It’s All About the Gingerbread

Christmas always reminds me of gingerbread houses. Play games here. Find out how to make one here.

Gingerbread houses always remind me of Hansel and Gretel. Find some fun books to read here.

Hansel and Gretel always remind me of… of… Huh. Hansel and Gretel remind me of gingerbread houses. Go figure.

Celebrate Veteran’s Day

Do you know that Veteran’s Day used to be called Armistice Day? Yep, it’s true.

First, the United States honored World War I veterans. Now, we pay our respects to all veterans. Great reading, and fun activities about Veteran’s Day, can be found at The United States Department of Veterans Affairs website.

I love this site! There’s Cool Facts About Veterans, About the Department of Veterans Affairs, About the Flag, and Games and Activities for Kindergarten to 5th graders.

For 6th to 12th graders, check out the Department of Veterans Affairs, About Veterans, History of the American flag, Origins of Taps, Lincoln Jigsaw Puzzle, Beat the Blocks, Drawing, and Word Jumble.

You can also read The Library of Congress stories of United States veterans here.

When you’re done, click here for Veteran’s Day Word Searches, a Veterans Day Quiz, a U.S. Military Quiz, and Star-Spangled Banner gap-fill fun!

More IGOR

As promised… here’s more IGOR.

Book Adventure, sponsored by Sylvan Learning Center, is holding the Help IGOR Get To The Science Fair Reading Contest for 9 to 14-year-olds. It works like this: read books, take quizzes, earn points.

You can win a trip for two to Space Camp, a classroom screening of IGOR, and tons of other prizes!!!

Registration is required.
Individual Student Contest Rules are here.
Classroom Contest Rules are here.

Reading fun and prizes—oh yeah!

Roald Dahl Day

Tomorrrow is Roald Dahl Day. Check out the site for Fun Activities and Downloads. There’s even more fun stuff here.

Seriously, what’s it take to get your own day? That sounds so cool!

Dubbed the most successful children’s writer in the world, Roald Dahl's stories have been translated into over 34 languages. His most popular books include The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach , Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG. See a complete list here.

Check out his official website. Is that chicken doing what I think it’s doing? Yikes!

This is just the excuse I needed to read tomorrow! Care to join me in some reading fun?

Two and a half million copies of Brisingr are headed to bookstores!

Of magic and dragons...

"Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep."

September 20th brings Christopher Paolini’s much-awaited third book in the best-selling Inheritance Cycle series to eager readers everywhere (yes… there will be midnight parties!).

You can read or listen to an excerpt of Eragon, the first book in this high fantasy series, here.

You can read or listen to an excerpt of Eldest, the second book, here.

You can read an excerpt from the third chapter of Brisingr here.

You can become a Fricaya Member and enter to win exclusive Inheritance prizes here.

You can sign up for the Alagaësia Newsletter and receive exclusive updates from Christopher regarding all things Inheritance here.

You can check out Eragon’s favorite books and music, read Christopher Paolini’s answers to fan questions, play an interactive fiction game, learn from the Eragon pronunciation guide, see which character you are most like, download a screensaver, and put your knowledge to the test here.

You can play the new, interactive online game Vroengard Academy here.

This should keep you busy for a while. Here’s to having reading fun!

Christian Magazines for All Ages

Back on the magazine front... Focus on the Family has Christian magazines for every age group. Each magazine has a totally awesome, age-appropriate website too!

Stories. Crafts. Movie Reviews. Contests. What’s New. Entertainment. Health and Beauty. Spiritual Health. Too Funny. Mail Bonding. Music. Sports. You want it—Focus has it!

Check ‘em out:

Clubhouse Jr. – “Faith-filled fun for youngsters. Creative stories, fascinating articles, puzzles, craft ideas and more are packed into each issue.”

Clubhouse - “This magazine for kids reinforces traditional values and promotes family closeness with hands-on activities, challenging puzzles and exciting stories.”

Brio – “Packed with feature articles and stories that encourage teen girls 13-16 to make godly choices.”

Brio and Beyond - “Not only will your daughter find articles that'll strengthen her faith, each issue is packed with great reading about everything from fashion and food to fitness and fun things to do.”

Breakaway - The magazine for Christian teen boys. Honest answers about the issues that concern you the most.”

There you have it, loads of Christian reading fun!

Smithsonian—More Than a Museum

Walk on the moon. Build a light bulb. Stake your claim on the great American prairie.

Create a sculpture. Be a spy and read satellite photos. See a skeleton walk.

Check out the Smithsonian website for lots of fun, games, and downloadable activity sheets.

Learn how to play Hnefatafl.

Hnefatafl? Oh, come on… you’ve got to check this out! Click here—and here.

Beyond the Deepwoods

At about one o’clock this morning I finished my latest read, the first book in The Edge Chronicles series: Beyond the Deepwoods.

