Looking for fun and educational websites for kids? The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), which is a division of the American Library Association, just launched a fantastic, newly-designed resource: Great Websites for Kids. 

The site compiles exemplary websites geared to children from birth to age 14 and are selected by a committee of librarians from around the country. To help narrow down the many choices and select only the best of the best, the committee uses the following guidelines (adapted from the Great Websites for Kids Selection Criteria): 

How to Tell if You Are Looking at a Great Website

• Author/Sponsorship: Who Put Up the Site?
• Purpose: Every Site Has a Reason for Being There.
• Design and Stability: A Great Site Has Personality and Strength of Character.
• Content: A Great Site Shares Meaningful and Useful Content that Educates, Informs, or Entertains.

Hey kids, have you seen the new virtual world, multi-player online game (MMOG) called Monkey Quest just released by Nikelodeon?? It's great! You can create your own monkey avatar, explore all sorts of locations and interact with other characters as you unlockl the secrets of the lost Monkey King on the mysterious island of Ook. Mokey Quest is free to play, but if you want the enhanced features (secret access to areas and activities) then you've got to pay to play. It looks like a console game, but is web-based and kids actually participated in the creation of the game!

Rated E for Everyone

The iKids have been busy honing their tech skills in this weekly registered class. For every first session our techy tweens make avatars for their very own Darien Library accounts. Check out these kid-friendly websites where you can design an avatar.

Build Your Wild Self 

Mii Creator

ArtisanCam

On ArtisanCam kids can explore the work of contemporary artist Julian Opie. Once the portrait is created it can be included in the online gallery.  

Getting kids excited about reading is all about find that "just right" book. 

The Children's Librarians LOVE to help kids and parents find great new books to read.  You can stop in anytime for a personal consultation.  You can also check out our Online Booklists. 

Looking for even more book recommendations? 

Here are a bunch of great book websites for kids:

Which book is missing from the series? :-) Picture by awinn233

Question:  Every wondered what book 26 is in the Geronimo Stilton series? 

Answer:  The Mummy with No Name

An easy place to find the answer is right here. 

A library in Missouri has organized tons of series!  It's pretty awesome; it contains over 29,000 children's books.

You can also use the database Novelist.  Find children's books similar to other books, their descriptions, and reviews of them too.  Have your library card handy.

Getting kids excited about reading is all about find that "just right" book. 

The Children's Librarians LOVE to help kids and parents find great new books to read.  You can stop in anytime for a personal consultation.  You can also check out our Online Booklists. 

Looking for even more book recommendations? 

Here are a bunch of great book websites for kids:

Kerpoof is all about having fun, discovering things, and being creative.

It's winter - I'm cold and stuck inside!  What can you do? If you've played runescape for a bazillion hours straight, maybe you're ready for a change?

Enter, Kerpoof!  This site ROCKS!  You can create orignial artwork, make an animated movie (it's easy!), tell stories and vote on things other kids created.  Best part?  It's all free!  There is a lot you can do on kerpoof and it might be nice to share with your little sister or brother too since some of the activities are even easy enough for younger kids to play and create. We'd love to see what you make - email us at crstaff@darienlibrary.org if you would like to share!

Click is a great site inspired by the equally great magazine!  Have fun playing with the online games, the printable projects to play offline and check out their great monthly booklists for further exploration. This site (and magazine) is definitely for you if you are a curious kid!

I came across this link to a game new game called Ekoloko and spent some time playing around in it.  There are some really cool things about it, but I have to warn you, you'll need a little patience as you figure out how to move around in the world and play the games. Accounts are free, but you'll need to get your parents' permission first.

Ekoloko is a new virtual world where kids can chat & play games with friends AND take care of the environment! The world is gorgeously colored, the graphics relaly stand out.  And a neat feature for all your bi-lingual types out there, it is available in Hebrew and English!  If you like playing Club Penguin, but are ready for a greater challenge, give Ekoloko a try!

Hey kids, not only does FunBrain.com have awesome smart games, but did you know you can actually read the entire 1st Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney for FREE on it? Seriously, just click the arrow to turn the pages!  Have you ever done a MadLib before? In MabLibs Junior you choose or create your own adjectives, verbs and nouns that get put into super silly and fun stories!