|
 |
 |
 |
literature [n.]
1. written works, especially those regarded as having artistic merit. 2. books and writings on a particular subject. 3. leaflets and other material used to give information or advice.
Literature covers everything from children’s books and picture books to the writing of those considered to be classic writers such as Shakespeare. This page looks at collections of these and includes recommendations for suitable material to be targetted. Included is material for learning and pleasure.
It covers criticisms and reviews, journals & magazines, information on Shakespeare, stories and recommended reading lists devised by children, librarians and others. The latter include those from Australia and other countries, allowing for more diverse options.
Poetry can be found on this page.
This page will be further developed as time permits.
We continually add to information available and are willing to consider suggested areas and sources as time permits.
Reviews, Journals, …
Literature : Criticisms, Reviews, Study Guides, …
- Children’s Literature Web Guide
Links to the best children’s reading sites. - Currency Press Study Guides
‘Online study guides, some essays [related to Australian plays, books]. Read these online or print out a single copy for your own use. In addition to these guides, there are some other resources’. - FreeBooknotes
‘Free book notes, chapter summaries, literature notes, study guides for more than 250 books’. - Literary Criticism, Internet Public Library
‘Critical and biographical websites about authors and their works. Browse by author, title, nationality, literary period’. - LitLinks
‘After reading a great story, poem, play, essay, critical article, you may want to know more. The Internet provides all kinds of information to aid your research, so we’ve compiled LitLinks — annotated to show you what kinds of information about a work, its author, period’. - Literary Encyclopedia and Literary Dictionary
The World Guide to Literature in English. Authors, books, topics. Simple and complex searches. Build timelines. - Literature learning Guides & Teacher Resources
Shmoop. About 300 guides and information covering a wide range of literature from classical works to the present day. - Novelguide
‘Premier Free source for literary analysis on the web. An educational supplement for better understanding of classic and contemporary Literature Profiles, Metaphor Analysis, Theme Analyses, Author Biographies’. - PEN [Sydney]
‘Exists to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to promote literature in a variety of ways, including by opposing restraints on freedom of expression and working to promote literacy itself’. - Teaching Notes
‘The complete list is available to download below’. These are for books produced by Fremantle Press. - The Victorian Literature Overview
Almost 30 authors from the Victorian period including Wilde and Dickens. Author, book information. Additional information about Victorian Literature can be found through the annotated links on this site. - Today in Literature
‘A calendar of engaging stories about the great books, writers, events in literary history’. A new presentation each day.
Journals & Magazines
- Arts & Letters Daily
Covers literature, language, philosophy, aesthetics, ideas, culture, gossip, more. Quality links. Updated 6 times a week. - London Review of Books
Reviews, comments, bookshop, more. - Stone Soup
‘Six times a year Stone Soup Magazine arrives on the doorsteps of readers all over the world. Here on the Stone Soup Web site you can read stories and poems by children and enjoy international children’s art’. - The Alan Review
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English. Online reviews, information for young adults.
Resources
General Sites
- AustLit
‘AustLit is Freely available to staff and students of all Australian Schools. Please contact your local education authority for password information. We believe AustLit will prove an invaluable resource for librarians, teachers and students’. - 60second Recap™
‘60second Recap™ wants to make the great works of literature accessible, relevant, and, frankly, irresistible to today’s teens. Through 60second Recap™ video albums, we seek to help teens engage with the best books out there’. - Absurdism
‘Absurdism, and its more specific companion term Theatre of the Absurd, refers to the works of a group of Western European and American dramatists writing and producing plays in the 1950s and early 1960s’. History, authors, works, Other topics, themes, style, more. - A Hotlist on Australian Children’s Literature
annotated links under headings including internet skills, publishers, how to write/kid’s sites, teacher resources, author sites. -
Australian Literature
‘General sites for researching Australian literature on the Internet providing a starting place for researchers in this field. A diverse range of information on Australian literature resources as well as providing links to other useful sites’. National Library of Australia. - Australian Literature [2]
References, bibliographies, websites providing information, reviews, more about Australian Literature. -
Beware of Books
‘Beware of Books participants will probably, but not necessarily, be 15-19 years. This is a place where you can discuss books, publish book reviews, and occasionally meet an author’. A similar site, Middle Years Book Club is ‘an online book club just for students 10-14 years’. -
Books and Reading for Young People
With an Australian Bias. Australian School Library Association [NSW]. Associations, organisations, awards, Book Week, specific genres, literature links, journals, publishers, reviews, literacy, more. Worthwhile site. - Children’s Genres
‘Let’s start this analysis by defining children’s literature as both fiction and non-fiction books written especially for children from 0 to 12 years old. Let’s not include literature for teenagers - from a youth librarian’s point of view, that is a different type of book - young adolescent literature or YA Lit. Typically, Children’s books are classified by the included genre’. - Children’s Book Authors and Biographies
A collection of links to multiple sources of information. Additional links for Nursery Rhymes and Reading Lists for primary level students. - Focus on Fiction
Covers Authors & Illustrators, Book Awards, Children’s Book Week, In the Classroom, Keeping Informed, Which Book ?. From DET WA. - Inside A Dog
‘Insideadog is a project of the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library Victoria. The site promotes young adult literature, highlighting Australian writers and their work, and includes the best of the international scene’. - Literature, Poems and Famous Quotes
Selected poets, writers, quotations accessible by many methods. - Playwright Resources
Yahoo. Links to playwrights from the Ancient Greeks via Shakespeare through to people such as Shaw and Williams. - Stage on Screen
‘We produce and record on to DVD classic English plays. To date we have released Doctor Faustus, Volpone, The Duchess of Malfi and The School for Scandal. Although our website is also a commercial site, we also include, in an area we call the Green Room, a wide range of academic materials, the full script, clips and production information. Information that can be used by both teachers and students. Our plays will be studied at both secondary and tertiary level’. - Storyjumper
‘Publish your own children’s book.’ This Free if you leave it online but you have to pay to have it made into a proper book. See some of the Online Stories here. - The World’s Famous Orations
From ancient times to 1900. - Welcome to BookCrossing
‘Welcome to the World’s library ! It’s easy to find books, share books, and meet fellow book lovers’. - Wired for Books
‘Poems, stories, plays, essays, lectures, interviews for children and adults’.
