Children's Online Resources

Authors and Illustrators

Audrey Wood - Games, coloring pages, and information about where Wood gets her ideas for books.
Avi - Avi is the author of more than 60 books for children and young adults, including Newbery Award-winning Crispin.
Barbara Park - Author of the Junie B. Jones series.
Beverly Cleary - Beverly Cleary is an American author of more than 30 books for young adults and children.
Dav Pilkey - Dav Pilkey has written and illustrated numerous popular, award-winning books for children, including the Captain Underpants and Dumb Bunnies series.
Eric Carle - An American designer, illustrator, and writer of children's books. He is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book with few words that has been translated into more than 58 languages.
Gary Paulsen - An American writer of young adult literature, best known for coming of age stories about the wilderness.
J.K. Rowling - British novelist best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series.
Jan Brett - Links to coloring pages, Brett’s biography, a contest page, and more.
John Erickson - Hank the Cow Dog home page with a biography of the author, explore the ranch, play games, read Letters to Hank.
Lemony Snicket - This site is dreadful, vile, and full of whimsical fun for fans of the Unfortunate Events.
Pat Mora - A Texas native, author of books and poetry for children and young adults.
Patricia Polacco - Patricia Barber Polacco is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books for children. She struggled in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia; she found relief by expressing herself through art.
Rosemary Wells - Includes an author biography, activities, coloring pages, games, and postcards.
Sandra Boyton - Links to games, book listings, music!

Award Winners

ALSC (American Library Service to Children) -
Comprehensive award list for children’s books and media.

Books and Stories

Children's Literature Awards - Learn about the Caldecott Medal, the Newbery Award, and other literary honors awarded by the American Library Association.
International Children's Digital Library - Read free children's books written in many different languages.
Story Place Pre-school Library - Beginning reading stories and activities.
Storyline Online - Watch and listen to well-known actors read some of your favorite stories.

Educational Games

Between the Lions - Early Reading Collection - Early literacy site, for children ages 4-7, with appealing characters, songs and games.
Fun Brain Games - Play fun and fast-paced games to learn different subjects.
Funology - Tons of awesome stuff to explore! Jokes, games, magic tricks, trivia, and much more.
Lego - Play games, watch fun animations and build cool things.
NASA Kids - Educational video segments to inspire and engage students.
National Geographic Kids - The world on-line for kids including games, videos, info on animals and pets, photos, countries, news, and a lot of fun stuff for kids.
PBS Kids - Educational games to get kids ready for school.
Seussville - Games based on the famous Dr. Seuss books.
UpToTen - A fun place to learn on-line with over 1,300 games and activities.

Games

4kids.org - This site includes games, a “scavenger hunt” quiz, and links to sites for kids to use for homework, information or fun.
Arcademic Skill Builders - Fun and free online multi-player educational math games and language arts games for students and teachers!
Chateau Meddybemps - All kinds of fun for families with younger kids.
Chess Kids - Learn to play chess with interactive lessons, quizzes, games, and puzzles.
Chinook - Computer generated Checkers.
Color with Leo - Explore the world of art through interactive games, hands-on activities, and lessons with a young Leonardo da Vinci.
Daily Sudoku - A new puzzle is presented every day for this popular game. Different levels and patterns such as “squiggly” allow for many ages to enjoy the site.
Discovery Education Puzzlemaker - Puzzlemaker is a fun and easy puzzle generation tool for all ages that allows users to create and print customized word search, crossword and math puzzles using your own world lists.
Garfield Online - Official website for Garfield.
Highlightskids.com - This site is similar to Highlights magazine. It offers fun stories, “Hidden Pictures”, “Games and Giggles” science articles, and jokes.
Learning Games for Kids - This site features games for preschool and elementary students that build skills in math, reading, social studies, science, art and music.
MakeBeliefsComix - Make your own comics online with this online comic generator from author Bill Zimmerman.
Official Star Wars Web Site - For Star Wars fans everywhere!
OwlKids Online - At this site from the creators of magazines, you can play games, read stories, do puzzles, find jokes, or send e-cards to your friends.
RIF Reading Planet - Write and illustrate your own stories, play reading games, express yourself through poetry - this site is a wonderful resource for younger children to explore reading and writing.

History and Government

America's Story - American history from Colonial Times to the present. Library of Congress site.
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids - Teaches kids from kindergarten through 12th grade about the federal government, from the U.S. Government Printing Office.
Congress - Kids in the House - Learn the basics of the Federal Government with Uncle Sam.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian - From Art to Zoo, the Smithsonian has something to interest kids and students of all ages.
Library of Congress Digital Collections -Digital items from maps and photos, to audio and video. Library of Congress site.
Mayflower History - The site includes a complete passenger list, and Pilgrim history.
Presidents of the United States - In this resource you will find background information, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents. Links to biographies, historical documents, audio and video files, and other presidential sites are also included.
Texas.gov - Official State site with links to government links and other Texas sites.
Texas Senate Kids - Play games, explore the Texas Capitol, and learn all about your state government.
U.S. Census - Use the U.S. Census to find popular facts (population, income, etc.) and frequently requested data about your community.

Homework Help

Animals

Animal Diversity Web - Enter an animal into the search textbox to read about its physical characteristics, habitat and conservation efforts.
SeaWorld's Animal Information Databases - Great site about sea and land creatures maintained by SeaWorld Adventure parks and Busch Gardens.
World Wildlife Fund - News and information about 26,000 species of animals.

