Online Resources
Student Online Resources
Whittier Library Online Catalog
Full Menu of SPS Online Student Resources
Seattle Public Schools students have access to a wide variety of online resources including databases, encyclopedias, periodicals, eBooks, online versions of selected textbooks, and homework help from Seattle Public Library. (You may access several databases and online services for free, using Username: studentsps / Password: access.)
Favorites SPS online resources
Tumblebook Library
Read-along books of all types!
Pebble Go
Information about Animals, Science, Biographies, and Social Studies
International Children’s Library
A Library for the World’s Children
Seattle Public Library — Children’s Section
BookFlix
More than 160 animated (40 in Spanish), talking picture books. You’ll need a (free) Seattle Public Library card for this.
Seattle Public Library Homework Help
Resources by Topic
Animals and Nature
National Geographic
Amazing photographs and videos about animals and adventures all over the globe.
Woodland Park Zoo
Delve into helpful fact sheets on the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, and plants. These fact sheets are a great resource for students, teachers and animal lovers of all ages to learn more about the amazing wildlife represented at Woodland Park Zoo.
Books
Looking for your next favorite book? Here are some great resources to make your search more fruitful.
Book Lists & Recommendations
Bookworm for Kids
A resource for books for children.
Top 100 Children’s Novels (2010)
School Library Journal’s Top 100 Picture Books (2012)
ALSC’s Notable Books & Media
Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best in children’s books, recordings, and videos.
Children’s Book Council Reading Lists
The Children’s Book Council works annually on reading lists and round-ups to help teachers, librarians, parents, caregivers, and booksellers discover wonderful books for the kids and teens in their lives. Peruse one of their many lists, orsearch by age, genre, format, or theme.
Kid Lit News blog
Children’s and young adult literature and literacy news.
Children’s Book Week
Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!
BookTrust
Includes lists for new books, illustrated books, and even 100 best books list (which has also been broken down by age).
Reading Rockets: A List of Lists!
Here are links to the awards and lists compiled by Reading Rockets, including picks from The New York Times, the International Reading Association, and the annual Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners.
Award Nominees and Winners
Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award
The Washington Children’s Choice Award is selected annually by Washington State’s K-3 students, who may vote for this award through their local teacher-librarian. Learn more about all the nominated books, and explore related activity packets, web links, and activities.
Sasquatch Award
Sponsored by the Washington Library Media Association, the Sasquatch Award is given to a chapter book written for grades 3 through 86 The award winner is selected by the children of Washington state in the spring each year.
Young Reader’s Choice Award
The Young Reader’s Choice Award is a set of three annual awards for books selected by vote of schoolchildren in the Pacific Northwest, administered by the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA). It was inaugurated in 1940, as a single annual award, which makes it the oldest “children’s choice” award in the U.S. and Canada.
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal, named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott, is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are awarded annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
Newberry Award
The Newbery Medal, named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery, is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Pura Belpré Award
The Pura Belpré is awarded annually by the American Library Association honoring a Latino illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
The Towner Award
The Towner Award is named after Bill Towner, longtime Seattle librarian and mentor to dozens of librarians. It is sponsored by the Washington Library Media Association and is awarded to outstanding informational text (biography, narrative, and other forms) for grades 2-6.