Twig, a thirteen-year-old boy, was abandoned at birth and raised by woodtrolls. His mom is afraid the sky pirates will kidnap him so she sends Twig to live with an uncle. Twig doesn’t make it though. He does what woodtrolls never do—he strays from the path.

So begins this non-stop adventure! Bizarre creatures—hammelhorns, flat-heads, shrykes, nightwaifs, wig wigs, and more bring danger and intrigue at a breakneck pace. The beloved banderbear. The ever-watchful Caterbird. The evil Gloamglozer. Twig meets them all on his journey through the deepwoods.

Rocks float and trees eat people; British co-authors, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddel have co-created a completely new world—the line drawings bring amazing detail, further drawing the reader in.

This book is recommended for nine to twelve-year-olds, but I would say that those ahem, somewhat older will appreciate it too. I’ve already ordered Stormchaser, the second book!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the young lady at Barnes and Noble who made the recommendation!

Check out the Edge of Chronicles website, too. It’s awesome! Beyond the Deepwoods is definitely reading fun!

Get Healthy—Have Fun

I’m loving all the fresh fruits and veggies that are in season right now. It’s so much easier to make better food choices in the summer.

This got me thinking about feeling good and being healthy. When we eat right and exercise, we have a lot more energy to do fun things.

And you know I like to do fun things!!!

So... I found some fun games:

At the YouthZone you can build a healthy kid, help a mad scientist put Frankenstein back together, go on a food safari, and play with an interactive crossword puzzle. You can even have a food fight.

Nutrition Exploration has a World of Activities: Fueled for Fun, Little D the Draon, Arianna and Marcus, Monster Nutrition, and Shopping List. There are even jokes.

You probably guessed… there are some cool books on nutrition, too!

Just Jokin'

What book needed a haircut?









The Diction-HAIRY.

Hee hee hee!

Hey, guess what! You can build your own dictionary @ Merriam-Webster’s Word Central.

Yep, you’re the author and you can share your new words with the world!

Bah-ha-ha-ha.

Word Central has fun games, too.

Kinda reminds me of Frindle by Andrew Clements! You should definitely read that one.

Oh, the power of words!

Become a Reading Warrior!

Are you ready for a summer reading adventure?!?

Learn to identify your prey and where to hunt for it…

The Reading Warriors Summer Reading Challenge is rooted in the legends and adventures of the Cats and Clans in Erin Hunter’s best-selling series—Warriors.

Kids eight (96 moons) and over earn reward codes which can be used to earn exclusive Warriors rewards.

Explore new lands… Establish and defend territory… take the reading challenge today!

From Reading Fun… To Disney Vacation

Woo hoo! Scholastic is giving away four trips to Walt Disney World!

Kids in grades PreK–8 who read and log 4 or more books can enter.

September 1st is the deadline. Winners will be randomly selected. It’s easy to enter!

Oooh, check out the bookshelf games while you’re there.

I gotta go find my kids…

Harry Potter Prequel?

Have you heard? J.K. Rowling wrote a “prequel” to the infamous Harry Potter series. It’s just one scene and it takes place long before Harry hits Hogwarts.

I haven’t decided how I feel about it—except that because it’s handwritten, it’s kinda hard to read. The 800-word story card was sold at a charity auction. You can read it here.

Just thought you should know!

Tomorrow, I’ll get back to finding fun books.

Finding Fun Books – Part 3

Oh, yeah—I forgot to tell you something. Even though I’m numbering these posts, they’re really not in any kind of order. Like, number one isn’t necessarily my favorite. I totally love all of them!

Okay. Another way I find fun books is listening to kids. Lots of places have book lists, but my very favorite ones are the ones where kids pick the best books.

Here are just a couple:

The Children’s Book Council and the International Reading Association ask 10,000 schoolchildren to select their favorite books. It’s called the Children’s Choice Book Awards. The kids actually vote—sweet!

And...

Bearemy, of Build-A-Bear fame, has a book club. It’s called Bearemy’s Book Club, imagine that! He lists his favorite books and kids can review and rate books. It’s beary cool! (There’s a Games and Stories area too!).

If you have time, let me know your favorite books and I'll make a list of them too!

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda—it’s in theatres everywhere—NOW!

Check out the Official Website (which has totally fun games!) here.

Check out cool Kung Fu Panda books here.

Gotta go…

I gotta get me to the movies!!!

After you check this stuff out, post a review below.

I’ll see ya at the movies…

Just Jokin'

Why did Tigger look inside the toilet?

He was looking for Pooh.

Ouch. I’ve resorted to potty humor (Hee hee).

Come on, it’s pretty funny.

If you’ve got a joke that will fit in at cheriwilliams.com, I’d love to see it… I might even post it next week! Click here to send me an email.

Make sure you click on Tigger’s name. You’ll find some Tiggerific Fun Activities!

If you click here, you’ll meet some of Tigger’s friends.

T-T-F-N! (ta-ta-for-now).