Electronic Books and Online Reading
How can I encourage students to read online stories?
Are novels available online?
How can students get involved in creating online stories?
Explore
online reading including interactive stories, articles, and books.
Involve readers in writing stories including adding
to stories, writing new endings, creating illustrations, and facilitating
discussions.
Look for online stories that make good use of the technology. For example Make a Story is an interactive, only story that including animation, audio, and interaction.
Also seek out electronic books not available elsewhere. For example the Rosetta Project contains a collection of nearly 2000 antique children's books online.
Explore the following sections of this page for specific types of online reading materials.
- Early Reading and Primary Grades
- Intermediate/Middle Grades
- Young Adults and Adults
- By Kids, For Kids
- Content Area Reading
- Lists and Collections
- Reviewing and Creating Online Books
Key to Icons
Something
for All Ages including High School and Adults
Easy-to-read
Macromedia
Flash (or Shockwave) (Download
free players)
Sound
in website
Multiple
languages
Submit
your own writing or personalize stories
Exceptional
Quality
Early Reading and Primary Grades
The following books include wordless books, picture books, and easy to read books for younger children. Many also have stories for older students.
The Adventurous Bunny
and Easter Island
http://www.learningbox.com/bunny/
Page by page format, easy, colorful pictures
Aesop's Fables
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/
Fables retold by students including the traditional and modern versions.
Aesop's Fables
http://www.aesopfables.com/
Read and listen to over 655 fables in index.
Ant Bee's Childrens' Books and Stories
http://www.antbee.com/default.asp
Easy reading stories, with story of the month.
Bab Books
http://www.sundhagen.com/babbooks/
Online stories for kids.
Baglan's Big Books
http://www.learn-ict.org.uk/projects/primary/bigbooks/
Great books for beginning readers.
Beantime Stories
http://www.meddybemps.com/5.1.html
Lots of stories for young readers and listeners.
Bedtime Stories
http://www.bedtime-story.com/bedtime-story/indexmain.htm
http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/
Short stories (animals, classics, fantasy, Native American stories)
Between the
Lions
http://pbskids.org/lions/stories.html
Great stories for beginning readers. Based on a popular TV show.
Big Books from NatureGrid
http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/infant/bigbook.html
Great books to read online! Available in Welch and English. Great example of
an interactive book.
Billy Bear's Playground
http://216.90.96.108/story/books.htm
Stories featuring Billy Bear. Including Personalized
Stories.
BookPals
http://bookpals.net/storyline/index.html
Great popular children's books read by famous actors!
BookPop
http://bookpop.com/bookpop.html
Books written and narrated by Stephen Cosgrove.
Boowa and
Kwala
http://www.boowakwala.com
Animated stories and songs, doesn't work on all systems.
The Busses
of Sunnydown Garage
http://www.sunnydownbuses.com/
Explore the town of Sunnydown by through reading and exploring.
Candlelight Stories
http://www.candlelightstories.com/morekids.asp
A wide range of stories. Some free and some subscription.
Children Story from Mary Cavanaugh
http://www.childrenstory.com/
Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, interactive stories, and holiday stories with audio.
Children's Storybooks
Online
http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html
Short stories with some sound,
animation and activities.
Clifford Interactive Storybooks
http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/index.htm
Read a story and play a game with Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Drippy Drop
http://www.kimballmedia.com/Drippy/index.htm
Story about a drop of water.
Enchanted Learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/
Enchanted learning contains rhymes,
stories,and lots of activities for young
readers.
Fablevision
http://www.fablevision.com/index.htm
This site contains great stories and activities for all ages. Use the Library to
locate stories. Don't
miss North
Star. It's available in both English in Spanish. Some stories can be downloaded
for
use
later.
Everything
from
picture
books to chapterbooks are available for free.
Grid Club
http://www.gridclub.com/have_a_go/english/english.shtml
Stories, adventures, and interactive games. Some sections now are subscription.
John and El's Bear Time
http://www.beartime.com
Easy-to-read stories use photographs of teddy bears. Includes bear tales,
poems, and songs.
International Children's Digital Library from University of Maryland
http://www.icdlbooks.org/
Scanned picture books from around the world.
