Website Resources

Are you looking for online resources to help you further your research on the topics of art and literacy? We've compiled some great links for you here.  Just choose a category from the following:

• Children's Book Awards
• Art Education Advocacy
• Websites for Educators
• Websites for Parents
• Websites for Kids
  

Children's Book Awards for Illustrations:

Randolph Caldecott Medal Home Page
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/Awards_and_Scholarships1/
Literary_and_Related_Awards/Caldecott_Medal/Caldecott_Medal.htm
The Caldecott Medal honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Coretta Scott King Award
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Round_Tables/
SRRT/Coretta_Scott_King_Book_Awards/Coretta_Scott_King_Book_Awards.htm
The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually to authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream."

Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/Awards_and_Scholarships1/
Literary_and_Related_Awards/Wilder_Medal/Wilder_Medal.htm
The Wilder Medal honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Pura Belpré Award
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/Awards_and_Scholarships1/
Literary_and_Related_Awards/Belpré_Medal/Belpré_Medal.htm
The Belpre Medals honor a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose works best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

Arts Advocacy Websites:

Americans for the Arts
http://www.artsusa.org/default.asp
This advocacy site provides news in arts education and research on practices for arts programs.

Arts Education Partnership
http://www.aep-arts.org/
The AEP’s website provides statistical information on arts education and an index of associations and foundations dedicated to art and education.

International Visual Literacy Association
http://www.ivla.org/
IVLA is a not-for-profit association of educators, artists, and researchers dedicated to the principles of visual literacy. IVLA offers a variety of publications from their website.

National Art Education Association
http://www.naea-reston.org/index.html
News and informaton regarding art education can be found on this site.

Websites for Educators:

Children's Book Council
http://www.cbcbooks.org/index.html
This website showcases authors and illustrators and provides news of the publishing industry.

Children's Literature
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/kidlit/kidlit/kidlit.html
This site provides art samples from early children's books with an emphasis on first editions and early reprints from the 19th Century.

Children's Illustration Exhibition at the National Library of Canada
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/3/10/index-e.html
This site is dedicated to the study of Canadian Illustration in Children’s books. The site gives examples of different types of artwork: cartoon, concept books, magic realism, naïve art, realism, romanticism and stylists.

Education Place: Author Index
http://www.eduplace.com/author/index_flash.html
This author spotlight features interviews, biographies and book summaries. 

Embracing the Child
http://www.embracingthechild.com/index.html
This Philadelphia-based organization hosts a reading site with a book and author of the week.

Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries
http://www.giarts.org/Learning.pdf
This file contains several articles in favor of arts education.

Index to Internet Sites: Children's and Young Adults' Authors & Illustrators
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/biochildhome.htm 
This site provides a comprehensive index of authors and illustrators, complete with biographies, pronunciations and lesson plan ideas.

Meet Authors and Illustrators
http://www.childrenslit.com/f_mai.htm
A comprehensive index of authors and illustrators, this site also provides biographies and bibliographies. This site also hosts a subscription-based retrieval service: Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database.

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature
http://www.nccil.org
The NCCIL designs educational programming that relates to illustrations in children's literature in order to stimulate creativity, promote literacy and to increase appreciation for art. The site offers illustrator biographies and activity suggestions relating to specific books.

Picturing Books
http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org
A site devoted entirely to picture books, this website provides information about artistic media, the anatomy of a book, and how to evaluate picture books.

Visual Interpretive Analysis of Children’s Picture Book Illustration
http://scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/illustration502.html
An erudite approach to illustration in children’s literature, this site lists quotes from critics.

Scholastic: Reading Resources Network
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/teachtech/art_the4thr.htm
This site provides resources, lesson plans and teaching methods to help teachers instill a love of reading in their students.  

Teaching Books
http://www.teachingbooks.net
The TeachingBooks website provides a multimedia children's literature database that utilizes cutting edge technologies to connect educators and families with authors, books and authoritative teaching materials. Watch video interviews with authors and illustrators and find book discussion guides.

