ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Journal of Children's Literature is a refereed journal devoted to teaching and scholarship for the field of children's literature. It is the product of the Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE and is published twice annually.
To join CLA and subscribe to the Journal of Children's Literature, visit our Membership Page or click on the membership links below. |
Journal MissionThe Journal of Children’s Literature, a refereed publication of the Children’s Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English, explores issues of current concern to scholars in the field of children’s literature, librarians, and classroom teachers—preschool through middle school. As a peer-reviewed professional publication, the Journal of Children’s Literature features research-based and scholarly articles that explore contemporary issues that are of interest to elementary and middle grade teachers, scholars and researchers of children’s literature, teacher educators, and librarians. It also recognizes the diversity of methodologies and theories and seeks critical perspectives on issues related to race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, language and other similar topics in children’s literature
We value the unique position JCL occupies in the field, bridging theory and practice by publishing research-based and theoretical manuscripts that have immediate implications for the ways in which children’s literature is shared in elementary and middle grade classrooms, and discussed in communities outside the classroom. With the November 2015 approval of NCTE’s “Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children’s and Young Adult Books, JCL is committed to the recognition of diverse voices, the support of emerging IBPOC scholars and researchers, and to excellence in interdisciplinary research and scholarship in the field of children’s literature. We therefore welcome submissions that center literature studies in relation to issues of social justice, and equity, the representations of populations that have been historically marginalized or under-represented in children’s texts and culture, as well as the intersections between popular culture and identity. JCL Editors
Last Issue: Fall 2025
We are living in a time when children’s literature is making headlines more than perhaps ever before. To meet this moment, supporters of readers and reading need to be organized, educated, and vocal. That means the field of children’s literature needs clear, accessible, high quality, published research. Journals that publish such research have the potential to supply accurate, meaningful knowledge and data related to literature for young people for the public, while also illustrating the broader possible questions, perspectives, and conclusions scholars of this literature might come to through their studies, regardless of media headlines. In other words, we envision a theory-into-practice focus where research into and analysis of literature is valued, especially where it’s presented in or alongside connections to reading, readers, and teaching practice to support practitioners. |
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MANUSCRIPT GUIDELINES
Manuscripts should not exceed 25 double-spaced, typed pages (inclusive of references and tables, but exclusive of any images). Use APA (7th edition) format. Please submit a single document which includes tables, graphs, and images at the end of the document. A separate cover page should include the author’s name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and school/professional affiliation and an abstract of approximately 50-150 words. The author’s name or any reference that would enable a reviewer to know who the author is should not appear on the manuscript. If the manuscript contains samples of student work, photographs of students, charts, diagrams, or other visuals, include scans upon submission; originals will be requested upon acceptance. Permission must be secured for samples of student work, photographs of students, and any copyrighted work.
If the submission is to a themed issue, please indicate in the cover letter the themed issue for which the manuscript is being submitted. Manuscripts will not be sent out for peer review until all information is provided. We also ask that the author’s positionality be a part of the manuscript in some way so readers have a deeper understanding of the context in which the scholar is thinking and writing. Each submitted manuscript will be screened by the editorial team. Any manuscript that is selected for peer review will be reviewed by at least two members of the editorial board. Decisions will be made within 8–12 weeks of publication of the journal issue for which the submission was made. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.
Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Children’s Literature should not be under review for publication elsewhere. In addition, manuscripts should not have been previously published in another journal.
Please submit manuscripts via email to [email protected].
If the submission is to a themed issue, please indicate in the cover letter the themed issue for which the manuscript is being submitted. Manuscripts will not be sent out for peer review until all information is provided. We also ask that the author’s positionality be a part of the manuscript in some way so readers have a deeper understanding of the context in which the scholar is thinking and writing. Each submitted manuscript will be screened by the editorial team. Any manuscript that is selected for peer review will be reviewed by at least two members of the editorial board. Decisions will be made within 8–12 weeks of publication of the journal issue for which the submission was made. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.
Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Children’s Literature should not be under review for publication elsewhere. In addition, manuscripts should not have been previously published in another journal.
Please submit manuscripts via email to [email protected].
MANUSCRIPT GUIDELINES (For 2026 Issues)
Submission Requirements
Manuscripts should not exceed 25 double-spaced, typed pages (inclusive of references and tables, but exclusive of any images). Use APA (7th edition) format. Please submit a single file which includes tables, graphs, and images embedded at the end of the document. If accepted for publication, we will request them as separate files.
The manuscript should be fully blinded, free of all authors’ names. Citations of authors’ works should appear as “(Author, DATE)” in the text and be listed at the top of the reference list. The author(s) must secure permission to include samples of student work, photographs of students, and any copyrighted work.
Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Children’s Literature should not be under review for publication elsewhere. In addition, manuscripts should not have been previously published in another journal.
All submissions should be made electronically through Scholastica as “feature article manuscript” submissions. Authors will need to login to their existing Scholastica account or create an account as part of the manuscript submission process.
The manuscript should be fully blinded, free of all authors’ names. Citations of authors’ works should appear as “(Author, DATE)” in the text and be listed at the top of the reference list. The author(s) must secure permission to include samples of student work, photographs of students, and any copyrighted work.
Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Children’s Literature should not be under review for publication elsewhere. In addition, manuscripts should not have been previously published in another journal.
All submissions should be made electronically through Scholastica as “feature article manuscript” submissions. Authors will need to login to their existing Scholastica account or create an account as part of the manuscript submission process.
Additional Required Information
During the submission process, submitting authors will be asked to provide:
For the “Article Type” prompt, please select the option labeled “Feature Article Manuscript.”
- The names, email addresses, and school/professional affiliations of all co-authors
- An abstract of approximately 50-100 words
- An indication of the issue for which the manuscript is being submitted.
For the “Article Type” prompt, please select the option labeled “Feature Article Manuscript.”
Editorial and Peer Review Process
Please note that our review process begins after the submission deadline for each issue (August 15 for our Spring issue and January 15 for our Fall issue). Although we are open to submissions throughout the calendar year, you might experience a lengthier response time from us if your manuscript has been submitted between these dates.
After each submission deadline, all submitted manuscripts will first be screened by the editorial team. Incomplete submissions will not be sent out for peer review. Any manuscript that is selected for peer review will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Final decisions will be made approximately 8-12 weeks prior to issue publication.
After each submission deadline, all submitted manuscripts will first be screened by the editorial team. Incomplete submissions will not be sent out for peer review. Any manuscript that is selected for peer review will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Final decisions will be made approximately 8-12 weeks prior to issue publication.
Copyright
The Children's Literature Assembly is the copyright owner of all of JCL's Content.
Calls for Manuscripts
Fall 2026: Children’s Books in a Troubled World: Healing, Humanity, and Empathy
Manuscripts Due: January 15, 2026
Manuscripts Due: January 15, 2026
The world in which we are currently living is facing numerous humanitarian crises and is filled, like many eras before it, with pain and despair — but, also, with glimmers of hope and possibility. Our Fall 2026 theme, “Children’s Books in a Troubled World: Healing, Humanity, and Empathy,” recognizes the expansive possibilities of children's literature in the lives of young people and in teaching. The theme invites us to consider how reading, thinking about, and responding to children's books individually or in conversation with others can facilitate powerful explorations of the current and past states of the world and inspire hopeful directions in which we might travel, collectively, into the future. For this issue, we seek manuscripts that explore the many ways that children’s literature elevates young people’s (and all of our) awareness, healing, humanity, and empathy, especially as we bear witness to deeply unsettling realities.
Submissions for this issue might consider such questions as:
Our theme for the Journal of Children’s Literature Fall 2026 issue, “Children’s Books in a Troubled World: Healing, Humanity, and Empathy,” reflects the current editorial team’s focus on expansive inclusivity, a framework that honors and welcomes a variety of topics, stances, approaches, orientations, and perspectives from those invested in children’s literature from empirical, theoretical, and pedagogical perspectives.
