GENRE LIST as at 10/07/03
We are well aware that not all the following are genres according to some, for now let's agree to put such contentions (as changeable as the seasons) to one side. The intention behind the choice of these headings is to ensure that you find just the book you need.
Using Genre in conjunction with Subject and/or Book type will yield the most targeted results.
Many books, poems and short stories have been allocated more than one genre heading. Try using combinations such as Family Humour or Adventure Historical to focus your searches.
Acknowledgement is made to M. H. Abrahms A Glossary of Literary Terms, an essential reference in anyone's library, and to Moira Robinson Make My Toenails Twinkle (Longman 1989), one of the best books on sharing poetry with children one is ever likely to find, for help with the definitions.
Action rhymes
Participatory rhymes, usually for the very young. For example, I'm a little teapot or Five little monkeys jumping on the bed. See also Finger rhymes, Playground rhymes, Skipping games and Songs and chants.
Adventure
Features characters facing challenges, usually involving some sort of physical endurance, either in a realistic or fantasy setting.
Allegory
Stories in which a deeper abstract or religious meaning lies beneath the narrative. See also Fable.
Alphabet
Once called ABC books when they had a chiefly educative purpose, the alphabet is used as the structure for presentation of an array of things or concepts. Usually for the very young, but increasingly for older readers.
Animal fantasy
Fantasy in which the protagonists are animals with human characteristics.
Animal story
Realistic stories about animals.
Australian poems
Poems by Australian poets or about Australia.
Ballads
Popular, folk or traditional ballad. A song transmitted orally which tells a story. For example Botany Bay (Farewell to old England forever). Closely related to the Narrative poem and frequently confused with it.
Bible
Stories from both the Old and New Testament.
Bildungsroman
Coming-of-age novel or novel of formation. Charts the development of the protagonist's mind and character from childhood or immaturity to maturity.
Biography
Used here for narratives about actual people and for fiction. For example Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One. Also includes autobiographies. See also Bildungsroman, Diary and Epitaphs.
Carols
A Christmas song celebrating the festive season.
Cautionary
Tales that contain an explicit warning. For example, Hillaire Belloc's Matilda who told such Dreadful Lies. See also Dreaming stories.
Choose-your-own
Stories where children are given the choice of multiple story strands
Concrete and shape poems
Meaning is reflected by the arrangement or shape of the words. For example Max Fatchen's Skateboard.
Counting
Numbers, usually 1 to 10, providing the structure for content. Related to the Alphabet book and usually for the very young but includes sophisticated examples such as One Dragon's Dream.
Crime
Detective stories and crime solving.
Cumulative
Picture books which build by repetition and the accumulation of objects. For example This is the House that Jack Built and Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats.
Diary
Stories largely presented in diary form.
Dreaming stories
Australian Aboriginal mythology but also includes narratives better described as Folktale.
Epitaphs
An inscription on a tomb or a brief comment on a dead person.
Fable
A short story (and infrequently a poem) that exemplifies a moral thesis or a principle of human behaviour. Fable is a type of Allegory. Most common is the beast fable, like those of Aesop and La Fontaine, which use animals to exemplify attributes. For example, The fox and the grapes and The hare and the tortoise. See also Cautionary.
Fairytale
Narratives set in the distant past (Once upon a time) about events that would be impossible in the real world. They often include magical happenings and the appearance of fairies. However, note that the supernatural does not always feature. Heroes and heroines are usually mortal.
Family
The dominant genre in contemporary children's books usually featuring young people, from babies to adolescents, in a family context and focussing on relationships. Often combined with Adventure, Historical and more frequently of late Fantasy and Humour.
Fantasy
Written by a specific author (that is, not traditional) which involves the supernatural or some other unreal element.
Finger rhymes
Play rhymes utilising fingers or toes. Usually for the very young. For example Here's the church, and here's the steeple.
Folktale
Short narrative in prose, of unknown authorship, which has originally been transmitted orally. Folktales include myths, fables, tales of heroes and fairytales. It could be argued for example that Jack and the beanstalk is a Folktale rather than a Fairytale being a story about marvels rather than fairies. We will leave you to discuss this amongst yourselves! See also Fable, Fairytale, Legend, Myth, Pourquoi.
Haiku
An ancient Japanese verse form consisting of seventeen syllables.
Historical
Narratives with an historical setting. Often combined with Adventure, Family and Fantasy (as in timeslip novels).
Horror
A narrative designed to entertain by frightening the reader with supernatural, or strange events.
