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Massachusetts Learning Objectives: Appendix B: Suggested Authors and Illustrators of Contemporary American Literature and World Literature

All students should be familiar with American authors and illustrators of the present and those who established their reputations after the end of World War II, as well as important writers from around the world, both historical and contemporary. During the last half of the 20th century, the publishing industry in the United States devoted increasing resources to children's and young adult literature created by writers and illustrators from a variety of backgrounds. Many newer anthologies and textbooks offer excellent selections of contemporary and world literature.

As they choose works for class reading or suggest books for independent reading, teachers should ensure that their students are both engaged and appropriately challenged by their selections. The lists following are organized by grade clusters PreK–2, 3–4, 5–8, and 9–12, but these divisions are far from rigid, particularly for the elementary and middle grades. Many contemporary authors write stories, poetry, and non-fiction for very young children, for those in the middle grades, and for adults as well. As children become independent readers, they often are eager and ready to read authors that may be listed at a higher level. As suggested earlier in the Reading and Literature Strand of this framework, teachers and librarians need to be good matchmakers, capable of getting the right books into a child's hands at the right time.

The lists below are provided as a starting point; they are necessarily incomplete, because excellent new writers appear every year. As all English teachers know, some authors have written many works, not all of which are of equally high quality. We expect teachers to use their literary judgment in selecting any particular work. It is hoped that teachers will find here many authors with whose works they are already familiar, and will be introduced to yet others. A comprehensive literature curriculum balances these authors and illustrators with those found in Appendix A.

(Note: The lists for PreK–8 include writers and illustrators from other countries whose works are available in the United States .)

Grades PreK–2:

Aliki (informational: science and history)

Mitsumasa Anno (multi-genre)

Edward Ardizzone (multi-genre)

Molly Bang (multi-genre)

Paulette Bourgeois (multi-genre)

Jan Brett (fiction: animals)

Norman Bridwell (fiction: Clifford)

Raymond Briggs (fiction)

Marc Brown (fiction: Arthur)

Marcia Brown (multi-genre)

Margaret Wise Brown (multi-genre)

Eve Bunting (multi-genre)

Ashley Bryan (folktales, poetry: Africa )

Eric Carle (fiction)

Lucille Clifton (poetry)

Joanna Cole (informational)

Barbara Cooney (multi-genre)

Joy Cowley (multi-genre)

Donald Crews (multi-genre)

Tomie dePaola ( multi-genre)

Leo and Diane Dillon (illus: multi-genre)

Tom Feelings (illus: multi-genre)

Mem Fox (fiction)

Don Freeman (fiction: Corduroy)

Gail Gibbons (informational: science and history)

Eloise Greenfield (multi-genre)

Helen Griffith (fiction)

Donald Hall (multi-genre)

Russell and Lillian Hoban (fiction: Frances )

Tana Hoban (informational)

Thacher Hurd (fiction)

Gloria Huston (fictionalized information)

Trina Schart Hyman (illus: multi-genre)

Ezra Jack Keats (fiction)

Steven Kellogg (fiction)

Reeve Lindberg (multi-genre)

Leo Lionni (fiction: animal)

Arnold Lobel (fiction: animal)

Gerald McDermott (folktales)

Patricia McKissack (informational)

James Marshall (fiction: Fox)

Bill Martin (fiction)

Mercer Mayer (fiction: Little Critter)

David McPhail (fiction: Bear)

Else Holmelund Minarik (fiction: Little Bear)

Robert Munsch (fiction)

Jerry Pinkney (informational: Africa )

Patricia Polacco (fiction: multi-ethnic)

Jack Prelutsky (poetry)

Faith Ringgold (fiction)

Glen Rounds (fiction: west)

Cynthia Rylant (poetry, fiction)

Allen Say (multi-genre)

Marcia Sewall (fiction, informational: colonial America )

Marjorie Sharmat (fiction: Nate, Duz)

Peter Spier (informational: history)

William Steig (fiction)

John Steptoe (fiction)

Tomi Ungerer (fiction)

