Links to Like

Children’s Literacy Links for Families and Teachers

This Kid Reviews books is a great place to discover your next read. Very family-friendly site.

Common Sense Media has reviews of books, apps, movies and more with the kind of information parents and kids really want to know, pus lots of articles and suggestions on raising smart, savvy kids.

Growing Book by Book is an amazing source of ideas, booklists, bookclubs, literacy activities and inspiration for parents with young readers. This is the web site I WISH I had the time, creativity and knowledge to have created myself!

Education Week blog: The Book Whisperer – An amazing archive of advice from Donalyn Miller: 6th grade reading teacher, mentor to many other teachers, and author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child.

Reading Rainbow is still alive and strong, with shows, reviews, articles and a free app.

Reading is Fundamental is the #1 nonprofit in america making sure books get into the hands of all kids. There’s tons of tips, games, reviews, articles and more on this site.

What Do We Do All Day is one of the best blogs I’ve ever seen for families. Books, activities, recipes and more. Well organized by topic, easy to search or browse. Plus its author, Erica, is seriously the Queen of Pinterest. I totally grab every list of books she pins.

MrsP.com is a free children’s storybook website celebrating reading and books. It features “Mrs. P” reading stories to kids and is so cute!

tales2go.com streams audiobooks from leading publishers so you can play them on mobile devices almost anywhere

Bookopolis.com is a great online place for kids to connect about books

2SmalltoFail (www.toosmall.org) is dedicated to improving health, literacy and school readiness in kids 0-5.

Mr. Schu has more expertise in K-5 books than almost anyone. Check out his site for what kids want to read now!

 

Literacy Organizations Worthy of Your Support

Literate Nation focuses on “helping parents and teachers ensure all children are literate, educated and prepared with 21st century skills needed to flourish in school, career, and life.”

ReadAloud.org is a nonprofit making it their mission to make reading aloud with every child at least 15 minutes a day the new standard in child-rearing/child-care.

Reading is Fundamental is the #1 nonprofit in America making sure books get into the hands of all kids. There’s tons of tips, games, reviews, articles and more on this site.

First Book is also incredibly active in getting books to kids in need.

 Bring Me A Book’s “integrated programs seek to change access to books, and change awareness and action for parents, caregivers, and educators, by providing support and tools for early literacy development…so that we can change lives.”

In my journey from hopeful writer to published children’s author, I foresee needing a lot of help. Luckily, it’s available day and night! So when insomnia sits on my shoulder and the “I am out of my depth” thoughts creep in – these are some of the sites that keep me sane.

General Good Advice for Aspiring Writers of Children’s Literature

The go-to gold standard. Not a member? You should be! SCWBI website

Try a truly fantastic website for all writers, and winner of too many awards to count: Rachelle Burk’s Resources for Children’s Writers.

Agent, editor, and all-around amazing person Mary Kole shares her wealth of knowledge at KidLit.com

You cannot get better advice and insider information on the children’s book industry anywhere than what you’ll find at A Path to Publishing – a cooperative effort of literary agent Jill Corcoran and “Plot Whisperer” Martha Alderson.

Expert advice, critiques and classes from writers who have been there, done that, and written the book(s)! Sudipta Bardhen-Qualen and Kami Kinard’s Kidlit Writing School is a great resource.

Get KidLit news, events and more from the non-profit The Children’s Book Council .

Writing for Children and Teens by Cynthea Liu is just a goldmine of information.  Check it out.

KidLit411.com has so many resources, links and interviews!

Writing and Illustrating is the site of author/illustrator Kathy Temean, who has tremendous amounts of experience, information, and connections to share.

LauraSassiTales has author/illustrator info, contests, reviews, and more.

Information, inspiration, and hit-the-ground-running advice from a marvelous author: Julie Hedlund.

Writing for Kids While Raising Them, the fabulous website of Tara Lazar, speaks for itself.

Literary agent and writer Nathan Bransford’s  FAQs will answer questions before you even have them.

Need to know more about publishers? I just discovered this great site: Meet the Imprint by the Children’s Book Council.

 

What? Authors need a blog? For this not-so-techie introvert, these are life-savers!

Find step-by-step instructions on all the things you don’t know how to do, written by an amazing woman, at The Techy Teacher. (I am not kidding. Her website literally taught me how to post this link to her website. And she once held my head while I puked.)

Need to know how to market yourself as an author on social media? Easy to find answers at Market Your Book.

It doesn’t get clearer than this: HowtoMakeMyBlog.com