Kennedy Center's Storytime Online
http://www.kennedy-center.org/multimedia/storytimeonline/
Includes Brothers of the Knight, Harlem: A Poem, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Kids'
Corner from Wired for Books
http://wiredforbooks.org/kids.htm
Read Peter Rabbit and
many of her Beatrix Potter stories online. Also
available in French, German, and Japanese. Also, listen to Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, Frog Prince, Christmas Carol, Grimm's
Fairy Tales, and more.
Kids on the Net
http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/create/stories.cfm
They have two fun interactive reading areas. Visit Monster
Hotel and Kids'
Castle.
KidzPage
http://www.veeceet.com/
Stories and poems for children.
Learning Planet
http://members.learningplanet.com/directory/
Some free activities and online books such as Alphabet
Action.
Lil' Fingers
http://www.lil-fingers.com/
Stories for toddlers. Many with sounds.
Make a Story
http://www.riverdeep.ne/
An interactive, only story that including animation, audio, and interaction.
Mama Lisa's World
http://www.mamalisa.com/world/northam.html
Songs and poems from around the world. She also has Nursery
Rhymes.
Mighty Book
http://www.mightybook.com/
Animated books. Samples are free including Barnyard
Babies and Moogie
the Messy Beastie.
The Official Berenstain Bears' Website
http://www.berenstainbears.com/
Read bear country stories with the Berenstain Bears. Read books
in the Barn
Theater.
Papa's Poems
http://aatalbert.songbird.com/PapasPoems/
Lots of original poems for children with original illustrations.
PBS Kids
http://pbskids.org/stories.html
Stories based on PBS characters.
Reading A-Z
http://www.readinga-z.com/
Subscription site with a few free items.
The Real Mother Goose
http://trmg.designwest.com
The original book with illustrations.
Rosetta Project: Pre-Reader & Early Readers
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library-pre-reader.htm
Scanned antique books.
Room 108
http://netrover.com/~kingskid/108.html
Read stories with sounds, animation, games, and songs.
Sesame Street Stories
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/?scrollerId=stories
Read easy and wordless stories such as Buckle
Up, Teddy, Elmo
Goes to the Doctor, Elmo's
Special Cupcakes, High
Noon, Lemonade
Stand, Spotty
Day, Thanks
for the Memories, Wear
Your Helmet, The
Yucky Letter M, Zoo
Who?
Star Fall
http://www.starfall.com/
One of the best places for beginning readings with simple stories and great activities.
You can even write for free materials!
Story Creations by
Sears Portrait Studios
http://www.searsportrait.com/StoryBook/StoryBook_StoryIndex.asp
Lots of great personalized storybooks.
Story Hour
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/storyhour/
Read and listen to simple stories. Check out Mother
Goose.
Story Place
http://www.storyplace.org/
Read, listen to stories, and play games in English and Spanish. Sections
for different ages.
StoryBox from Dreambox
http://www.dreambox.com/storybox/storybox.shtml
Read BlueBear, Honey Bees & Bears, and Bears in the Attic. Very easy
to read!
Storyville
http://www.alfy.com/Storyville/
There are 10 great stories to read here. You can choose to read them
yourself, or have them read out loud to you. The illustrations are
funny!
Tell Me A Story
http://www.tellmeastory.com/
Stories for children to read and explore
Theodore Tugboat Stories
http://www.theodoretugboat.com
Read stories about the famous tugboat. Includes interactive stories.
Titch
http://www.titch.net/front.htm
Read a story about the Titch.
Toad Hall Library
http://www.thetoadhall.com/library.html
Stories with sound, animation, and graphics.
Tumblebooks
http://tumblebooks.com/
Great online books - subscription required.
Wacky Web Tales
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/
Read stories and create your own personalized stories.
Webbed into Literacy
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/home.html
Aimed at head start teachers, contains many e-books and activities.
Whootie Owl's Stories to Grow
By
http://www.storiestogrowby.com/
Myths, fables and stories with children's illustrations
Virtual
Church Kids!
http://www.virtualchurch.org/kids.htm
Popular, illustrated Bible stories.
Intermediate/Middle Grades
These books are designed for children who are past the picture book stage and ready for short stories and chapter books. However they are a little easier to read than books for middle and upper grades.
4 to 40
http://www.4to40.com/
Poems, stories, and folktales.
ABC Arts Online: Winged
Sandals
http://www.wingedsandals.com/
Explore Hermes the messenger god and learn about gods, heroes, and monsters.
