Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist (0-439-37294-1)
Three mysterious letters are sent to three different people and the art mystery begins. How are these people connected? Why have they been contacted? And how will almost-twelve-year-olds, Petra and Calder figure into the entire thing?
This book is filled with coincidence, mystery, wonder, and codes. It would be the perfect classroom read-aloud for 2nd through 4th grades and should inspire kids to look beyong the surface and find the coincidences and patterns in their own lives.

Katie Davis, Author/Illustrator
Official site for this author/illustrator of Who Hops?, which is one of my favorite read-alouds for toddlers. It works every time! Her site is filled with information on her art, reader’s theater scripts for her books, special sections for teachers and librarians filled with activities, and much more.

Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith (0-316-98894-4)
This is my favorite new read-aloud for little ones. I have shared it with 3 year olds through first graders with great success! There aren’t many books that have that kind of range.
Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum is about a group of animals that get stuck on a lump of bubble gum melting in the road. The rollicking rhymes (one first grader I read it to said “This book sings!”) and the frenetic pace keep kids riveted waiting to see what will happen. The illustrations add to the humor, and are big and bright enough to convey easily to a fairly large group, like a classroom.
This is one that begs to be read aloud and kids will beg for it again and again.

Coming Soon! – Latest News
A new movie version of Charlotte’s Web is being planned. This one will be a live action/CG combo.

Welcome to The Sugar Quill
An archive of Harry Potter fan fiction! The site also offers art based on the Harry Potter books, technical editing help for writers, and an online forum.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty (0-439-49881-3)
Cassie, Emily and Lydia are best friends who attend a private school, then their English teacher gives them an assignment to write to a student at the local school. All three girls get boys as penpals and relationships start to build as letters are exchanged.
This book is entirely captured in letters, emails and the girls’ private writings. Their voices stay unique and interesting throughout as do the voices of the three boys. The story is continually morphing and changing as it goes on.
This one was definitely worthy of the multiple starred reviews it received. With its multiple male and female protagonists, both boys and girls should enjoy it.

Children’s Writing – Suite101.com
This is a very nice section of the Suite101 site. It offers recommended books as well as links to great sites on children’s lit. The top feature of the site is that on the first of every month, a children’s book author is interviewed. June’s author is Jeanne DuPrau, author of The City of Ember and The People of Sparks.

Jennifer Donnelly
Here is Jennifer Donnelly’s official website. It has the really nice feature of a special page for each of her books, including the award-winning A Northern Light.