The online storybook is a means for using the Internet to promote reading. Difficulties in using the Internet in the Storybook Center are: there are a limited number of online storybooks available; the story progresses slowly; the interest level-readability level-design may not be aligned to be developmentally appropriate, and your computer system may not have or be able to run the plug-ins and utilities needed to reproduce the most effective storybooks.

Students can also find and read stories and poems that are written by other students in the sites listed within the Student Publishing section of MerryBee

Aaron's Storybook ..........
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/index.html
Grades preschool-12. Texts of retold and original stories from Aaron Shepard. Folktales, Legends, Magical Tales, Sacred Tales, Fantasy, Historical Stories and original tales and stories. Some have accompanying audio, poster in PDF format or bibliography. Most have been published in top children's magazines like Cricket. Heading to story gives copyright date, where published, content preview, genre, culture (country), theme(s), suggested ages for audience, length in words.

Amazing Adventures ..........
http://www.amazingadventure.com/
Grades 2-3. A read-along animated poem (additional to read) and 21-page story with related activities. Requires Flash Player and RealAudio which can be downloaded from the site. Some pages require Microsoft Media Player 9.

Bab Books ..........
http://www.sundhagen.com/babbooks//
Grades 1-3. Twenty-four books to flip through with arrows. Some ads and small print on the entry page, but the books are very easy and excellent design. No audio unless the KidsVoyager program has been purchased. Links to many more online stories.

Between the Lions - Stories ..........
http://pbskids.org/lions/stories.html
Grades preschool-2. Seventy stories to read online or print, with related songs and games. Printables. To use all the items requires Shockwave and either Quick Time or RealPlayer although there are parts available without any plugins.

Candlelight Stories - Stories ..........
http://www.candlelightstories.com/Stories.asp
Grades 1 and up. A variety of story types, formats, and levels. Types include short fiction from 2 pages to a 25 page chapter book; folk tale; and picture book. Levels are not given. Labeled advertising on each page.

Children's Books Online: the Rosetta Project ..........
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library.htm
Grades k-12. View the actual illustrated pages of antique children's books. Move through the book page by page online, or pay a download fee to download the complete book. Alphabetical title index or browse five lists by levels: pre-reader, early, intermediate, advanced, adult. Books are also translated into various languages. No audio.

Children's Storybooks Online ..........
http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html
Grades k-8. Original stories grouped for young children, older children, and young adults. No audio on free books except for The Farm Animals. Some related activities. Bee Tip: Of course Merry Bee likes Buzzy Bee — four stories, riddles, coloring pages.

Classic Fairy Tales ..........
http://classicfairytales.com/en/main
Grades 1-5. Read along with narrated tall tales and fairy tales by Grimm, Anderson and Perreault. Text only option. Links to related activities at KidStuffCanada. May have display problems on certain pages with some computer systems.

Elementary Library ..........
http://www.storyplace.org/eel/eel.asp
Grades 2-5. Six tales each with a printable activity and reading list of related books. The animated stories are partially narrated while a few pages have a more detailed paragraph for the student to read. Authored by librarians. Requires Flash plug-in. Tip: Click "Other Themes" for the menu. The links on the other clouds around the center of the entry page take you away from the Elementary Library to other parts of the Storyplace site.

Fables, Fairy Tales, Stories and Nursery Rhymes ..........
http://www.ivyjoy.com/fables/index.shtml
Grades 1-7. Full text. No audio, minimal illustration, no activities; just clean readable text and easy to navigate. Links to other story sites. Bee Tip: Aesop’s Cube is a fun way to select a fable.

International Children's Digital Library ..........
http://www.icdlbooks.org/
Grades preschool-8. The ICDL project began placing children’s books from various cultures online in 2002. The over 1000 titles included are published books that have received some type of recognition in their country of publication. Books are presented in their entirety in the original languages in which they were published. Searchable by category, language, level or keyword.

