Create Your Own Comic Strip

Do you love to read graphic novels? Comic strips? Good old-fashioned cartoons?

Check out MakeBeliefsComix.com and get creative! Choose from 15 fun characters. Make them talk and think. If you’re not sure where to start, ideas and prompts will get you going. English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Latin are available—how fun is that?

When you’re done, you can print or email those babies!

Learn more about making and publishing your own comics here.

It’s Party Time!

Borders is hosting a Kids Party this Saturday from 2-4pm (uh… that’s tomorrow!) with games, storytimes, activities, and more.

Details are here.

Find a Borders near you here.

This sure to be reading fun!

Magazines Teach Health, Nutrition, Safety, and Exercise Fundamentals

The Children’s Better Health Institute publishes award-winning magazines you may not have heard of. Their purpose is “to encourage children of all races and cultures to strive for excellence in the areas of academics, personal fitness, medicine, and science.”

And… they make it FUN!!!

Turtle Magazine “offers colorful and entertaining stories, poems, and rebuses” to preschool children.”

Humpty Dumpty “keeps four to six year olds growing and healthy bodies moving.”

Children’s Playmate has “fun activities, stories, and recipes that promote healthy habits” for six to eight year olds.

Jack and Jill “ features profiles of regular kids doing extraordinary things” (ages seven to ten).

Children’s Digest “features up-to-date reviews of books and CD-ROMS” for nine to twelve year olds.

Check out the 2008 Cover Contest featured on each website–kids get a shot at illustrating a cover!

Cool. And definitely 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!

Magazine Reading

I’ve just been remembering the joy of magazine reading. When I was younger I had a subscription to Disneyland Magazine: “All-new stories with favorite Walt Disney characters… for Beginning Readers.” Every Tuesday I waited breathless and all hopped-up at the front door window. I think I left drool marks like our Basset Hound.

The mailman delivered my weekly bounty—fresh off the press and custom-created-for-me (well, it seemed like it). Week in and week out I poured over the colorful pages. There were comic-book-like stories, coloring pages, dot-to-dot, mazes, hidden object pictures, and more—all with my favorite Disney friends.

Disneyland Magazine was definitely one of my best early reading experiences—I loved it! As I’ve searched for magazines for my own kids, I’ve realized there are loads of them out there that most of us have never even heard of. Good magazines that are sure to delight even the most finicky reader. Magazines tailor-made for every appetite.

Magazines are definitely reading fun!

Stay tuned… I’ll hook you up.

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.

Chronicles of Narnia Giveaway

Aaaah! Tomorrow’s the last day to enter The Narnia Sweepstakes.

HarperCollins is giving away awesome Narnia stuff.

Check this out:

“Each winner will receive a copy of the new interactive gift edition, Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last King; The Chronicles of Narnia Pop-up by Robert Sabuda; The Return to Narnia: The Rescue of Prince Caspian, illustrated by Matthew Armstrong; and The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set, which includes all seven books in the series and features cover illustrations by three-time Caldecott Medal–winning artist David Wiesner.”

Hurry! Quick! Enter here.

Plus, there’s games, an interactive timeline, and audiobook samples. You can even download a Narnia widget—now, that’s reading fun!

Cooking by the Book

It seems a few other people have been thinking along the same lines as I have. Wouldn’t you know it—there are already whole cookbooks with recipes from books.

Check’em out and have some reading fun!

Literary Smorgasbord or Book Buffet?

Summer still has me in par-ty-mode! I’m thinking a Literary Banquet would be fun. We could plan a whole meal or dessert around food from our favorite books.

Sam-I-Am has Green Eggs and Ham.

Charlie has a factory of chocolate delicacies.

Harry delights in Pumpkin Pasties, Licorice Wands, and Butterbeer (no, there’s not really beer in there).

Edmund is tempted by Narnia's Turkish Delight.

Mmm. Reading and food fun! How many food dishes from books can you think of?

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!