Adventures of Banph
http://www.banph.com/menu.htm
Chapter book about an ant with activities.
Amazing Adventures
http://www.amazingadventure.com/index_fl.htm
Read two (June the
Prune and Lazy
Circles) flash-enhanced stories with RealAudio, with activities.
American Folklore
http://americanfolklore.net/
Tall tales, myths and legends, ghost & spooks, and more.
Antique Books
http://www.antiquebooks.net/library.html
This antique collection includes scanned copies of the Golden Books.
Bunyips from National
Library of Australia
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/
Aboriginal stories from Australia including sound and animation. Very cool!
Brookfield Zoo
http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/pagegen/wok/index_f4.html
Interactive story
Chunky Monkey's Rain Forest
Friends
http://www.chunkymonkey.com/rainforest/rainforest.htm
Read stories set in the rainforest.
Classic Children's Stories
http://childhoodreading.com/
Stories and poems by author and illustrator.
Croatian Tales of Long Ago
http://www.bulaja.com/fairytales/pitanje.htm
Great animated fairy tales. (watch for popups)
Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.kidsplanet.org/
Articles and activities on wildlife and conservation. Be sure to read Web
of
Life.
Farmhouse Fables
http://www.fables.co.uk/
Read stories set next to the Old Farmhouse.
Fletcher Hil - The Place
Online
http://FletcherHill.com/
Read intermediate reading level online stories such as Rosie and Her Paintbrush,
Blue-Lined Socks, Buck BuckAA, Magic Basket and Jar, Treasure of Shard Mountain,
Zoobaybay, Rix, Stained Glass Wings, Giant the Squirrel, Force Magnified, and
Wind-up Dog. Some in comic book format.
Giggle Poetry
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
Many fun poems to read.
Grandpa Tucker's Rhymes & Tales
http://www.night.net/tucker/
Stories, poems, and songs. Lots of fun!
Grimm Brothers
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/
Choose the type of fairy tale you wish to read by answering questions and making
choices.
Hans Christian Anderson
http://hca.gilead.org.il/
Fairy tales and stories
HanuKat
http://www.hanukat.com/story.htm
Read Hanukkah stories.
Ika's Stories
http://www.ika.com/stories/menu.html
Stories in both English and Spanish.
International Children's Digital Library from University of Maryland
http://www.icdlbooks.org/
Scanned picture books from around the world.
KidWizard - Interactive Story
http://www.kidwizard.com/story.asp
A personalized story about wizards, magical creatures, and kids.
MacScouter Ghost
Stories
http://www.macscouter.com/Stories/GhostStories.html
Great spooky stories!
Magic Scroll
http://youth.bensenville.lib.il.us/MagicScroll/
This is an example of an interactive story where you make choices and see a different
story each time.
Merpy.com
http://www.merpy.com/
Read animated, musical, and interactive tales.
Mike Rofone - The Roving
Reporter
http://www.mikerofone.com/contents.html
Online chapterbook about the adventures of a roving reporter.
MysteryNet's Kids Mysteries
http://kids.mysterynet.com/
Great online mysteries for kids.
MythWeb
http://www.mythweb.com/
Contains information
Neverending Tale
http://www.coder.com/creations/tale/
Read the teachers section for access to a classroom version.
Nightmare Room
http://www.thenightmareroom.com/
Explore your own personal nightmare!
Peetnick Mysteries
http://151.138.2.30/enlightenme/superthinkers/pages/welcome.html
Great online, interactive mystery set in Clutterbuck Valley. Great for reluctant
readers.
Planet OzKids
http://www.planetozkids.com/
Stories and mysteries for middle grades. Includes detective
stories and myths and legends.
Poetry for Kids
http://www.poetry4kids.com/
Read fun poems and learn to write poems.
Pomp
http://pompstory.home.mindspring.com/index.html
The true story of the baby on the Sacagawea Dollar.
Prince Apple Head Humpledink
http://www.short2000.com/prince/
Read a story about a prince.
Raccoons from Mars
http://www.gti.net/mountarlington/RACMAR/index.html
Read about raccoons from Mars.
Rosetta Project: Intermediate Readers
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library-intermediate.htm
Scanned antique books for intermediate readers.
