Thursday, June 19, 2008

Author Websites



As a Children's Librarian, I love going to authors websites to find out about future projects, download activity sheets and find program ideas . For instance Kevin Henkes has information about his Pictures Books, Mouse Books and Novels. If you click on Mouse Books, the link takes you to a page with great characters like Lilly, Julius, Owen and many more. You can also go to Fun and Games from this page. Fun and Games has printable coloring sheets, mazes, word searches and recipes for snacks to help you throw your own mouse party!




Another great website is Jon Scieszka's Trucktown. This interactive site is great for those young ones who love all things trucky. The site is extremely easy to manipulate. Each character has their own page with a printable coloring sheet, poster, and Trucker's License. The Trucker's License has the name of the truck, likes and dislikes, and best friend. Some of the characters, like Jack Truck, also have online games for the kids to play. Another great aspect of this site is while the page is loading the child can clean the windshield, toot the horn, turn on the siren or rev the engine. How cool is that! There is also a page just for parents.




I have, and will, used stories staring these characters in story time and other themed programs then finished them with an activity from the sites. The children really get into the activity or craft, since they feel a connection with character. I know practically all authors have websites, but we don't have enough room to add them all here. Check them out and let me know what you think.

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