Christmas in July

Tuesday’s post made me think of a fun game our family plays at Christmas. Actually, it’s the way we exchange gifts when we get together with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’m thinking we change it up a little and make it a Summer Book Bash!

First, send out invitations to your Summer Book Bash.

Ask your friends to shop for a new book that they would love to read.

Have them wrap it and bring it to the party.

Place all the wrapped books in a pile.

Fill a bowl with little pieces of paper with numbers (You need a number for every person) and have each person draw a number.

Now comes the really fun part! Number one picks a book, unwraps it, and shows it to all the guests.

Number two goes next. They can either pick from the pile, OR they can choose the already opened book from number one. If they pick the book number one opened, then they choose another book from the pile and number one gets to open again!

Each person takes their turn, either choosing a book that has already been opened or one from the present pile.

The last person can take any opened present or the last one from the pile.

We usually say a present can only be stolen three times, but you can make any rules you want, as long as everyone understands them at the beginning.

Make sure you remind everyone at the beginning that they might not end up with the first book they open!

Christmas in July—this definitely sounds like reading fun!

Book Exchange Party

Looking for more fun books to read this summer?

Looking for an excuse to have a few friends over?

Why not plan a book exchange?

Yeah, invite a bunch of friends over for a summer book exchange. Have each person bring five books (or however many you agree on) they want to trade. Set up a table or area to display the books. Then play games and let the winner pick a book. Or give out fake money and have an auction. Or pick your own fun idea to swap books.

Maybe you could even go to Michaels and get plain canvas totes to paint and make individual, customized book bags!

New books. No money required. A party with friends. This definitely sounds like reading fun!

What other ideas can you come up with?

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!

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!

Meet Kit: An American Girl

For the first time ever, an American Girl movie is about to hit the big screen. On July 2nd, you can see Kit Kittredge: An American Girl at a theatre near you.



Set during the Great Depression, 10-year-old Kit Kittredge is a writer—sweet! She’s dying to be a newspaper reporter, and puts her skills to the test. Abigail Breslin (hey… Spencer Breslin is her big brother!) plays Kit, a brave, caring, determined young girl with a mystery to solve.

You still have time to read Kit’s books before the movie comes out. I almost always like the book better, so I’m going to start Meet Kit today!

Jonas Brothers Joy

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y.

The long wait for Camp Rock is over!!! At last, the much-anticipated 2008 Disney Original Movie will air—TONIGHT!

The musical, which stars the Jonas Brothers and introduces Demi Lovato, promises to be a hit.



Of course, you already know all that.

But—do you know…

Brenda Song, the hilarious London Tipton from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, makes a brief appearance in a lake scene.

Yep, I heard it’s true.

There are some great Camp Rock books and Jonas Brothers books available now. AND the first book about the Jonas Brothers, actually written by the Joe, Nick, and Kevin Jonas, is due out this fall.

And… are you ready for this?!?

There's another Jonas Brother!!!

For reals!

Little brother Frankie Jonas, the family’s seven-year-old rock star, will appear in Camp Rock 2.

That’s right, you heard it here first.

A fourth Jonas Brother and a second Camp Rock.

Just thought you’d want to know.

Reading Online Can Make Reading Books Fun

Scholastic just published an interesting report on kids and reading.

They discovered that lots of kids go online as part of their reading experience.

Mm hmm.

Kids do things like:
Look for books by authors they like.
Find other books in a series.
Visit fan sites.
Check out sites that are about books they like.
Connect with classmates and friends online about books.
Search for and sample books online.
Write their own book review.

Hey! That’s what we do here!

It turns out, kids who go online are more likely to read a book for fun everyday. And, they value and enjoy reading more than kids who don’t.

Also, even though kids like to go online to read… they still love books printed on paper best!

I’m thinking this means you should visit cheriwilliams.com daily ;0)

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.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!

To my dad and my hubby…

Happy Father’s Day—I love you!

Check out these fun Father’s Day facts.