Using the web to facilitate reading Part II

Finding a great learning website for me is a special moment and I do get a tingle down my spine and perhaps a goosebump or two. But I rarely ever become lost in one...until today. I stumbled across the International Childrens Digital Library (http://www.childrenslibrary.org/index.shtml) and became instantly immersed. The site was interactive, educational and fun. It appealed to the child in me (which has remained in the bottle I stuck it in 20 years ago) and my reader's sense. I had control of hundreds of great childrens books at my finger tips and loved it!

What I LOVED:

The simplicity-First time users can find a book by clicking on of the featured books listed on the homepage or search for books using the site's easy to use push button simple search. Categories listed include:

• Age-- books are categorized by age groups of 3-5, 6-9, and 10-13.


• Book cover colors-- books are categorized by the color of their covers and include rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and a few others. At first I thought the colors had to do with some kind of leveling but couldn't make figure out the criterion. Then I realized it was only book cover colors--nothing more, nothing less. Kids help create the site and I assume how books are searched for.


• Real or Not-- book are categorized as Make Believe or True.


• Character Types-- books are categorized by Imaginary Creature Characters, Real Animal Characters and Kid Characters.


• Book Type-- books are listed under Picture Books or Chapter Books.


• Book Length-- I love this feature because it allows me the option of choosing a book I can use over the course of a month or a single period. Books are categorized as either Short, Medium or Long Books.
  
• Happy or Sad-- There's nothing more to say. Click on the Happy Face for Happy Stories or click on the Sad Face for Sad Stories. You can't get any simpler than that.


• Theme-- Choose from Action/Adventure, Poems/Songs/Rhymes, Mythology/Folk Tales, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Scary/Horror and Funny/Humorous.


• Star Rating-- Choose from 3, 4, or 5 star-rated books.


• Genre-- Choose from Short Story, Series, and Plays


• Other Categories-- Other categories are Award Winning Books, Fairy Tales and Folk Tales, Comic Book and Pop Up Book. You can also search the other categories but also search for books in a specific language by using a drop down menu that include translations of books into nearly 30 languages (rough estimate so it could be more or less).

Versatility- The site can be viewed with or without plug-ins--though I strongly suggest downloading the Java plug-in as it provides an amazing interface for kids allowing them full control their reading options. There are four book viewing types: Clear Text, Standard, Comic and Spiral.

• Clear Text is the most basic and limited of the viewers. It's harder to zoom in than the other formats so the viewing options are extremely limited. The plus side is you can copy and paste text using this format that you wouldn't be able to do in the others.
  
• Standard is the next viewer that can be used in most computers. It's like reading a hi-quality pdf document.


• Comic and Spiral Reader requires a Java plug-in but the interface is so worth the download. When you use the interface you can customize your interface skin with some cool colors and patterns. Comic Reader views all the pages from a distance and it zooms in as you click a page. You can also press the arrows to go forward or back. Spiral scores big with the cool factor. Click on a page in the middle or towards the end of the book and the pages whirl--well, spiral--through until the page is reached.
  

Interactivity- Kids are active participants. They choose their own books, the interface style that suits them best, and where they want to read up to and bookmark to finish up another time (this bookmark option is only available by registering with the site, which I recommend).

Downside- The site is amazing on so many levels but having a special ed background I always look for websites that are appropriate for children with learning disabilities so I'm big on sites that provide text-to-speech options. This option empowers kids with learning disabilities to explore texts at home instead of limiting exposure to only the classroom.

I love the site so much that I've added a widget on my blog that links to the International Childrens Digital Library. You'll see it on the left-hand side, above my slide show. The widget gives a daily book recommendation that can be viewed on their site by clicking on the box.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this site but I hope this helps for now :)