Pumpkin Carving; Flash | Metafilter
Metafilter has a pumpkin carving flash site that is great for kids. There are a couple of others listed in the comments, but the one mentioned in the original post is the easiest for kids to play with.

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Young adult fiction: Oct 24
This article from England takes a look at the new field of crossover novels that are appealing to both children and adults. It has some new items for me to add to my list of future reads.

NPR : ‘Lizard Motel’ Weighs Children’s Reading Habits
All Things Considered had on Barbara Feinberg speaking about her book, Welcome to Lizard Motel: Children, Stories and the Mystery of Making Things Up. Her book is about the dark reality books being assigned in schools.
Via joannejacobs.com.

Blogs for Kids
RSS Specifications blog has this post about using blogs with kids and the benefits that they will derive from it.

Boing Boing: Kids who support Kerry threatened with expulsion
Shame, shame, shame on a Wisconsin public school stopping kids from expressing their political opinion! I wonder how much of it had to do with Bush’s requirements for supportive crowds.

Boston.com / A&E / Books / British fantasy is not just for kids
Something that most of us who love children’s and YA books would agree with! This article takes a look at the history of British children’s literature, the appeal of authors like Phillip Pullman, and the new appeal of adult fantasy by Susanna Clarke.

Indigo’s Star by Hilary McKay (0-689-86563-5)
A second visit to the wonderful family in Saffy’s Angel, Indigo’s Star focuses more on the two younger children, Rose and Indigo and their friendship with an American boy who comes to spend the school term with his grandmother in England. The rest of the family is there as well, forgetful Eve, Caddy and her many suitors, Saffy and her best friend Sarah, and even the ever-absent father of the family, Bill.
If you enjoyed the first book, you will love this one. It has the same charm, humor and joy to it. It also has a wonderful cover, unlike the original book, reflecting the modern setting and the top of Indigo’s head.
Recommend this to boys and girls alike. It will lead them to the first one and hopefully get them past that cover.

Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco (0-375-82862-1)
This debut novel for teens is a real gem. It is the story of Cornelia, a teen who has been forced to take care of her mother. Cornelia has defined herself by the way she fixes things for her mother. But then when her mother runs off with a boyfriend, she dumps Cornlia off at her Aunt Agatha’s house. Agatha does not need the same sort of care that Cornelia’s mother did and Cornelia must now find her own way. Added in to the mix is the fact that Cornelia doesn’t speak because of a stutter.
Both Agatha and Cornelia are great female characters. Agatha is not the caregiver that readers might be expecting as a foil to Cornelia’s mother. Her broken-down truck, tipping-over outhouse, and messy house don’t seem like the right place for Cornelia to find peace, but it makes it that much more believable and authentic when she does.
The book goes by much too quickly. I wanted to stay in the messy, vibrant life of Agatha and the book-filled, angry life of Cornelia. Recommend this to girls who will enjoy the language, the spareness and the journey.

foe romeo: A creative generation has a post about a report on children from the UK and their online activity. The most important piece follows:
“Even more interestingly, the study found that 17% of young people have sent pictures or stories to a website and “online creativity can be encouraged through the very experience of using the internet.” That is, the more time kids spend online, the more likely they are to produce their own content. And interaction breeds interaction. Does that mean we can safely assume that as internet usage increases its media timeshare, more and more people will become creative producers as well as consumers?”
This is part of what I always thought the Internet could produce in its users. That if you use it enough, you will be prompted to start contributing yourself. Technologies like blogs and wikis are making it even easier for kids to participate and showcase their creativity.