Authors and Books Tips

Alice in Wonderland

Did you know that the author of Alice in Wonderland was a math professor? Many aspects of his books have math in them. However, even if you don't recognize the math, the book is fun to read. Here are some sites about the book:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland This is an online version of the book. Print it out and put it in a notebook for your very own copy.

Alice in Wonderland:An Interactive Adventure This site has games based on the book. It requires Javascript and Java.

The Making of Alice in Wonderland This article tells you how the story came to be and also gives background on the illustrations. This page isn't just for kids, so as always, surf with a parent.

Comments

   

The Narnia Books

If you enjoy Harry Potter, you will probably also enjoy reading the Narnia series. The series of fantasy books was written by C.S. Lewis, who was born in Ireland. He started as by writing for adults, and when he decided to write the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, his friends advised him not to. People often thought that only writing for adults was important. He wrote it anyway,and, although many adults didn't like it, children (and now adults) have been loving it ever since it was first written in 1950. It has everything you love about Harry-interesting characters, magic, wizards, adventure...try one and see for yourself.

For more information, visit these sites:

The Chronicles of Narnia This large site from Kids Almanac on InfoPlease has lots of information about Narnia. There is a history, a crossword puzzle, a list of the books in the correct order, and even information about all the good food in the books.

Narnia.com Learn more about Narnia and anwswer questions to win a free copy of the final book.

Comments

   

Robert Munsch

Robert Munsch wrote Love You Forever, and Aaron's Hair. He is a first grade teacher in addition to being a writer. To learn more about him, visit these web sites:

Robert Munsch.com

This is the official page for the author. Find a complete list of his books, notes about what is new in his life, a really, really funny biography, and stories written by children. You can also listen to the author tell stories. The site also tells you how to write to him-and he might even write a poem about you!

Robert Munsch Q&A.

Scholastic invited readers to submit questions to the author. Check out the answers here.

Comments

   

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew has been around so long your grandmother probably curled up with her stories on a dark and stormy night. She has changed a lot over the years, but she is still independent and happily solving mysteries. Want to learn more or just have fun? Try these sites:

Nancy Drew Kids This is the official Nancy Drew site. Read original adventures, play games, meet other fans and, if you're a teacher, even get lesson plans. Surf with a parent.

Pawprints Books Kids Corner You can read reviews of Nancy Drew mysteries and then write your own reviews to be published. Surf with a parent and get permission to submit.

Nancy Drew Coloring Pictures Print and color two pictures of Nancy.

Comments

   

Natalie Babbit

Natalie Babbit writes books that really make you think. She is best-known for Tuck Everlasting. Bruce Coville says it's the best book written in fifty years! Check these sites out to learn more:

Ask the Author: Natalie Babbit The Internet Public Library has a short biography of the author.

Natalie Babbit's Biography This is really an autobiography. It's her story in her own words and includes a link to the interview.

Horn Book Acrostic Natalie Babbit made this acrostic puzzle for you to print out and solve.

Comments

   

Beverly Cleary

Almost everyone loves Ramona the Pest or Henry and Ribsy. The author, Beverly Cleary, is a very interesting person too. Check out these sites to learn more:

Blackbird Beverly
Blackbirds were the worst readers in class. Beverly Cleary had a terrible time learning to read. Find out how she finally became a reader.

Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden
Beverly Clearly grew up in Portland, Oregon. This children's page shows you the sculptures based on her books, tells you where to write her and even shows you what she looks like.

Meet Beverly Cleary
This site gives you a little information about her life, tells you where to write Ramona and shows you what other children have written, allows you to read and write reviews of the books and has an activity guide.

Comments

   

Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville writes exciting books about fantasy, unicorns, aliens and other things kids believe in. Try these sites to learn more:

Official Bruce Coville Webpage Yes, Bruce Coville has his own page. Okay, he's a bit of a procrastinator and some of the links lead to blank pages, but what is there is fun. He has frequently asked questions, information about books he's writing, and a way to buy autographed books.

Interview Bruce Coville was interviewed by a group of children for this article.

