Websites for Young BookWyrms and Writers

Ben with the book he won in a raffle drawing.

Last night my son Ben's elementary school held "Family Reading Night".  (Personally, I think every night should be Family Reading Night, whether at school or home or wherever.)  The rest of our family was busy, but I took Ben to the 1-1/2 hour event.  He, like the other student participants, went dressed in his p.j.s.  He also brought his best friend (and stuffed rabbit) HopHop along.

There were different activities going on in various rooms throughout the school, including a book swap, a picture book reading and discussion about story elements, and some reading games.  And in the computer lab, the principal talked about various reading and writing websites that kids and their parents can use at home.

I thought I'd share some of those sites with you, since Ben and I found them interesting:

Book Wink -- Through podcasting and short book talk videos, this site aims to "connect kids in Grades 3 through 8 with books that will make them excited about reading."

Slime Kids Book Trailers -- Similar to movie trailers, these book trailers provide viewers with a brief peek into a variety of books and entice them to read.  In addition to the videos, each book listing also offers a description of the book and information about its author.

ReadWriteThink -- This site contains games & tools, tips & how-tos, printouts, and podcasts -- all designed to help parents help their kids learn to love reading and writing.

KidsReads -- On this site, you'll find book reviews, author interviews, contests, and more!

There was also a poetry site that Ben LOVED: ETTC's Instant Poetry Forms.

It helps young writers create poetry by filling in some boxes with their own word choices.  Ben composed two different poems and was so excited about them.  He even asked me if I would share them here on my blog, and I told him I would. :) I have a feeling we'll be logging on to this poetry site often from now on!

Ben composes a poem.

Here are Ben's poems, as promised:

I am a...

I am a snake,

green as a leaf.

I slither around.

I pounce on my prey.

I can camouflage myself.

I can curl around a branch.

I am a snake.

~ Ben H.

and

I Can't Write a Poem

Forget it!

You must be kidding.

I don't know how to spell.

I don't know what to write about.

All the letters come out sloppy.

I keep getting stuck.

I can't keep my eyes straight.

I'm busy.

My pencil keeps breaking.

Each day I have to go to bed and then I forget it.

Time's up? Uh-oh!

All I have is a dumb list of excuses.

You like it? Really? No kidding.

Thanks a lot.  Would you like to see another one?

~ Ben H.

Do you know about any other great sites for young writers and BookWyrms?  I'd love to hear about them and add them to the list here!