Chris Van Allsburg (fiction)

Jean van Leeuwen (fiction: Amanda Pig, others)

Judith Viorst (fiction: Alexander, others)

Rosemary Wells (fiction: Max, others)

Vera Williams (fiction: realistic)

Ed Young (folktales)

Margot and Harve Zemach (fiction, folktales)

Charlotte Zolotow (fiction)

Joan Aiken (fiction: adventure/fantasy)

Lynne Reid Banks (fiction: adventure/fantasy)

Raymond Bial (informational; photo-essays)

Judy Blume (fiction: realistic)

Eve Bunting (multi-genre)

Joseph Bruchac (fiction: historical)

Ashley Bryan (folktales; poetry)

Betsy Byars (fiction: realistic)

Ann Cameron (folktales)

Andrew Clements (fiction: realistic)

Shirley Climo (folktales)

Eleanor Coerr (fiction: historical)

Paula Danziger (fiction: realistic )

Walter Farley (fiction: horses)

John Fitzgerald (fiction: Great Brain)

Louise Fitzhugh (fiction: realistic)

Paul Fleischman (fiction: realistic)

Sid Fleischman (fiction: humorous)

Mem Fox (fiction)

Jean Fritz (fiction: historical; nonfiction: autobiography)

John Reynolds Gardiner (fiction: realistic)

James Giblin (nonfiction: biography, history)

Patricia Reilly Giff (fiction: realistic, historical)

Jamie Gilson (fiction: realistic)

Paul Goble (folktales)

Marguerite Henry (fiction: horse stories)

Johanna Hurwitz (multi-genre)

Peg Kehret (multi-genre)

Jane Langton (fiction: mystery)

Kathryn Lasky (multi-genre)

Jacob Lawrence (illus.)

Patricia Lauber (informational: science, social studies)

Julius Lester (multi-genre)

Gail Levine (fiction: fantasy, realistic)

David Macaulay (informational: social studies and science)

Patricia MacLachlan (fiction: historical)

Mary Mahy (fiction)

Barry Moser (illus.)

Patricia Polacco (fiction: multi-ethnic)

Daniel Pinkwater (fiction: humorous)

Jack Prelutsky (poetry)

Louis Sachar (fiction: humorous)

Alvin Schwartz (short stories: suspense)

John Scieszka (fiction: humorous, adventure)

Shel Silverstein (poetry)

Seymour Simon (informational: science)

Mildred Taylor (fiction: historical)

Ann Warren Turner (fiction: historical)

Mildred Pitts Walter (multi-genre)

Isaac Asimov (science fiction)

Avi (multi-genre)

James Berry (fiction)

Nancy Bond (fiction: fantasy)

Ray Bradbury (science fiction)

Bruce Brooks (fiction)

Joseph Bruchac (fiction: historical)

Alice Childress (fiction: realistic)

Vera and Bill Cleaver (fiction)

James and Christopher Collier (fiction: historical)

Caroline Coman (fiction: realistic)

Susan Cooper (fiction: fantasy)

Robert Cormier (fiction)

Bruce Coville (fiction: fantasy)

Sharon Creech (fiction: realistic)

Chris Crutcher (fiction)

Christopher Paul Curtis (fiction: historical)

Karen Cushman (fiction: historical)

Michael Dorris (fiction)

Paul Fleischman (poetry, fiction)

Russell Freedman (biography)

Jack Gantos (fiction: humorous)

Sheila Gordon (fiction: Africa )

Bette Greene (fiction)

Rosa Guy (fiction: realistic)

Mary Downing Hahn (fiction)

Joyce Hansen (fiction)

James Herriot (informational: animals)

Karen Hesse (fiction: historical, fanciful)

S. E. Hinton (fiction: realistic)

Felice Holman (fiction: historical, realistic)

Irene Hunt (fiction: historical, realistic)

Paul Janeczko (poetry)

Angela Johnson (fiction)

Diana Wynne Jones (fiction: fantasy)

Norton Juster (fiction: fantasy)