Comments

   

Little House on the Prairie

Did you know that Little House on the Prairie is actually a true story? All the Little House books were written by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her own life. Her daughter, Rose, who was already a famous writer, helped her to put the stories into a book for children. Rose also wrote about pioneer days in a book for older children. To learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder, try these sites:

Frontier Girl This is probably the best site about Laura on the entire web. Here, you can see her homes, pictures of the real family and even some of Laura's friends. You can read more about her life, get help with your school report on her, and even listen to songs from Pa's fiddle.

Jenny Sleg's Little House on the Prairie Pages This one isn't just for kids, so surf with a parent. Jenny has been a great page, that includes geneaology, links to the towns Laura lived in, and information on the television program.

Comments

   

Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton was the youngest of five children. All her life she listened to the stories her family told, so it is natural she would become a storyteller herself. She is the author of The Girl Who Spun Gold, M.C. Higgins the Great, Zeely and more. To learn more about this award-winning author, visit these sites:

Virginia Hamilton This is her very own web page, so start here. Read articles and interviews, learn about her books, and find out where to meet her. In addition, you can have fun on her site with frog jokes, (lots of frog stuff, actually), writing tips, and polls.

Authors Online Read an interview with Ms. Hamilton done by students.

An Exclusive Interview With Virginia Hamilton This short interview brings out some interesting information, such as the fact that Ms. Hamilton takes napping lessons.

Comments

   

Tedd Arnold

Tedd Arnold writes and illustrates children's books, including the Huggly books. Visit these sites to learn more:

Tedd Arnold's very own page. From here, you can find out exactly how he illustrates a book, check out questions kids ask him, or learn about his cat that loves reading.

Students interviewed Tedd Arnold. Why does he spell his name with two d's anyway?

Read a letterby Tedd Arnold about Dr. Seuss.

Comments

   

Are you a big brain?

Do you think you're an expert on children's books and authors? Study my tips and then take my Big Brain quiz on children's books and authors.

Big Brain

There is a place to sign up to win points for buying things or entering contests. Kids can't sign up! You can ask your parents to sign up, but don't give your email address and don't give theirs without permission. You can take the test without signing up.

Comments

   

Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Zilphah Keatley Snyder writes books that are scary, exciting and hard-to-put-down. She wrote the Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and other books for children. Check out these sites to learn more:

Zilpha Keatley Snyder Read a letter she sends children who write her, email her at her own email address, read her autobiography, learn how she writes and more on this terrific site.

The Egypt Game and the Gypsy Game This page has teaching ideas for teachers about these books. You can use them to come up with ideas for reports and projects.

Comments

   

Carolyn Arnold

Carolyn Arnold is the author of over a hundred books for children, including The Terrible Hodag. Check out these sites to learn more about her:

Carolyn Arnold This is her very own page. From here you can learn about her books, get ideas for projects based on her books, find out how to get her to come to your school, or learn more about her. This is a very well-done site.

Kids Bookshelf Read an interview with the author to learn more about the author and her writing.

Comments

   

Bookworm Sites

There is nothing better than curling up with a great book. There are so many books on the shelves though? How do you know which ones are for you? The net has some great resources to help you choose. Remember though, that only you can really decide which books are right for you, and sometimes you might be surprised. Read the jacket cover, read the first two pages..and think...do I want to know more about this story? If you do, read the book. Here are some sites to help you choose:

Book Adventure This site has quizzes about books, quizzes that help you choose books, and a chance to win prizes for reading books.

Book Hive This is a great place to find books for kids your age. There are reviews by topic and age, as well as coloring pages, quizes and other activities.

Comments

   

Louisa May Alcott

Do you love to curl up with Little Women? Do you long to have been an Alcott, learning in her father's school or listening to people talk who would someday make history? Louisa wrote the books about events from her own childhood, although she changed some details and made up other things. For instance, Jo married Professor Baer, but Louisa never did get married. To learn more, try visiting these fun sites:

Alcotts and Orchard House Take a virtual tour of the Orchard House that Louisa and her family lived in. We believe this is the house featured in Little Women, although the events didn't actually happen in that house.

Hypertext You can read Little Women online here.

Little Men Read the sequel online at this site.

The Alcotts A short biography of her father and of the writing she did at Wayside.

Comments