The Dictionaries

RhymeZone - Dictionaries for rhyming, definitions, synonyms, antonyms and more. Even a search for quotations.
Spelling City - Spelling quizzes and games. Great for practicing spelling words.
Webster's Word Central - Look up a word in this dictionary from Merriam-Webster.

Get Started

How Stuff Works - Ever wonder why stuff works the way it does? Search this site or read the top 10 questions to find out.

History

Hyper History - An interactive timeline lets you view and learn world history with the click of a mouse.

Math

AAA Math - AAA Math features a comprehensive set of interactive arithmetic lessons. Unlimited practice is available on each topic. Also available in Spanish.
A Plus Math - Includes printable flashcards, a “Game Room,” a “Homework Helper” section, and extensive worksheets.
Archimedes' Laboratory - A fun site full of puzzles and curiosities.
Brainfuse HelpNow - for Watauga Public Library cardholders. Get live homework help, skills surfer, writing lab and much more! Live help available Monday-Sunday, 2pm - 11pm.
CIA World FactBook - The World FactBook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
CyberBee - Homework links for kids, parents and teachers
Discovery Education Puzzlemaker - Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more-using your own word lists.
Dr. Math - Ask Dr. Math is a question and answer service for math students and their teachers.
FunBrain Numbers - Numbers and counting games including Math Baseball, Bunny Count, and Changemaker.
InfoPlease Homework Help - Infoplease is the world's largest free reference site. Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Almanacs, and Homework Help on English, math, history, geography, and science.
IXL Math - IXL provides comprehensive, standards-aligned math and language arts practice for K-12.
Math.com - Offers free math lessons and homework help, with an emphasis on geometry, algebra, statistics, and calculus. Also provides calculators and games.
Math is fun - Math explained in easy language, plus puzzles, games, quizzes, worksheets and a forum. For K-12 kids, teachers and parents.
Math worksheets - Create and print worksheets for different math concepts and skills. Creates an answer key as well.
NCES Kidzone - Create a Graph page.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - NLVM is an National Science Foundation supported project with a K-12 emphasis.
InfoPlease Homework Help - Infoplease is the world's largest free reference site. Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Almanacs, and Homework Help on English, math, history, geography, and science.
IXL Math - IXL provides comprehensive, standards-aligned math and language arts practice for K-12.
The Math Forum: Student Center - Includes “Have a Math Question?” “Weekly/Monthly Challenges” Sections for Elementary Middle and High School levels, Non-English Resources, Internet Math Hunt and more.
WebMath - Webmath is a math-help web site that generates answers to specific math questions and problems, as entered by a user, at any particular moment.

People

African American Biographies - Biographical information about notable African Americans.
Center for the Study of the First Americans - Covers Dine, Muscogee, Tlingit, Lakota and Iroquois nations and how they are alike and different. Includes an historical overview and a large collection of links to other websites.
Hispanic Heritage Biographies - Biographical information about notable individuals of Hispanic heritage.
The Library of Congress American Memory Project Immigration page - Click on the sidebar in this federal website to find historical information about different peoples that emigrated to the United States, as well as current information about the “changing face” of our nation.

Phonics

ICTgames - This is a fun phonics site that explores the reading process through the use of games. The site is geared toward PK-2nd.
SoftSchools - This is a terrific site to help learners from Pre-K through Middle School develop a strong reading sense.
Starfall - A free website to teach children to read with phonics. For preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Exciting phonics games and online interactive books.
Teach Your Monster to Read - This is a series of free games to practice the first stages of reading. Combining top quality games design with essential learning, the game is built on the principles of synthetic phonics and follows the teaching sequence of the Letters and Sounds program.

Science

Biomes of the World - Click one of six biomes to find out where it is located, what plants and animals live there, and what it looks like.
Kids Astronomy - Explore deep space and the solar system in this well designed site full of scientific information and fun facts. Also, see real-time maps of what the sky will look like tonight!
NASA's Planetary Photojournal - A database of almost 1300 NASA images. You can choose a planet and then choose which NASA spacecraft you would like to view images from. Good links to other planet websites.
Science Fair Project Guide - Everything you need to know to create an award winning science project! You'll find basic instructions, practical hints, different types of projects, and how to make a poster display. Includes a list of links to other great science project sites.
Energy Kids - Science Fair Experiments - The U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Kids has some experiments for different grade levels.
Windows to the Universe - Choose from beginner, intermediate or advanced levels to access planetary information, stunning photos and real-time animation.
50 States.com - Click a state name to find out quick facts such as the motto, population and area codes and links to maps, elected officials and famous people.
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for kids - Benjamin Franklin will answer your questions about the U.S. Government and how it works. Information is provided by grade level.
Census for kids - Read fun facts about the census results in all 50 states then test your knowledge with a quiz!
The US50 - Choose a state to visit and learn history, geography and historic figures.
US House of Representatives

The World

CIA World Factbook - Updated annually, the site not only provides country information but detailed full-color maps as well.
Library of Congress Country Studies - The Country Studies Series analyzes the social, economic, political, and national security systems of countries throughout the world and how they have changed throughout history.

Science Projects

Discovery and Home Depot Science Fair Central - Fun science projects, questions & answers, and web links.
The Science Explorer - Activities that get messy, airborne, loud and will shock you!
Science Fair Project Resource Guide - The IPL’s Science Fair Project Resource Guide will help you through a science project with a variety of excellent web resources.

Search the Web

Great Web Sites for Kids - These sites are recommended for preschool through junior high aged children and their parents. Suggested sites are evaluated by the Great Websites for Kids Committee using established selection criteria. The committee is made up of members of the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.
Kid Rex - Safe Search for kids, by kids.