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• Between the Lions - "The Chess Mess"
  It's Alice day! Cleo reads "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll and each member of the lion family plays a part. It's a day where everything is nonsensical and unpredictable. Theo and Click face-off in a life-sized game of chess. The sound of the day is the short "e" found in words such as "chess," "zesty" and "stretch."
• George Shrinks - "Becky in Wonderland"
  It's a rainy day at the Shrinks' house and George and Becky are longing for a great adventure. Dad tells them they can have one right at home and hands them a large picture book of "Alice in Wonderland." George and Becky get into the book - literally. They fall into a rabbit hole of their own and set off on a wild adventure very similar to the one Alice encountered herself.

Do in Class

• American Masters: Maurice Sendak: Imagination and Art - Learn how Sendak turned his book Where the Wild Things Are into an opera.
• Arthur: New Lyrics - Create new words and movements to go with the tune of a favorite song, based on characters from children's literature. Sing and perform your song as a group.
• In Search of Shakespeare: The Nature of Writing and the Writing of Nature - Use Shakespeare's writing as a model, students will be encouraged to use their imaginations to explore to the powers of language. (Advanced Activity)

Play Online

• PBS Parents: Bookfinder - Find just the right books with this extensive search tool!
• PBS KIDS Children's Book Authors - Learn more about famous children's authors Margret and H.A. Rey, Marc Brown, and Amy Tan.

Related Resources

• Masterpiece Theatre: Pollyanna - Explore novel and film resources related to Masterpiece Theatre's version of this classic story.
• NOW with Bill Moyers: Quiz: Classics of Children's Literature - Test your own knowledge of children's literature.

Read

• Cinderella's Dress
  By Nancy Willard and Jane Dyer
  Published October 2003 by Scholastic, Inc.
  This verse retelling of a familiar fairy tale is told from the point-of-view of two magpies that hold the secret to Cinderella's future happiness. Willard provides poetry and rhyme without the sing-song.
• The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury
  By Janet Schulman and Simon Boughton, editors
  Published September 1998 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
  This anthology contains 44 of the best-loved stories of the century, including "Amelia Bedelia", "Make Way for Ducklings", "Where the Wild Things Are", and "Guess How Much I Love You". Schulman and Boughton group the stories for readers of different ages and include brief biographies of 62 authors and illustrators.

*As most PBS children's programs offer one year extended taping rights for teachers, please feel free to tape them now and save them for use in your classroom during the school year.