You'll amass an armload of delightful surprises on these sites. A sampling:

1. Go to gennifercholdenko.com and read her account of what it was like to get the call announcing she had won a Newbery Honor for her book Al Capone Does My Shirts.

2. On eileenchristelow.com, picture book author and illustrator, Eileen Christelow, gives a link to a bookstore in Vermont where you can order her books, signed and personalized. That's a big wow for kids who love her Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and others in that sunny series.

3. If your kids want to try science experiments, and who doesn't, at vickicobb.com you'll discover dozens of little "We Dare You" videos that Vicki Cobb and her grandkids made, doing cool science tricks from her book, We Dare You ! Hundreds of Fun Science Bets, Challenges and Experiments You Can Do at Home.

4. Watch a video of Neil Gaiman reading the chilling first chapter of his Newbery Award winner, The Graveyard Book at neilgaiman.com.

5. Find an excellent teacher's guide to Nikki Grimes's The Road to Paris and all of her other books at nikkigrimes.com.

6. On Daniel Kirk's spiffy site, danielkirk.com, you can download all of the CDs of songs he recorded to go with his poetry books, like Dogs Rule! and listen to and download a brand new song every month as part of his "Song of the Month Club."

7. At wimpykid.com, you can wimp yourself, read Jeff Kinney's blog, and link to the movie site for The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

8. And ReadKiddoRead grandmaster himself, the amazing James Patterson, not only includes beginning chapters of his Maximum Ride, Daniel X, and Witch & Wizard books on his site, max-dan-wiz.com, he is even sponsoring a writing contest, where teens between 13 and 18 can write a “missing chapter” for his new book, Fang. (The deadline is May 31, 2010, so your aspiring writers will need to get cracking. Here’s the link: www.max-dan-wiz.com/page/writing-contest). On the site are videos, teacher's guides, discussion forums and groups, and even blog posts ostensibly written by each of his book characters, to which tens of thousands of young readers have responded. As Maximum Ride would say, "Whoa, Nelly!"

Here, then, are my favorite 68 sites for you to peruse. If you have additions to the list, be sure to let us know.


JUDY FREEMAN (www.JudyReadsBooks.com), ReadKiddoRead reviewer, is a well-known consultant, writer, and speaker on children's literature, storytelling, and all aspects of librarianship. She is a visiting lecturer at the School of Information, and Library Science at Pratt Institute in New York City, where she teaches courses on children's literature and storytelling. Judy served as a member of the 2000 Newbery Committee and the 2008 Sibert Committee. Judy's book, Once Upon a Time: Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and Reader's Theater with Children in Grades PreK-6 (Libraries Unlimited, 2007), won the 2009 Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award. Her mega-books, Books Kids Will Sit Still For 3 (2006) and its popular companions Books Kids Will Sit Still For: The Complete Read-Aloud Guide (1990), and More Books Kids Will Sit Still For (1995), are indispensable resources for literature-based classrooms and libraries. Judy's latest edition of her yearly The Winners! Handbook (Libraries Unlimited, 2010), reviewing her top 100 children's books of the past year, was published in Spring, 2010.

Jessica Burkhart (Canterwood Crest)   Rick Riordan (Last Olympian)   John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice)   Beverly Cleary (Ramona and more!) 39 Clues   Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)   Lauren Child(Clarice Bean / Charlie and Lola)    Matt Christopher   Mary Pope Osborne(Magic Tree House Series)   Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants)   Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones)   Ron Roy (Capital Mysteries/A to Z Mysteries)   Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Books)   Laurie Friedman  (Mallory Books)    Gordon Korman   Matt Faulkner   Stephanie Greene

Jessica Burkhart (Canterwood Crest)   Rick Riordan (Last Olympian)   John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice)   Beverly Cleary (Ramona and more!) 39 Clues   Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)   Lauren Child(Clarice Bean / Charlie and Lola)    Matt Christopher   Mary Pope Osborne(Magic Tree House Series)   Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants)   Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones)   Ron Roy (Capital Mysteries/A to Z Mysteries)   Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Books)   Laurie Friedman  (Mallory Books)    Gordon Korman   Matt Faulkner   Stephanie Greene

Book/Author sites! Jessica Burkhart (Canterwood Crest)   Rick Riordan (Last Olympian)   John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice)   Beverly Cleary (Ramona and more!) 39 Clues   Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)   Lauren Child(Clarice Bean / Charlie and Lola)    Matt Christopher   Mary Pope Osborne(Magic Tree House Series)   Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants)   Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones)   Ron Roy (Capital Mysteries/A to Z Mysteries)   Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Books)   Laurie Friedman  (Mallory Books)    Gordon Korman   Matt Faulkner

Book/Author sites!

Jessica Burkhart (Canterwood Crest)   Rick Riordan (Last Olympian)   John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice)   Beverly Cleary (Ramona and more!) 39 Clues   Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)   Lauren Child(Clarice Bean / Charlie and Lola)    Matt Christopher   Mary Pope Osborne(Magic Tree House Series)   Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants)   Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones)   Ron Roy (Capital Mysteries/A to Z Mysteries)   Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Books)   Laurie Friedman  (Mallory Books)    Gordon Korman   Matt Faulkner   Stephanie Greene