NES Library / Home/ References

Literature

Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky.
My pile of books are a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---Arnold Lobel

Scroll down to browse, or you can go straight to one of these sections:
Book Awards || Suggested Reading
Favorite Books || Authors' Pages
Additional Literature Sites

Looking for some summer reading ideas? Check out the lists on these websites. For extra summer reading challenges, take a look at these!

Book Awards

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Books

The Dorothy Canfield Children's Book Award is voted on by Vermont students in grades 4 through 8. The 2010 DCF winner is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. See what books are on the current list or look at past lists of nominees and winners. There's also a link to Children Authors/Illustrators Web Sites. Read a Dorothy Canfield Fisher biography, look at an on-line album of photos of Dorothy, or print off a form you can use to recommend a book for next year's list!

Red Clover Books

The Red Clover Children's Choice Picture Book Award is voted on by K-4 students throughout Vermont. The 2010 Red Clover winner is Owney the Mail Pouch Pooch by Mona Kerby. See the list of new Red Clover nominees, or look at all the past nominees and winners. Which of the 10 picture books will you vote for?

Caldecott Award

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The 2010 Caldecott Medal winner is The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney. Find out more about the winner and honor books on this page. You can also find information about how the medal is awarded or look at lists of past winners.

Newbery Award

The John Newbery Medal is awarded each year for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The 2010 Newbery Medal winner is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Read a summary of the winning book and the honor books, and check out the list of past winners.

Coretta Scott King Award

The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually to authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream. "

ALA | Book & Media Awards

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) awards include the Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King and several others that you may or may not have heard of. All the awards are listed here.

Suggested Reading

Multnomah County Library's Classics Booklists

Reading lists by favorite topics, grade level, etc.

Reading and Books | Recommended Reading from The New York Public Library

Includes "best books" lists, recommendations from their summer reading programs, and holiday books.

ATN - Book Lists

Lists of books by topic, genre, age, etc. One area you might find helpful is the section on Read Alikes, which can give you ideas for books you might want to read "If you liked" some particular book or series.

Vermont-NEA Reading Lists

Every year school librarians from around Vermont create a list of suggestions for summer reading . You'll find links to past & current lists on this page.

88 Great Reads

A nice list of book suggestions, separated into Easy Fiction and Intermediate Fiction.

Windham County Reads

Summer Reading Lists for 2009 from Windham County Reads, an organization in Windham County, Vermont, that works with schools, libraries, and others to encourage reading. There are some great lists for various grade levels, and even a list for adults.

Windsor Public Schools: Summer Reading

The schools in Windsor, Connecticut put together these lists for students grades K-12.

Groton Public Schools | Family Links

Summer reading suggestions from the Groton (CT) Public Schools and the Groton Public Library. There are lists for each grade level, preK through middle school. You can see this year's lists and lists from previous years.

Summer Reading Lists on the Web

For even more lists, check out this site. It has links to lots of summer reading lists from schools and public libraries!

Summer Reading Programs 2010

Scholastic Summer Challenge

Scholastic wants you to "Read for the world record!"

TD Banknorth Summer Reading Program

Read 10 books this summer and TD Banknorth will deposit $10 into your new or existing Young Saver bank account. Print the application from the website.

2010 Barnes & Noble Summer Reading

Earn a free book when you read 8 books! Read any 8 books and track them in the Passport to Summer Reading that you can download on this page.

Double Dog Dare – Borders

Read 10 books, get one free! Read any 10 books you like, fill in the form, bring it to a Borders or Waldenbooks store and choose a free book. Details (including the free book choices) and the form you need are at this website.

Price Chopper and Vermont Lake Monsters - “Hit the Books”

Any student in grades K-8 who reads four books at his/her reading level will receive one child’s general admission ticket to a Vermont Lake Monsters game. Pick up an application / reading log at Price Chopper or print one out from this website. All the details are on the form!

Summer Reading Grand Slam

Kindergarten through Sixth Grade students can win free books and a night at the Vermont Mountaineers (July 21st). Through the Barre chapter of Altrusa International’s Summer Reading Grand Slam program, kids can win free books just for reading this summer. The form is in your summer reading packet from the NES Library (if you are a student at NES)!

Sites About Favorite Books

Harry Potter

This is the official site at Scholastic.com. Take a quiz on the books, learn about the author, or send a message by owl post. Check out the pronunciation guide and listen to words and names from the books (like "Hermione") being pronounced correctly!

Marc Brown's Arthur

See Arthur and all his friends and play a game or print out an activity to do later.

Junie B. Jones

Read a letter from Junie B., find a fun activity, even take a quiz to see how much you know about the Junie B. Jones books.

Magic Tree House

Information on the books and the author, activities, and a Readers & Writers Club, plus special information for teachers.

Lemony Snicket

For you Series of Unfortunate Events fans!

Authors' Pages

Authors A-K

Authors L-Z

Visit the sites of your favorite authors using these links from the KidSpace @ The Internet Public Library.
Or try the links below!

Jan Brett's Home Page

In addition to information about the author and her books, you'll find lots of activities and fun stuff.

Brian Jacques: The Official Web Site

Brian Jacques is the author of the Redwall series and other books.

Dav Pilkey's Extra Crunchy Web Site O' Fun!

A web site from the author of the Captain Underpants series, as well as Dogzilla, Kat Kong, and many more.

Back to top of this page

Peggy Rathmann's web site

Check out the Hamster Tours site mentioned in the 1999-2000 winning Red Clover book 10 Minutes Till Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann. See a hamster photo album, learn how to make 10-Minute Bedtime Tour Snacks "Ants On A Banana-Bus" or make "The Amazin' HamsterScope!" Or you can find out about other books she has written.

Janet Stevens

You may remember Janet Stevens as the illustrator and one of the authors of the 2006-2007 Red Clover Award winner, The Great Fuzz Frenzy and the illustrator of the Epossumondas books. On her website, among other things, she explains the steps she takes to make illustrations. There is an interesting explanation of how the publisher reproduces the colors in books.

More authors' pages could be added! (Let me know who you'd like to see listed.)

Additional Literature Sites

How a Book is Made

An on-line version of the Aliki book which shows the stages in making a book, from the author's idea through the finished book reaching a reader.

Fables, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends

Links to e-texts. Don't miss the section of folktales from other countries!

KidSpace: Reading Zone: Magazines

Links to the web sites for lots of kids' magazines, like American Girl, National Geographic Kids, and lots more. Many have activities and quizzes along with articles to read.

More magazine websites you might enjoy:

Ranger Rick; Your Big Backyard; SI For Kids

URL: http://www.wssu.org/nes%20library%20page/lit.html