our Fiction category. The genres there are even more specific, partly because there are more obvious distinctions beween different kinds of children's literature, and partly because we've spent more time bringing in specifc titles for young readers. That in no way means we've ignored our selection for adults and high schoolers.

In fact, we're pretty proud of it. Not every book is worth reading; we've tried to limit those on our shelf to ones that are. To make it easier for you to find the sort of book you want to read, we've given most of the titles genres. Sure, it's often fun to lazily browse bookstore shelves or websites, but let's face it—somtimes you just need to find the next book that's going to provide your fiction fix, and you don't have time to research the whole broad genre that happens to be your favorite. Reader, we salute you, and offer you: Literature by Genre.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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104 Items found Print
Active Filters: 1st grade (Ages 6-7), Used Books & Materials
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from NorthSouth
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
All the Small Poems and Fourteen More
by Valerie Worth
from Sunburst Book
Lyrical Poetry for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.99 $5.00 (5 in stock)
All the World's a Stage
by Rebecca Piatt Davidson, illustrated by Anita Lobel
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Another Book of Verses for Children
by E.V. Lucas (editor), illustrated by F.D. Bedford
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$26.00 (1 in stock)
Apple Blossoms and Other Stories
by Edmund Stanley and A. R. Taylor
from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose
by Arnold Lobel
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Babes and Cradles
by Maud Wolcott Spalding, illustrated by Lucile Patterson Marsh & Anita Parkhurst
from Southern Publishing Association
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
by Fred Rogers, illustrated by Luke Flowers
from Quirk Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Beauty of the Beast
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Meilo So
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Pigericks
by Arnold Lobel
First Ediition from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Verses for Children
by E. V. Lucas
1st THUS from Popular Culture Ink
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Buckwheat
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Patricia Polacco
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Anthology of Poetry
by Elizabeth Hauge Sword
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Simon and Schuster
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99 $14.50 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Dover Publications
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 $1.50 (2 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Princess House Books
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Joanna Isles
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Thomas Kinkade
First Edition, Thus from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
Popular Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Martin & Alice Provensen
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses - A Poetry Pop-Up Book
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Martin & Alice Provensen
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Robin Book of Verse
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$13.00 (1 in stock)
Circus
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Arnold Lobel
from Aladdin Books
Rhyming Books for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Classic Poetry
by Michael Rosen & Paul Howard
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$15.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Clod Hans
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cotton Sailboats
by Edith Witmer
from Rod & Staff Publishers, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Early Settler Storybook
from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Emperor and the Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Bill Sokol
from Pantheon Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Family of Poems
by Caroline Kennedy
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Family Read-Aloud Holiday Treasury
by Selected by Alice Low, Illustrated by Marc Brown
First Ediition from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Book Treasuries (Location: PIC-TRE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Poems for Children
by Holly Pell McConnaughy, editor
from Barnes & Noble
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Favorite Poems of Childhood
by Christina Rossetti, Edward Lear, Emily Dickinson, Eugene Field, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sarah Josepha Hale
from Dover Publications
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring—A Celebration
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Frog Went A-Courtin'
by John Langstaff, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
from Harcourt, Brace & World
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Gladiola Garden
World Voices
by Effie Lee Newsome, illustrated by Lois Mailou Jones
from Living Book Press
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader
from Weiser & Weiser
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Treasury of Humor for Children
by Judith Hendra, editor; introduction by William Cole
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Martin's Big Book - 7 Volume Set
from P. F. Collier & Son Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$85.00 (1 in stock)
Kaleidoscope of Fairies & Fables
by Hans Andersen, Aesop, Kipling & the Brothers Grimm, retold by Robert Mathias
from Hamlyn
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
King and the Green Angelica
by Isabel Wyatt and Joan Rudel
from Lanthorn Press
for 1st-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
King Grisly-Beard
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Edgar Taylor, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Leaves From a Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, Illustrated by Donna Green
from Vermillion, Inc
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lion and Blue
by Robert Vavra, illustrated by Fleur Cowles, preface by the Prince of the Netherlands
from Reynal and Co.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Little Book of Poems & Prayers
by Joan Walsh Anglund
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Little Claus and Big Claus
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lullabies & Good Night
by Stephen Elkins (editor), illustrated with paintings by Mary Cassatt
from Ideals Children's Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My First Oxford Book of Poems
by John Foster (compiler)
from Oxford University
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Night Before Christmas with DVD
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Alison Claire Darke
from Doubleday & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nursery Friends from France
from Book House for Children
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Colin West
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts About Peace
by Anna Grossnickle Hines
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Pigkeeper
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Piper, Pipe That Song Again
by Nancy Larrick
from Random House
for Preschool-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poem Stew
by William Cole
from HarperCollins
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Lewis Carroll
Poetry for Young People
by Lewis Carroll, edited by Edward Mendelson, illustrated by Eric Copeland
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry Speaks to Children w/CD
by Elise Paschen (editor), illustrated by Judy Love, Wendy Rasmussen, Paula Zinngrabe Wendland
from Sourcebooks
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
from Candlewick Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.99 $5.50 (2 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Prayer for a Child
by Rachel Field
1957 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Rainbow Gold
by Sara Teasdale
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Rainbow in the Sky
by Louis Untermeyer, illustrated by Reginald Birch
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Randolph Caldecott's Favorite Nursery Rhymes
by Randolph Caldecott
from Castle Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Random House Book of Poetry for Children
by Jack Prelutsky
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Real Mother Goose
by Blanche Fisher Wright
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Ride a Purple Pelican
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Garth Williams
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
She Was Good for Nothing
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Shoemaker and the Elves
by The Brothers Grimm, translated by Wayne Andrews, illustrated by Adrienne Adams
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Sing a Song of Popcorn
by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Snowdrop
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
from Scholastic Inc.
Poetry for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1963 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Something Big Has Been Here
by Jack Prelutsky
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds of Home
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds of Numbers - Teacher Edition
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 1st-2nd grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sweet Dreams
by Pamela Prince, featuring art by Bessie Pease Gutmann
from Chronicle Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Teach Your Children Well
by Christine Allison
from Delacorte Press
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Thanksgiving Poems
by Myra Cohn Livingston
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Three Bears Holiday Rhyme Book
by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Jane Dyer
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Traveling Companion
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Poetry for Young People
by Anthology - Various
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Preschool-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Ugly Duckling - Retelling
by Hans Christian Andersen, Retold by Catherine Lukas, Illustrated by Jill Bauman
from Reader's Digest Young Families
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Under the Window
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Visit to William Blake's Inn
by Nancy Willard
1st edition
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Voices on the Wind
by David Booth (selections), illustrated by Michèle Lemieux
from William Morrow & Company
for 1st-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Voyage of Osiris
by Gerald McDermott
from Windmill Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
What the Old Man Does Is Always Right
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
When the Horses Ride By
by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
from Lee & Low Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
1961 Redesigned from E.P. Dutton & Co.
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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