Media Center

Project Gutenberg

Website: http://www.gutenberg.org/

• Mostly public domain titles - Great for classics!
• Choose among 42,000 free epub books and kindle books; download them or read them online

Books Should Be Free

Website: http://www.loyalbooks.com/genre/Children

• ebooks and audiobooks for free download or read/play on the internet
• Works on iPads
• Through Project Gutenberg and Librivox: mostly classics, few picture books

International Children's Digital Library

Website: http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/SimpleSearchCategory?ilang=English

• Site is slightly confusing to navigate
• Read online for free
• Works on iPad
• Has books in other languages

The Public Library

Don't forget about the public library! Library cards are free and the barcode gives you access to online material like databases and eBooks. They have a much bigger budget than we do, so they can afford more ebooks.

Dakota County Library cardholders have free access to ebook services listed below:

• Cloud Library: eBooks that can be read on your computer or mobile device. A variety of popular titles are available.
• OverDrive eBooks: A collection of popular titles that can be transferred to portable devices. Supports all major e-readers, including the Kindle (video tutorial)
• EBSCO eBooks: A collection of mostly non-fiction titles that can be transferred to a portable device
• TumbleBooks: A collection of animated, talking picture books that also includes puzzles, games, audiobooks and language learning.

Note: OverDrive and the 3M Cloud Library have iPad/iPhone, KindleFire, Book and Android Apps to read on your devices

Source: Dakota County Library

Unite for Literacy

Website:  http://www.uniteforliteracy.com

Unite for Literacy has free ebooks which narrate books in English and several other languages.  In addition, it will sign the books too. 

Sometimes it can be hard to find a good book. Here is a list of online resources to help you find good books to read or recommendations for books that might interest you:

Biblionasium
BiblioNasium is a reading community made especially for elementary readers. It helps students connect to reading outside of the classroom. It is kind of like GoodReads for kids. Track what books you read and get book recommendations. You can even set up and share lists. Login required. 

Your Next Read
Search for a book in the search box and then use the map of books to find recommendations. No login required. 

Dakota County Library
Looking for a good read? This reader's advisory tool helps you find new books based on other books you've enjoyed or topics in which you're interested in. You will need your Dakota County Library Card barcode and PIN.  

Goodreads
Discover and share books you love on Goodreads, the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations. You can create a new account, or sign in with Facebook, Twitter or Google. 

Google is not a website, it is a search engine that looks through the internet, finding both good and bad websites. Instead of just using Google to search your topic, use specific websites that you know have credible information.

When you are looking for credible websites, consider these questions:

• Who are experts on the topic?
• Are there organizations or museums?
• Who studies that topic professionally?
• Websites for things in print (Magazines, newspapers)
• Who has a high level of integrity?
• Who has to be accountable for what they write/publish?

Websites

Here are some good websites to start with, arranged by subject:

Science

• PBS and the Nova series
• National Geographic Kids
• Discovery Channel
• The Science Channel
• The Science Museum of Minnesota
• Popular Science
• Popular Mechanics    

Space

• NASA
• Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
• Neave Online Interactive Planetarium (constellations)

Animals

• The Minnesota Zoo pages on their animals
• Sea World’s Animal Infobooks and Animal Bytes (quick facts)
• The Oregon Zoo’s pages on their animals
• Defenders of Wildlife Animal Factsheets (lots of endangered species here with information about conservation)

Social Studies   

• History Channel                                 

Minnesota History

• Minnesota Historical Society
• Dakota County Historical Society
• Ramsey County Historical Society
• Hennepin History Museum

Counties

• CIA World Factbook
• National Geographic Kids pages on countries (click "Print this Feature" to see all the text on one page)
• For political information, US Department of State Factsheets

The Arts                

Visual Arts:

• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• The Walker Art Center
• The Louve
• The MET
• The Guggenheim

Newspapers

Local

• The Star Tribune
• The Pioneer Press

National

• The New York Times
• The Washington Post

PebbleGo for gr. K-2

• Kaposia
• Lincoln

e-LibraryMN

• Britannica Online School Edition:  Elementary School 
  Encyclopedia content for elementary grades plus multimedia, timelines, world atlas, country comparison, animal kingdom, and geography explorer
• Kids InfoBits 
  Popular elementary school magazines as well as encyclopedias and newspapers written for kids, plus an image collection of photos, maps, and flags.
• Explora Kids 
  Contains elementary school-appropriate magazines, encloypedias, dictionaries, and images.  Includes Primary Search and Middle Search Plus databases. 
• eBooks MN K-5 Collection 
  In this exciting compilation of titles for young readers, children will learn and explore fun, vibrant books on a wide range of topics. Contains elementary school-appropriate magazines, encloypedias, dictionaries, and images.  Includes Primary Search and Middle Search Plus databases.