Secrets at Sea
http://www.secretsatsea.org/
Educational adventure game to explore oceans.
Shoo Rayner
http://www.shoo-rayner.co.uk/
Website with short stories and ideas for writing your own interactive books.
Don't
miss the Alien Abduction.
Storybook from Kid's Channel
http://www.kids-channel.co.uk/strybook/index.htm
Read four stories. You can even submit your own story.
Storybook Online
http://www.storybookonline.net/Default.aspx
Readers read, listen, and write books online.
The Symphony of Friendship
http://www.mandala.co.jp/B9/P00E.html
Story set in Japan.
Tales of Wonder
http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/
Over 80 folk and fairy tales from around the world.
Zen Stories
http://www.rider.edu/%7Esuler/zenstory/zenstory.html
Fables and stories in the Zen tradition.
Young Adults & Adults
Bartleby.com
http://www.bartleby.com/
Great sound for online literature in many categories.
Bibliomania
http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/frameset.html
More than 2000 texts with study and research guides.
Book a Minute
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/
Fun, ultracondenses books. It would be fun to have students create their own.
Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/
This encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and legend has many things to read
and explore.
Favorite Poem
http://www.favoritepoem.org/
People read their favorite poems. Both audio and video are available.
HyperText Literary Works
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/
Classic fiction online.
Internet Classics Archive
http://classics.mit.edu/index.html
Contains 441 works of classical literature by 59 authors.
Moonlit Road
http://www.themoonlitroad.com/
Ghost stories and folktales from the American south told by regional storytellers.
Mysterynet.com
http://www.mysterynet.com/
Read stories and participate in activities and discussions.
Perseus Digital Library
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
Lots of online texts.
Poets.org
http://www.poets.org/booth/booth.cfm
Read and listen to poems by famous poets.
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.net/
Tons of classic text in many languages.
Reference Department Electronic Texts and Images Collection
http://www.indiana.edu/%7Elibrcsd/etext/
A few classic books including Hoosier history and Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Rosetta Project
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library.htm
Scanned antique books for advanced readers and adults.
By Kids, For Kids
Alan Brown Just for Kids
http://www.alanbrown.com/Websites/JustForKids/Menu.html
Stories and poems by kids. Submit your own!
Charlotte's
Web
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/charlotte/index.htm
Children developed materials, stories, and activities based on Charlotte's
Web.
EuroTales
http://www.eurotales.eril.net/
Explore folk and fairy tales in different languages as well as projects by
students.
Folk Tales from Around
the World
http://www.nsc.ru/folk/folktale.htm
As part of an i*earn project, students from many different countries submitted
folk tales.
School Central from Willoughbby
http://schoolcentral.com/Willoughby/
Lots of student projects to read and explore.
School Pages and Ezines from Kids on the Net
http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/ezines/index.cfm
Explore student writing.
Storybook from Kids-Space
http://www.kids-space.org/story/story.html
Read students written by kids and write your own.
Storybook Library from
University Park Elementary
http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/upk/books/books.html
Read stories by elementary and middle school students from Fairbanks, Alaska.
ThinkQuest
http://www.thinkquest.org/
This international project involves students in creating projects. Explore
their list of projects based on Books, Authors,
or Books
and Literature.
The Wizard of Oz
http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/oz/wizard1.html
Retelling of the Wizard of Oz by elementary students in Tempe, Arizona.
Young Writers & Illustrators
Contest Winners from Reading Rainbow
http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/contest/
Annual writing and drawing contest.
Content Area Reading
42explore
http://42explore.com
Links to many popular topics and resources.
American History from Smithsonian
http://americanhistory.si.edu/notkid/index.htm
Explore topics such as The
American Presidency. Also explore the National
Air and Space Museum.
American Museum
of Natural History Kids
http://www.amnh.org/kids/
This museum has many online stories and reading opportunities such as How
Lou
Got the Flu, Endangered! and Ology.
America's
Story
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi
Lots of readings and activities on American History
Art
Tales: Wildlife Art
http://www.wildlifeart.org/ArtTales/index.html
Wildlife reading, writing, and art.
Biomes and Ecosystems
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/
Readings on science from the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Field Museum in Chicago
http://www.fmnh.org/
Many exhibits include Sue at the Field
Museum
Learner Exhibits
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/
Lots of online exhibits and project such as Middle
Ages.
