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Kids & Aliens

Cool Links for Kids

Of course, I don’t want you to wander too far away—I’ll miss you terribly if you go. It’ll be hard, but I’ll try to get along without you for a few minutes;)

In case you are interested, I have listed below a pile of fun websites for kids like us that I find interesting and fun. The first stuff is an alphabetical listing of interesting web pages of poets and authors I enjoy. Then there’s a few games and ideas, and some great school websites, if you scroll down a bit…

If you know of a few good websites for kids that you think I should include here, let me know. Mostly I’m listing sites here that celebrate poetry, books, and wordplay, and I’m definitely not including virtual gaming sites and places to buy junk.

Thanks!

Wowie ka-zowie – This amazing poetry activities site just was sent to me by Jess. It’s called:

“Road Trip Activities for the Car: Poetry Writing” by Carly Hallman

Here’s the link:

https://www.titlemax.com/articles/road-trip-activities-for-the-car-poetry-writing/

It has amazing info and links about “Poetry Writing Basics” and lots of links and resources for teachers and kids. So I’ve plopped this link on my “Great Links for Teachers” page too. Thanks Jess!

 

Children’s Poet & Author Pages (in alphabetical order)

Calef Brownhttp://www.calefbrown.com/

Calef is the author and illustrator of several fantastical books of poetry for kids. His website includes excerpts from his books, and many, many illustrations.

Paul Cookson –  http://www.paulcooksonpoet.co.uk/

Paul is a best-selling UK poet and performer, and the author of many collections of poetry, including Pants on Fire and Crazy Classrooms and Secret Staffrooms. His website contains biographical information, as well as details about his books, and a number of poems for you to enjoy.

Kalli Dakoshttp://www.kallidakos.com/

Kalli is the author of If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand, The Goof Who Invented Homework, and many other collections of poetry for children, including her newest called, A Funeral in the Bathroom.

Rebecca Kai Dotlich http://www.rebeccakaidotlich.com/

Rebecca is one of my favorite poets. Her website includes information about her fabulous books, her writing, and her school programs.

Dr Seusshttp://www.seussville.com/

Dr. Seuss was a huge influence on me, and still is. He is probably the best-known children’s poet and author ever. Here is Seussville, the official Dr. Suess website!

Douglas Florianhttp://floriancafe.blogspot.com/

Douglas Florian’s poems (and his remarkable illustrations too!) send me over the moon and back—they are that funny and great. His wordplay is the best ever. Sadly, he doesn’t have a website just for kids for his books, but you can get to them through his blog floriancafe.blogspot.com.

Kristine O’Connell Georgehttp://www.kristinegeorge.com/

Kristine is one of the top-top-top children’s poets. Her collections include Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems, The Great Frog Race, Old Elm Speaks, Little Dog Poems and many other picture books and poetry collections.

Charles Ghignahttp://www.charlesghigna.com/index.html

Also known as “Father Goose,” Charles is the author of Tickle Day and many other great poetry collections and picture books.

Nikki Giovanni  – http://www.nikki-giovanni.com/ichildrenspoetry.shtml

High energy, award-winning, African-American poet Nikki Giovanni, author of many collections of poetry for children, shares some of her poems and life here.

Nikki Grimeshttp://www.nikkigrimes.com/

Nikki Grimes’ website, “The Poetry Zone,” has her poems and books, and even some audio readings. Her many marvelous poems for kids, including those for middle-schoolers, speak honestly and powerfully of the African American experience.

Mary Ann Hobermanhttp://www.maryannhoberman.com/index.html

Mary Ann is an amazing author and poet. She is currently the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate—a well-deserved honor. Her many books for children, include the beloved A House Is a House for Me, winner of a National Book Award.

Sara Holbrookhttp://www.saraholbrook.com/

Sara is the author of The Dog Ate My Homework, Which Way to the Dragon, and other fine books of verse—mostly aimed at middle school readers.

Bobbi Katzhttp://www.bobbikatz.com/

Bobbi Katz has written tons of fine books of poetry for children, including A Rumpus of Rhymes: A Book of Noisy Poems, We the People, Could We Be Friends: Poems for Pals.

J. Patrick Lewishttp://www.jpatricklewis.com/

Pat Lewis is the author of 7 bazillion great children’s picture books (so far), many of which are poetry. His popular titles include The Bookworm’s Feast: A Potluck of Poems, A Hippopotamusn’t and Other Animal Poems, and 6.99 bazillion others.