For any questions, please contact [email protected]
Submissions for this issue might consider such questions as:
- What patterns do you see in the ways that children’s literature has addressed “troubled times,” both historically and presently, that are worth illuminating and can inform theory, policy, and practice?
- What are some urgent, vital issues relating to children’s literature you are experiencing in your work, inside or outside of classroom spaces? How are you working to navigate troubled waters in the spirit of making “good trouble”?
- In what ways can children’s literature speak to and/or raise critical awareness about significant human concerns, especially concerns impacting current PreK-12 students, their families, and their communities? How can it engender healing and help inspire and nurture hopeful futures?
- How might young readers be (re)centered in our understandings of children’s literature, as well as our teaching and research around it, as we face significant global and national challenges?
- What are the ideological messages embedded in and emanating from children’s literature, especially in relation to contemporary sociocultural issues?
Our theme for the Journal of Children’s Literature Fall 2026 issue, “Children’s Books in a Troubled World: Healing, Humanity, and Empathy,” reflects the current editorial team’s focus on expansive inclusivity, a framework that honors and welcomes a variety of topics, stances, approaches, orientations, and perspectives from those invested in children’s literature from empirical, theoretical, and pedagogical perspectives.
For any questions, please contact [email protected]
spring 2027: Open Theme
Manuscripts due August 15, 2026
Manuscripts due August 15, 2026
The Open Theme of the Journal of Children’s Literature Spring 2027 issue reflects the current editorial team’s focus on expansive inclusivity, a framework that honors and welcomes a variety of topics, stances, approaches, orientations, and perspectives from those invested in children’s literature from empirical, theoretical, and pedagogical perspectives. Submissions might consider such questions as:
We are especially interested in illuminating scholarship that contributes to timely, important conversations in the field.
For any questions, please contact [email protected].
- What patterns do you see in children’s literature across time and in the present that are worth illuminating and can inform theory, policy, and practice?
- What are some urgent, vital issues relating to children’s literature you are experiencing in your work, inside or outside of classroom spaces, right now? How are you working to navigate troubled waters in the spirit of making “good trouble”?
- In what ways can children’s literature speak to and/or raise critical awareness about significant human concerns?
- How might young readers be (re)centered in our understandings of children’s literature, as well as our teaching and research around it?
- What are the ideological messages embedded in and emanating from children’s literature?
We are especially interested in illuminating scholarship that contributes to timely, important conversations in the field.
For any questions, please contact [email protected].
SCHOLAR'S COMMENTARY FROM THE
Spring 2022 Issue
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CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS FROM THE
SPRING 2022 Issue
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SAMPLE ARTICLES Far Apart, Close in Heart: Exploring Representations of Familial Incarceration in Children’s Picturebooks
By RHIANNON M. MATON, BREEANNA DEXTER, NICOLETTE McKEON, EMILY URIAS-VELASQUEZ, & BREANNA WASHINGTON 
Journal of Children’s Literature, 48(2), pp. 19–32, 2022
Elementary Literacy Teachers Change the Underlying Story Through Transformative Read-Aloud Curricula
By SABA KHAN VLACH 
Journal of Children’s Literature, 48(1), pp. 33-44, 2022
be who you are: Exploring representations of transgender children In Picturebooks
by A. Crawley 
Journal of Children’s Literature, 43(2), pp. 28–41, 2017
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JCL COLUMNS2017 cla master class: Diverse nonfiction
children's literature in the university classroom by T. Crisp, A. Knezek & R. gardner 
2016 CLA Master class: Diverse children's
literature at the university by L. LianG, L. Parsons & T. Crisp 
2016 cla workshop: Diversity 2.0: Advocating for more than just diverse faces
By M. Koss & D. Johnson 
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