Shakespeare
Considered the greatest writer in the English language. Access his writings [drama and poetry], other information. All Shakespeare material on this site has been gathered here.
- Absolute Shakespeare
Biography, works, study guides, timeline. - All Shakespeare [eNotes]
Works, commentaries, reviews, more. - Shakespeare : Summaries
‘In this section we address the influential ideas, basic plots and key themes in two of Shakespeare’s plays - Romeo & Juliet and The tempest’. - Explore Shakespeare
‘The Kennedy Centre invites you to explore the life and legacy of William Shakespeare. Using the synchronised map and timeline, you will learn how his legacy continues to impact our world today. Witness how artists and innovators take inspiration from the heights of his brilliance’. Requires Flash plug-in. - Internet Shakespeare Editions
University of Victoria, Canada. Plays & Poems, Life & Times, Performance, Resources and more. Also has Sites on Shakespeare including sites about the Renaissance. - Mr William Shakespeare and the Internet
‘This site attempts to be a complete annotated guide to the scholarly Shakespeare resources available on Internet’. They also have an extensive collection of links to Other Sites, including videos, movies, commercial material, other versions of the works and more. - Play Shakespeare
‘The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Resource’. Plays, podcasts, news, reviews, forums, features, more. - Shakespeare
Annotated links to resources by play and also general links to all things Shakespeare. - Shakespearean Study
‘There are many fine resources available out there on the Internet for those studying Shakespeare. There are ten that are indispensible’. - Shakespeare at eNotes
‘Thousands of pages of content on the life and work of the world’s greatest author, including eNotes to more than 20 titles’. - Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Sections on Education and William Shakespeare would be most useful in the Australian setting, though others may provide useful background information. - Shakespeare.com
‘Shakespeare.com - also known as The Shakespeare Web - has returned to its original home, after an absence of several years’. - Shakespeare High
Use the [green] links at the top right to access a range of material. - Shakespeare Index
A listing of articles, analyses, monologues and more. TheatreHistory.com [UK]. - Shakespeare Online
All works online plus help with analysis, glossary, plots, more. - The Plays of Shakespeare
All his plays and now his sonnets. Character guide, glossary, chronology. - Shakespeare Resource Centre
‘You’ll find here collected links from all over the World Wide Web to help you find information on William Shakespeare. There are millions of pages that reference Shakespeare on the Internet. This site aims to make it a little easier to find your sources’. - Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up
‘Welcome to the BookRags Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up, where you can mix and match the lines of Shakespeare’s sonnets to create your own original poem’. - Shakespeare - Subject to Change
‘Explore how the printing, editing and directing of his plays makes Shakespeare : Subject to Change’. - Shakespeare’s Staging
‘We seek to provide a survey of current information, opinions and visuals about such staging by registering the best available explorations of the original nature of Shakespeare’s stage and Shakespearean performance during his lifetime, and of its development through four centuries thereafter’. - Shakespeare Study Guides
Select an individual play or The Sonnets from the listing available. - Shake Sphere
‘A Comprehensive Study Guide for the World of William Shakespeare. Play Summaries, Sonnet Analysis, Globe Theatre, Criticism, Essays’.
Highly Recommended ! - Shakey’s Place …
The 3D Globe Theatre Internet Experience. Takes you to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, looks at his life and works. Teacher’s Guide, more.
New version of this site. - The Language of Shakespeare
Part of the Shakespeare Resource Centre. - The McGill Shakespeare Resources Page
Topic directories including e-texts, electronic journals, festivals, companies, Shakespeare Courses, other websites, academic resources, Shakespeare on Film and TV, more. Recovering from a server crash at present. - The Oxford Shakespeare
Find plays, find poetry by using first line links. - The Works of The Bard
Sydney University. Stated to be ‘the web’s oldest Shakespeare site [1993]’. Complete text of all works in HTML presentations. - William Shakespeare
Complete works, plays, sonnets, etc.. - William Shakespeare - The Literature Network
Biography, Related Links, Quizzes, full text and other information about all plays and poems. - William Shakespeare [Wikipedia]
Life, Plays, Poems, style, Influence, Critical reputation, speculation, list of work, notes, references, bibliography, other links.