Websites for Parents:

Chicago Public Library: Reading Is Art-Rageous http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/childrensrvcs/srp01.html
In the summer of 2001, the Chicago Public Library offered an art and reading program. This site was designed to support this program, but it still offers lots of information on how parents can bring reading and art into the home. 

Connect for Kids
http://www.connectforkids.org
Connect for Kids helps adults make their communities better places for families and children. The website offers a place on the Internet for adults—parents, grandparents, educators, policymakers and others—who want to become more active citizens, from volunteering to voting with kids in mind.

Crayola's "Books & Beyond"
http://www.crayola.com/educators/booksbeyond/index.cfm
A fun site for all, the Crayola website focuses on reading, writing and crafts. Parents will find lots of activity ideas.  Kids can submit their artwork, play games and design e-cards.

KinderArt
http://www.kinderart.com
This site offers the largest collection of free art lessons on the Internet. Parents will find an extensive collection of resources featuring over art activity ideas.

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature
http://www.nccil.org
The NCCIL designs educational programming that relates to illustrations in children's literature in order to stimulate creativity, promote literacy and to increase appreciation for art. The site offers illustrator biographies and activity suggestions relating to specific books.

Picturing Books
http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org
A site devoted entirely to picture books, this website provides information about artistic media, the anatomy of books and how to evaluate picture books.

Websites for Kids:

A. Pictura: Art Detective
http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/
A website that educates kids about artists and art techniques through the whimsical art detective, A. Pictura.

Albright-Knox Art Games
http://www.kids.albrightknox.org
This interactive site engages children in art activities that help them to learn about artists and the works of art in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

@rt Room 
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/index.html
The Art Room provides a learning environment for exploring the world of art. Includes bibliographies of art books, exhibits of kids’ art from different parts of the world and facts about famous artists.

Art Safari
http://www.moma.org/momalearning/artsafari/index.html
Art Safari invites adults and their children/students to explore the painting and sculpture collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This site encourages art education and interpretation. In addition to looking at art, kids are encouraged to make their own art and view the work of other children.

Art Tales: Telling Stories with Wildlife Art
http://www.wildlifeart.org/ArtTales/
This site gives a gaming approach for children to create a story with artwork.

Crayola Kids
http://www.crayola.com/kids/
The Crayola website focuses on reading, writing and crafts. Kids can play games and design e-cards.

Coloring.com
http://www.coloring.com/
This is an online coloring book where you pick colors and use your mouse to color pictures pertaining to holidays, animals and sports.

Imagination Factory
http://www.kid-at-art.com
This site provides art activities using recycled materials. Ideas and clear directions can be found for painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, fiber arts and crafts from recycled media.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Explore and Learn
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/justforfun.asp
There's something fun for all kids on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website. Kids can play games like "Carpet Hunt" and "What is It?", or they can find answers to questions like, "What was the first work of art in the Met Museum?" 

National Gallery of Art: Kids Site
http://www.nga.gov/kids
NGAkids helps children develop interpretive and analytical skills through interactive discussions of paintings and sculpture in the National Gallery of Art, educational activities and an animated musical story. Children can visit a virtual sculpture garden, join in an art adventure with artists such as Tissot, Kandinsky and David, or take a postcard tour. Teachers will enjoy the art activities on the site, many of which are from the National Gallery of Art Activity Book: 25 Adventures with Art by Maura A. Clarkin.

New York Public Library's "On-Lion for Kids"
http://www2.nypl.org/home/branch/kids/index.cfm
This website contains links where children can read about their favorite authors and illustrators as well as find suggested reading lists and programs in the NYC area. The site also has links to science, math and other educational websites.

Page By Page: Creating a Children's Book
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/pagebypage/index-e.html
This Canadian site gives kids a great understanding of all the work that goes into making a children's book. From the writing and illustration to the publishing and sales aspects, this site includes a thourough overview of the process of creating a book.