ALSC’s Great Websites for Kids grows

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, has added more recommended websites to Great Websites for Kids (www.ala.org/greatsites), its online resource containing hundreds of links to exceptional websites for children.

The newly added sites are:

ABCya! - www.abcya.com

All About Birds - www.allaboutbirds.org

CIA for Kids-Games - https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/

Common Sense Media - www.commonsensemedia.org

Generation on Youth Advisory Council - www.generationon.org

Judy Schachner - www.skippyjonjones.com

PBS Kids Raising Readers Kids Island - www.pbskids.org/island

Poptropica - www.poptropica.com

Seymour Simon - www.seymoursimon.com

The New York Times Education - www.nytimes.com/learning

We Give Books - www.wegivebooks.org

"This list offers a wide-ranging representation of websites designed for children and caregivers, addressing and supporting an array of interests," said Kimberly Grad, senior librarian, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library, and Denise Vallandingham, youth services manager, Boone County (Ky.) Public Library, co-chairs of ALSC’s Great Websites for Kids Committee.

Great Websites for Kids (GWS) features links to websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings such as dinosaurs, authors and illustrators; games and entertainment; U.S. history; astronomy and space; and music. There is also a special section with sites of interest to parents, caregivers and teachers. Each site entry includes a brief annotation and a grade-level rating.

Members of the ALSC GWS Committee review potential sites for inclusion and vote on the sites to be included. They also regularly check the entire site to ensure currency and re-evaluate sites when necessary.

Members of the 2012 Great Websites for Kids Committee are Kimberly Grad, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library, co-chair; Denise Vallandingham, Boone County (Ky.) Public Library, co-chair; Laurie Chudzinski, Houghton Lake (Mich.) Public Library; Lara Crews, Forsyth County (N.C.) Public Library; Brandon Hines, Hays (Kan.) Public Library; Suzanne Kovach, Harford County (Md.) Public Library; Susan Kusel, Arlington, Va.; John E. Peters, Bronx, N.Y.; and Amanda Sharpe, Harper Junior High School Library, Davis, Calif.

The complete listing of great sites with annotations and selection criteria can be found at www.ala.org/greatsites.