Stories
- Bedtime Story
‘Has selected talented authors and paired them with gifted illustrators, each of whose works have been judged Whimsical, Magical, Adventurous, Humorous, or simply, wonderfully Imaginative. The result is the stuff pleasant dreams are made of’. - Between the Lions
Significant collection of stories. New one each week. - Light Up Your Brain
Stories, more. - On-Line Stories
Bab Books. - Read Aloud Stories and Songs
Read-aloud stories. Requires Flash plug-in. - RIF Reading Planet
Activity Lab, Book Zone, Games Station, Express Yourself, Featured Authors, Book Lists, more. - Short Stories
Want to read something short ? Try one from any of the genres on offer. - Stories from the Web
Stories suitable for two levels. - Stories to Read Online
Done by a Queensland school. Links to stories for Years 1-3, Years 4-7 and in collections. Links to English activities. Audio, video, print. - Storybook Online
Audio stories, classic tales, interactive stories, stories in progress, original stories, completed stories, more. - Storyhour
A collection of stories for younger children from the Internet Public Library. Each provides the option of text only or an illustrated version.
Reading Recommendations
- 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
New York Public Library. You cannot reserve them as indicated, but they provide title, author, a brief summary of the story. - Best Books
Library Services, Department of Education and Training in Queensland. Browse in Year Levels or through an A-Z listing of topics. Includes fiction and non-fiction. - Booklists [for Young Australians]
A collection of lists from 20 Most Borrowed Books to 100 Best Books for Children. Covers Australian and International lists. Australian Library Association, NSW.
Extensive and well worthwhile visiting ! - Book Review
For children. Index of reviews. You can access what books have been reviewed but it is Fee-based to access the reviews themselves. Also covers reviews in other areas. Cost is quite small per year.
Presently developing a new website. - Books for Young Adults
From The Compulsive Reader comes reviews of books for people no longer children but not yet adults. - Books not to be Missed !
‘Browse for noteworthy novels and picture books, organised according to Phase of Development. Note some titles are suitable for readers across phases. Chosen for their literary merit, originality, timelessness or particular appeal’. From Focus on Fiction, Department of Education & Training, WA. - Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site
‘Reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom, collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics’. - Children’s Classic Literature : Treasure Island
By author, with relevant titles listed for each. Links go to resources, often being etexts of the books themselves. - Choices Booklists : Children’s Choices
‘Booklist with a twist : Children themselves evaluate the books, and provide reviews of their favourites. Since 1974, Children’s Choices have been a trusted source of book recommendations used by teachers, librarians, parents and children themselves’. International Reading Association. 1998 to today. - Children’s Storybooks Online
Recommendations for various age groups. Colouring books, riddles, other activities. - Database of Award Winning Children’s Literature
‘To create a tailored reading list of quality children’s literature or to find out if a book has won one of the indexed awards. Over 7 000 records from 84 awards across six English-speaking countries [United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland]’. Clear instructions are provided for its usage. - Focus on Fiction
Created by a NSW high school. Lists suggested fiction titles for students in the first four years of high school to read and enjoy. -
Grade 3 & 4 Summer Reading List
‘This list was compiled by Linda Williams for the Connecticut State Department of Education. Each title listed below was selected, between 2001 and 2011, as an exemplary book by the American Library Association and at least one professional education association’. -
Grade 5 & 6 Summer Reading List
‘This list was compiled by Linda Williams for the Connecticut State Department of Education. Each title listed below was selected, between 2001 and 2011, as an exemplary book by the American Library Association and at least one professional education association’. - Graphic Novels
Bibliographical listing of books with title and author. Australian School Library Association [NSW]. - If You Like …
A series of recommendations based on an If you like … process such as If You Like Harry Potter. Adelaide City Library. Other children’s book information on the site. -
My Favourite Book - The Top 100
A listing created by the ABC. There are also links to other groupings. - One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century
US listing. With author, title, brief summary of the story or content. - Online Book Lists/Reviews
Includes lists from Australia and overseas. From Focus on Fiction, Department of Education & Training, WA. - Literature of Specific Countries
Questia directories listing literature from countries from Africa to China, South America to Europe and more. - Oprah’s Books : Kids Reading List
US oriented. 5 age groupings, Oprah’s favourites. -
Stories to Read Online
A listing compiled by Beenleigh State School in Queensland. They also have a link to Audio Stories Online. - Summer Reading Club
Sections for Kids and Librarians, links to authors. You can’t go wrong by visiting the site.
Check back around the summer season. - Top 10 Books
‘The staff of Hedgehog Books has compiled the Top Ten Read Aloud Books and the Top 10 Read Alone Books. These are books we feel should be in every child’s library’. - Web Wombat
These are listed specifically for Junior and Senior Secondary groups. Created in Australia. - Yabba
‘To encourage and promote children’s reading; to give children the opportunity to vote for their favourite books each year; to develop children into discerning readers, who express their opinions about books, to promote an awareness of Australian children’s fiction’.