IPL Story Hour ..........
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/storyhour/
Grades 1-5. Ten original books at the Internet Public Library. Choose text only or illustrated version. Mother Goose has audio using RealPlayer which can download from a link on the page.

Kids’ Corner ..........
http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books/kids.htm
Grades 1-6. Features nine illustrated books by Beatrix Potter, seven also with text versions in Japanese. RealPlayer (downloadable from the site) is used for audio versions of selected Potter stories in English, Japanese, French, German. Other stories requiring RealAudio are Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, and Just So Stories.

LibriVox Children’s Literature ..........
http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?genre=Children
Grades 4-9. Works of classic literature in the public domain are read by volunteers as free audiobooks. Load mp3 or ogg files into your computer. Can also print the text in various formats for read-alongs. Filling in the "Search Again" form at the bottom will take you outside the children’s books section.

Nick Jr. Stories ..........
http://www.nickjr.com/
Grades preschool-2. Click "Stories" and select to begin one of the five stories shown, or click on the All Stories button for a menu of titles. Stories narrated by professionals with lots of extra little treats. Some in Spanish as well as English. Bee Tip: Don’t miss Rumble Grumble Gurgle Roar, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.

Room 108 Kids Stories ..........
http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/108b.html
Grades 1-3. Twenty storybooks in this list. All original stories by teacher John Rickey with animation and musical backgrounds. Some related activities.

School Express Storytime ..........
http://www.schoolexpress.com/storytime.php
Grades k-3. 25 online classic tales (Mother Goose Rhymes is one). Read the story then download the free pages to color and reread. Requires Flash. No audio.

Story Circle ..........
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/storycircle/
Grades k-4. A site related to BBC programming, but the many stories stand alone. Select from an alphabetical title list or from story categories: animal, fairy tales, world stories, bedtime stories poems & rhymes, Cbeebies (specific program). Set sound on or off. Also a selection of stories to print and color. Some stories have associated games Bee Tip: You will want to monitor student use since it’s possible to click away from the story section to other parts of the BBC site.

Storyline Online ..........
http://www.storylineonline.net/
Grades preschool-4. Videos in which actors read popular children's books. Words of text are not seen onscreen. Some stories do have a Reader’s Theater script; e.g. Knots On a Counting Rope. Activities related to each book are available online, or download an activity guide that includes a book summary and information about both the author and the reader. Bee Tip: Have the book on hand as a readalong and I bet you’ll get repeated readings.

Tales of Wonder ..........
http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/
Grades 3-8. Folk and fairy tales from around the world organized by origin. No paging, illustrations, or audio; just a clean readable text. Gives bibliographic reference to the source. Some of the Native American Tales are identified by tribe.

Tiger Aki Animated Storybooks ..........
http://www.asiabigtime.com/storybooks/aki_menu.html
Grades preschool-2. Twelve interactive, animated stories describe episodes in the life of the Tiger Aki character from bath time to the zoo (almost A to Z). Audio narration is optional. Requires Macromedia Flash Plug-In version 4 or higher. Bee Tip: Since Tiger Aki "lives" in the United Kingdom, the narrator has a British accent and there is occasional use of non-American English vocabulary.

Whootie Owl’s Stories to Grow By ..........
http://www.storiestogrowby.com/
Grades 1-8. Fairy tales and folk tales from around the world. Choose a story by entering a keyword or by selecting any of: reader age, type of story, theme of values, or origin of story (country). Matching stories are listed with a brief description, recommended age level, and read time in minutes. After reading a selected story, the child can write in answers to questions about the story and write what he/she thought about the story. Print Reader’s Theatre play scripts for 24 stories. Created in 1998 to provide stories with a positive theme, while avoiding any religious message. The evaluation criteria used by kids to test stories being considered can be found from the FAQ page.

Wonderful Tales ..........
http://www.angelfire.com/ma3/mythology/worldtalesindex.html
Grades 4 and up. Myths and fables from around the world categorized by origin. Also an alphabetical index. Second angelfire window advertising is annoying.

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