National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Online articles and projects including Lightning:
Shocking Story and National
Geographic World.
PBS
http://www.pbs.org/
Check out their many program projects. Also, check out PBSKids.
Scholastic
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/
Great articles, activities, and readings including Hiroshima:
A Survivor's Story
Teacher Tap
http://eduscapes.ccom/tap
Explore links to reference
resources, news
sources, and content
area links.
Theodore
Roosevelt
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/kidscorner/trchildrens.htm
Basic information about this president.
US History
http://www.ushistory.org/
Article on American History
Victor the Vector
http://www.ocean98.org/vict1.htm
Adventures at sea.
Lists and Collections
42eXplore:
Storytelling
http://eduscapes.com/42explore/story.htm
Links to storytelling websites
Alex Catalogue of Electronic Text
http://www.infomotions.com/alex/
Public domain documents from American and English literature.
Christmas Time Together
from Imagitek
http://www.imagitek.com/xmas/story/
Links to stories and poems with Christmas theme
Digital Book Index
http://www.digitalbookindex.org/
Links to nearly 1000,000 titles from around the world, about half are free.
Electronic Books for Handheld Devices
http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/
Lists ebooks for purchase for handheld devices.
EServer
http://eserver.org/
Links to many online books
Ethemes
Online Reading
http://emints.more.net/ethemes/resources/S00000259.shtml
Links to online reading websites
IPL
Online Texts
http://ipl.si.umich.edu/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/
Links to online texts
Iroquois Oral Traditions
http://www.indians.org/welker/iroqoral.htm
Links to many Native American Stories.
Online Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
Search a database to thousands of online books. This site is a great way to locate
books online.
Online Books from 4kids
http://www.4kids.com/Reading/kbooks.html
Links to online books.
Online Library
of Literature
http://www.literature.org/
Lots of online literature resources
Online
Story Links
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/1217/third6.html
Lots of links
Search Ebooks
http://www.searchebooks.com/
Search engine for ebooks
Stories in French from
IPL
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/browse/rzn7600/
Links to stories in French language.
Stories in Spanish from
IPL
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/browse/rzn7500/
Links to stories in Spanish language.
Webtime Stories
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/webtime/index.html
Provides a great list of links to stories in different categories.
Yahooligans-Listen
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/school_bell/language_arts/stories/listen_to_stories/
Links to online stories with sound
Yahooligans-Stories
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/school_bell/language_arts/stories/
Links to online stories
Reviewing and Creating Online Books
There are many places where you can find online stories and books. Many of these books can be printed and made into your own books. If you're looking for good online stories, use the word "story" in your search.
Read 75 Things to do in the classroom with eBooks. Many of these ideas can be applied to online books.
Review Books
As you evaluate online books, look for some of the following characteristics.
- Sound
- Clickable words with definitions or animation
- Easy-to-use navigation
- Easy-to-read fonts
- Meaningful story
- Reading level and vocabulary
Build Your Own
One of the exciting things about electronic reading materials is the ability to develop and use Hypertext. Hypertexts are a form of non-linear writing.
Read HyperText from English Online. Notice how students are creating their own Hypertexts.
Create your own electronic books! Start by reading a book about writing books! It's called Make a Book and you can read it online or download it. You can build web pages and post them online. Or, develop electronic books in HyperStudio, KidPix, or PowerPoint.
Use the following web resources for ideas whether you're writing online or traditional stories and books:
Exhibits Collection -
What Makes a Good Short Story?
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/
Takes you through writing a short story
Literature Circle Extension Project
http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/LitCircles/Extension/extension.html
This off-site project contains examples of many different kinds of books
that can be made.
Make a Book
http://www.superpages.com/enlightenme/superthinkers/pages/how_to.html
Easy to read book about making books.
Pop-Up Books
http://www.makersgallery.com/joanirvine/index.html
Learn to make pop-up books.
Write Site
http://www.writesite.org/
An interactive language arts and journalism project for middle schools
Writers for the Future
http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/about/wftf.htm
This project focuses on how to write hypertext, collaborative, and other
online media. Also check the Teacher's section.
Related Topics
To learn more about electronic books, check out our page on Ebooks, Epaper and Eink.
Read Ebooks
Design an activity that encourages students to
read online stories and books.