Literature & Games

Research Help (research resources, news, study resources and tutorials)

Diversity in Literature

Video – The Effective Use of Game-Based Learning in Education | Andre Thomas | TEDxTAMU

Children’s Literature Games
  • Literature Games – Children can enjoy playing various online word games based on books such as How to Eat Fried Worms and The Black Stallion.
  • PBS Reading Games – PBS is a leader in kid’s entertaining educational programming with shows such as Word Girl, Elmo and Super Why. Give your child the opportunity to strengthen his reading skills with a variety of reading games, based on PBS show characters, offered on the site.
  • Story Toolz – Children will delight in the opportunity to play these literature-based games that feature their favorite characters or storylines.
  • Student Reading Interactives – Choose from 10 exciting reading games that are geared for children in grades K-2. Flash Player is required.

Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature – Searchable database with over 10,000 records from 125 awards across six English-speaking countries. You can limit your search by ethnicity/nationality of the protagonist, language, age of the reader, and more.

Annenberg Learner – Browse list of K-12 multimedia classroom resources for teaching about a wide range of subjects.

Juvenile Series and Sequels – Created and kept up-to-date by the Mid-Continent Public Library in Kansas City, Mo., this database contains over 36,000 books in 4,900 series titles that are classified into three reading audiences: birth through 2nd grade, 2nd through 6th grade, and 6th through 12th grade. Users can also browse books by book title, author, series title, and subject.

Typing Tutors For Kids

Reading Rockets – The National Institutes of Health estimates that one in five children has serious difficulties learning to read. These children are potentially among the most troubled kids in society. With early identification and a lot of help, however, children who struggle to read can flourish; without it they are at risk for failure in school and in life.

Aaron Shepard’s RT Page – Improve the reading fluency of your students in a fun way. Children’s author Aaron Shepard offers free access to an acclaimed series of Reader’s Theater scripts that you can use in your classroom. He also offers tips for making the most of Reader’s Theater with your students.

Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site – Book reviews for children’s books, curriculum implementation ideas and professional topics are what you’ll find at this site created by the late Carol Hurst who was a well-known lecturer, author and language arts consultant.

Seussville – Find links to engaging lesson plans, whimsical printables and fun-filled activities related to various books written by Dr. Seuss.

Read Kiddo, Read – In the “Lesson Plans for Educators” portion of this site, find over 70 links to lesson plans and discussion questions for various children’s books such as James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel.

Storyline Online – The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more. Storyline Online receives over 100 million views annually from children all over the world.

Children’s Literature Author/Illustrator Directory – Find links to tons of children’s literature authors and illustrators. The directory’s convenient A to Z format offers easy searching.

Little Parachutes – is a collection of “situation books” — which are “picture books that help children deal with life’s challenges.” Topics they cover include divorce, serious illness in the family, anxiety, moving, eating healthily, and others.

No Water River – Find poetry performance tips, lists of children’s poetic term and forms and a poetry video library that contains over 100 videos of poem presentations and interviews with poets.

The Best Children’s Books.org – Self-sacrifice, service and helping others are traits that all children should have the opportunity to learn. Check out this link for examples of children’s books that offer examples of service within their stories. Also included for each book: grade level recommendations, summaries and a peek inside.

Cooperative Children’s Book Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison – The CCBC features up-to-date lists of award-winning and “best of” titles as well as topical children’s book lists covering subjects such as labor, grief and loss, seasons, and civic engagement.

Kids Like Us – is a non-profit organization “dedicated to the literacy learning of children in city schools.” To this end, they feature book lists that allow you to search according to the race of the characters, book genre, themes, and gender of the characters. They also offer recommended book sets for purchase from authors such as Nina Crews and for topics such as “primary urban fiction.”

We Give Books – This website offers children the opportunity to give the gift of a new book to a specific nonprofit charity each time they read a Penguin or DK children’s book online via this site.

Getting Kids Reading – Parents, you’re sure to want to bookmark this site. Discover plenty of games, books, crafts and creative ideas to promote a love of reading in children.

Read Write Think – Utilize a study guide that explains three reading methods for promoting fluency and comprehension. Methods include Reader’s Theatre, performing poetry and choral reading.

Learning School Radio – A collection of audio resources from the BBC that serve to stimulate children’s imaginations and inspire them to love reading.

Story Place – Many of the same things you can do during an in-person visit to the library, you can do virtually on Story Place. Favorite stories and activities are presented in mobile and desktop formats.

Shakespeare for Kids – This website provides plenty of activities for children and families. Solve puzzles, answer quizzes and learn new words based on Shakespeare, his works and Elizabethan England.

Teaching Kids News – Enjoy free, kid-friendly news stories that are perfect to use with students in grades 2 to 8. The authors provide the appropriate vocabulary and context for every news story they write and include critical thinking questions.

Teach with Picture Books – Teach with Picture Books is a helpful resource to learn about ideas, activities and games that you can use with picture books to enhance instruction in grades 3 to 8.