M. E. Kerr (fiction: realistic)

E. L. Konigsburg (fiction: realistic)

Kathryn Lasky (multi-genre)

Madeleine L'Engle (fiction: fantasy)

Ursula LeGuin (fiction: fantasy)

Robert Lipsyte (fiction: realistic)

Lois Lowry (fiction)

Anne McCaffrey (fiction: fantasy)

Robin McKinley (fiction: fantasy)

Patricia McKissack (informational: history)

Margaret Mahy (fiction: realistic)

Albert Marrin (biography)

Milton Meltzer (informational: history, biography)

Jim Murphy (informational: history)

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (fiction: realistic)

Naomi Nye (poetry; fiction)

Richard Peck (fiction: historical, realistic)

Daniel Pinkwater (fiction: humorous)

Philip Pullman (fiction: fantasy)

Ellen Raskin (fiction: mystery)

J. K. Rowling (fiction: fantasy)

Cynthia Rylant (short stories; poetry)

Louis Sachar (fiction: humorous, realistic)

Isaac Bashevis Singer (fiction: historical)

Gary Soto (fiction)

Mildred Taylor (historical fiction)

Theodore Taylor (fiction: historical)

Yoshiko Uchida (fiction: historical; nonfiction)

Cynthia Voigt (fiction: realistic, fantasy)

Yoko Kawashima Watkins (fiction: historical)

Janet Wong (poetry)

Laurence Yep (fiction)

Jane Yolen (fiction: fantasy)

Paul Zindel (fiction: realistic)

Teachers are also encouraged to select books from the following awards lists, past or present:

The Newbery Medal

The Caldecott Medal

ALA Notable Books

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards

Poetry:

Claribel Alegria

Julia Alvarez

A. R. Ammons

Maya Angelou

John Ashberry

Jimmy Santiago Baca

Amirai Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

Elizabeth Bishop

Robert Bly

Louise Bogan

Arna Bontemps

Gwendolyn Brooks

Sterling Brown

Hayden Carruth

J. V. Cunningham

Rita Dove

Alan Dugan

Richard Eberhart

Martin Espada

Allen Ginsberg

Louise Gluck

John Haines

Donald Hall

Robert Hayden

Anthony Hecht

Randall Jarrell

June Jordan

Galway Kinnell

Stanley Kunitz

Philip Levine

Audrey Lord

Amy Lowell

Robert Lowell

Louis MacNeice

James Merrill

Mary Tall Mountain

Sylvia Plath

Anna Quindlen

Ishmael Reed

Adrienne Rich

Theodore Roethke

Anne Sexton

Karl Shapiro

Gary Snyder

William Stafford

Mark Strand

May Swenson

Margaret Walker

Richard Wilbur

Charles Wright

Elinor Wylie

Essay / nonfiction (Contemporary and historical):

Edward Abbey

Susan B. Anthony

Russell Baker

Ambrose Bierce

Carol Bly

Dee Brown

Art Buchwald

William F. Buckley

Rachel Carson

Margaret Cheney

Marilyn Chin

Stanley Crouch

Joan Didion

Annie Dillard

W. E. B. Du Bois

Gretel Ehrlich

Loren Eiseley

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Doris Goodwin

Stephen Jay Gould

John Gunther

John Hersey

Edward Hoagland

Helen Keller

William Least Heat Moon

Barry Lopez

J. Anthony Lukas

Mary McCarthy

Edward McClanahan

David McCullough

John McPhee

William Manchester

H. L. Menken

N. Scott Momaday

Samuel Eliot Morison

Lance Morrow

Bill Moyers

John Muir

Anna Quindlen

Chet Raymo

Richard Rodriguez

Eleanor Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Carl Sagan

William Shirer

Shelby Steele

Lewis Thomas

Cornell West

Walter Muir Whitehill

Malcolm X

Drama:

Edward Albee

Robert Bolt

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Archibald MacLeish

Terrence Rattigan

Ntozake Shange

Neil Simon

Orson Welles

Page created February 9, 2009. Anne Pemberton. Updated Friday, October 29, 2010 . AP.

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