Humour
Comic characters, incidents and situations in text or illustration. See also Jokes and riddles, Nonsense, Parody and satire, Tall tales.
Hymns
A song in praise of a deity or nation. See also the genre Carols and the subject National songs.
Information
Nonfiction.
Jokes and riddles
Amusing puzzles, the latter usually in verse. For example As I went over London Bridge.
Legend
If the protagonist
is a person rather than a supernatural being, the tale is a legend. This
distinguishes legends from myths. Also note that if the story concerns
supernatural beings, but is not part of a systematic mythology, it is usually
regarded as a Folktale. See also Dreaming stories, Folktale, Myth.
Letters
Stories, and less often poems, largely presented through an exchange of letters (epistolary novel).
Limericks
A five line nonsense verse with the rhyme pattern a a b b a, and ending with a statement. See all entries for Edward Lear.
Lullabies
Gentle songs for babies.
Mystery and suspense
Stories that entertain by provoking anxiety. A subset is Horror. See also Crime.
Myth
One story in a mythology, that is a set or series of tales that were once believed to be true by a particular group of people and which explain why the world is and why it functions as it does. These tales form a rationale for cultural and social rules. They always feature supernatural beings. A subset of Folktales. See also Legends.
Narrative poems
A poem telling a story. For example Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin. See also Ballads which are narrative poems adapted for singing, and Tall tales which are a witty, and often long-winded, type of narrative poem.
New Zealand poems
Poems by New Zealand poets or about New Zealand.
Nonsense
Usually humorous stories and verse based on outrageous or silly situations and often including inventive language. For example Andy Griffith's novel The Day My Bum Went Psycho and Lewis Carroll's famous poem, Jabberwocky. See also Limericks.
Notes
Supporting material for books, poems and stories. This includes teachers’ notes, background information, explanations (for example about references to mythical characters and incidents) and extensions (for example storytelling). This material is held in the Short story index.
Nursery rhymes
Verse for the very young with strong rhythm though often with obscure or archaic meaning. Also known as Mother Goose rhymes.
Parody and satire
Related to Reinterpretation. In Parody well known texts, or styles of texts, are mocked, whereas Satire tends to ridicule people or institutions often for political reasons. Frequently in Parody there is an air of indulgent affection.
Playground rhymes
Verse and ditties created by children, often rude or insulting, and sometimes incorporating games. See also Skipping games.
Pourquoi
How and why stories that explain human characteristics, animal features and the origin of natural features. See also Dreaming stories.
Prayers and blessings
The former usually addressed to a deity and the latter addressed to others, wishing them all that is fine in life. For example Fisherman's Prayer and Celtic Benediction (blessing).
Puzzle
Puzzle poems are usually Riddles. With books there is often something to seek in the text or illustrations or the solution to a mystery. For example The Eleventh Hour.
Realistic
'An accurate imitation of life as it is'. Abrams go on to say this is an inadequate definition and points out that the term Realism is usually applied to books about the commonplace or the ordinary. See also Bildungsroman.
Reinterpretation
Using well known texts as the basis of new narratives. Some are more direct than others. For example Archie the Big Good Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood) and Bridget Jones' Diary (Pride and Prejudice et al.). See also Parody and satire.
Romance
Used here to indicate the girl meets boy type of narrative rather than the more elevated notions of nineteenth century romantic literature.
School
A school setting though frequently combining Adventure, Family or Fantasy.
Science fiction
Futuristic settings featuring the marvels of future technology within the context of natural laws (hence dealing with possibilities, no matter how extraordinary they might seem). A subset of Fantasy.
Skipping games
Songs and chants to skip to. Subset of Playground rhymes.
Songs and chants
See also Ballads, Skipping games.
Sonnets
A lyric poem consisting of fourteen iambic pentameter lines usually following an Italian (a b b a a b b a c d e c d e with variations) or English (a b a d c d c d e f e f g g) rhyme pattern.
Speeches
Used here for famous speeches, either from history or included in plays or novels.
Sport
Novels or short stories with a plot based largely on a sporting endeavour.
Tall tales
Exaggerated stories, usually humorous, and often associated with pioneer or country life. See for example The Incredible Steam-driven Adventures of Riverboat Bill.
Tongue twisters
Mouth contorting poems that challenge pronunciation through tricky rhymes.
Toy and moveable
Books with flaps to lift, items to remove or some other playful addition to the binding or pages. For example Graeme Base's The Waterhole or the Ahlberg's The Jolly Postman.
War
Books and poetry with a war setting or major reference to the experience of war.
Wordless
Picture books without text.