Peter Louriehttp://peterlourie.com/

Pete is a remarkable writer and adventurer. I’m lucky that he is also a good friend of mine (and he takes the photos for my poetry collections). His non-fiction books are amazing. Check them out, and all of his cool travels and links at his website here.

Kenn Nesbitthttp://www.poetry4kids.com/

Kenn’s site is the most visited website for children’s poetry in the galaxy–for good reasons. He is a marvelously funny poet, and he has 3 bazillion things for you to do on his website.

Kenn has also developed an awesome site for finding funny poems from lots of poets, including me.

Here’s the link: https://www.giggleverse.com/

Eric Ode – http://www.ericode.com/for_kids.htm

Eric is a very talented friend of mine–a musician, poet and teacher–who has  a fun website with funny poems, games, and ways for your teachers to use his work in your classroom, or invite him to your school! Eric lives in Sumner, WA.

Robert Pottlehttp://www.robertpottle.com/

This poetry-for-kids site by Maine poet Robert Pottle has some very funny Robert Pottle poems, and you can hear him read them aloud, and vote for your favorites. Check it out!

Jack Prelutskyhttp://www.jackprelutsky.com/

As far as I’m concerned, Jack is the ‘godfather,’ the absolute ‘BOSS’ of kid’s poetry. And his website is fun too.

Darren Sardellihttp://www.laughalotpoetry.com/

LaughALotPoetry is the website of Darren Sardelli, a very funny poet from New York. Click on the “Poet Tree” to read some of Darren’s newest poems.

Andrea Shavickhttp://www.shavick.com/section/13/1/andreas-poems

UK children’s poet Andrea Shavick has a decidedly delicious and different look at the world in her poems. You can send her one of your own poems too!

Joyce Sidmanhttp://www.joycesidman.com/

Poet Joyce Sidman’s web page, includes some great poem “starters” for different ages, a place for kids to publish, and fine thoughts for teachers. Great stuff!

Shel Silversteinhttp://www.shelsilverstein.com/play.asp

Though Shel is no longer with us, his webpage is as fun as his remarkable poems. His work has deeply influenced many young writers, including me!

Steve Swinburnehttp://www.steveswinburne.com/

My friend Steve is an amazing children’s writer of non-fiction, fiction and poetry.  What a talent. And wildly funny to boot.

Janet Wonghttp://www.janetwong.com/

Janet is author of marvelous books of poetry for children, including Good Luck Gold and Other Poems, The Rainbow Hand: Poems About Mothers and Children, A Suitcase of Seaweed: And Other Poems, and Behind the Wheel: Poems About Driving.

Jane Yolenhttp://janeyolen.com/poetry/

Here’s the poetry page for Jane’s website. Jane is the author of more than 250 (yes, 250!) children’s books, including quite a few fine, fun collections of poetry.

CJ Heckhttp://www.barkingspiderspoetry.com/index.html

Lots of fun books and poems from Pennsylvania poet CJ Heck. Check it out.

Paul Orshosky – http://web.me.com/paulorshoski/web.me.com_paulorshoski/Welcome.html

More funny poems from an up-and-coming children’s poet from Ohio. Paul’s poems have appeared in many magazines and collections of humorous verse.

 

A Couple of Fun Websites and Games

Funology.comhttp://www.funology.com/ – This website has a bit too much advertising for my taste, but it does have a pile of fun games for kids and stuff you might actually learn!

Coolmath4kids.comhttp://www.coolmath4kids.com/ – Math games, brain benders, puzzles, and tons more.

ActivityTV.comhttp://www.activitytv.com/  –  Lots of games, crafts, ideas.

ALA’s Great Websites for Kidshttp://gws.ala.org/ – From the American Library Association, links to tons of great information on almost every topic!

 

Some Very Cool School Websites and Blogs                                                            (maybe I could add yours to this list!)

https://sites.google.com/site/cliffislandschool/   This is a really small island school in Maine. The kids and teachers there do some amazing things.

http://outerislandschools.blogspot.com/   Outer Islands Schools Blog – A group of island schools in Maine that do a lot of collaborative/multi-media stuff together, mostly electronically!

 

Other things to do off-line:

(Believe it or not, there is fun to be found away from your computer and TV!)

1. Read a book!

2. Play a real, non-electronic game with a friend!

3. Go outside and run around!

4. Write a poem!

4. Use your imagination!

5. Giggle uncontrollably!

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