stack of books

Reading Resources


"The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb." Umberto Eco


Children's Literature
A Scholastic Teachers Resource page featuring children's authors and illustrators.
Book Hive: Your Guide to Children’s Literature and Books -
BookHive is a web site designed for children ages birth through twelve, their parents, teachers or anyone interested in reading about children's books. Providing reader's advisory service, this site contains hundreds of recommended book reviews in a variety of reading levels and interest areas.
Book Spot: Children's Books -
A directory of links related to children's books. Categories include: Bestsellers, Awards, Reading Lists, Reviews, Online Books.
Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site -
A collection of reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.
An extensive list of children's authors & illustrators created by David K. Brown at the U. of Calgary, Canada.
The Lexile Framework™for Reading - an educational tool that links text and readers under a common metric without subjective evaluation - includes an extensive database of lexile scores for children's literature.
Created by Annette Lamb, this site encourages active reading through book-technology connections.
Lots of children’s literature recommendations and reviews by Esme Raji Codell, author and licensed readiologist.
A national multimedia project that offers comprehensive information on helping young children learn to read, a companion to the PBS television series Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers.
SCORE Cyber Guides: Teacher Guides & Student Activities -
Supplementary, standards-based, web-delivered units of instruction centered on core works of literature. CyberGuides contain student and teacher editions, standards, tasks and processes by which they may be completed, teacher-selected web sites and rubrics, based on California Language Arts Content Standards.
Children’s Book Nook: Educator Resources -
The latest teacher guides, printable author bios, discussion questions and more from Hachette Book Group USA.

Book Award Sites
Presented annually, the Coretta Scott King Award is given to authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream."
Database of Award Winning Children’s Literature -
DAWL is a database of almost 6,000 records from 73 awards across six English-speaking countries. Create a tailored reading list of quality children's literature or find out if a book has won one of the indexed awards.
The Great Stone Face Award is given annually to an author whose book receives the most votes from students in grades 4-6 throughout NH.
Named in honor of the 18th century British book seller, John Newbery, the Newbery Medal Award is given annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. This site has a complete list of winners from 1922 to the present.
Lady Bug Picture Book Award -
The NH Ladybug Picture Book Award is designed to promote early literacy and honor the best in recent children's picture books. The award is given annually to an author whose book receives the most votes from students in grades K-3 throughout NH.
Named in honor of the 19th century English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott, the Caldecott Medal Award is given annually to the artist of the most distinguished children's book. This site has a complete list of medal winning books from 1938 to the present. 

Reading Activities
Between the Lions -
Award-winning PBS television series which aims to give kids 4-7 years old some of the experience they need in order to become successful readers. 
A free reading motivation program for children in grades 1-8. 
Electronic Books and Online Reading -
Annette Lamb’s extensive list of electronic books and online reading resources including interactive stories, articles, and books.
Sadlier-Oxford Phonics Interactive -
Explore phonetics using word match games, memory cards and many other in-depth activities to teach students (K-6) about letters, sounds and words.
StarFall features rhyming games and high interest books, making learning to read fun.
StoryLine Online -
An online streaming video program featuring Screen Actors Guild members reading children’s books aloud. Each book includes accompanying activities and lesson ideas.
Words & Pictures features games and activities to making reading and writing more fun, hosted by the BBC.