For primary grade students literature can set the stage for understanding environmental systems. KidLit lists collections of literature. At Gryphon (gh) are collections for pre- schoolers.

Here are just a few wonderful examples:

Pearl Moskowitz recalls when her mother urged the mayor to plant trees in their neighborhood. As Pearl grew, so did the trees and new families settled by her home. Soon, though, the city began cutting down the trees. Now the very last tree is facing the bulldozer and the time has come for Pearl Moskowitz's last stand.

Roxaboxen is a town you'll never forget. It looked like any hill-- nothing but sand, rocks, some old wooden boxes and thorny plants-- but to the children who played there it was a special place. They made houses of jewels and white stones, and everyone could have a car. All you needed was imagination!

In "People" young students can grasp the incredible variety of people all over the globe--their looks, homes and foods, games, work, writing and more--and how such diversity can reflect harmony.

Shel Silverstein has composed such memorable poems as "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout, Will You Take The Garbage Out"? The Franklin Institute (QA97) has put up some math lessons, specifically graphing, for the poem, Hungry Mungry. Check out other authors at PomeHunter.

Scheduled online chats with authors can be found at YSU. The online services offer similar opportunities--indeed, this feature has become a major consumer draw for the services. They are costly for schools, however, whereas YSU is free. Random House is sponsoring Seussville.

Storyplace in both English and Spanish contains stories and support resources in a very graphical environment. Especially for youngsters who have access to free Web services but not hard-copy this site will be great!

Kidlit at MGFX

http://www.mgfx.com/Kidlit/

Gryphon Books For Pre-Schoolers(gh)

http://www.gryphonhouse.com/index.asp

Pearl Moscowitz's Last Stand

http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Moscowitzs-Stand-Arthur-Levine
/dp/0688107540/ref=sr_1_2

ISBN-0-688-10753-2
"Pearl Moscowitz's Last Stand"
Levine, Arthur A.
Tambourine Books: New York, 1993

Roxaboxen

http://www.amazon.com/Roxaboxen-Alice-McLerran/dp/0060526335
/ref=sr_1_1

ISBN-0-14-054475-5
"Roxaboxen"
McLerran, Alice
Puffin (Penguin) Books: New York, 1991

People

http://www.amazon.com/People-Peter-Spier/dp/038524469X
/ref=sr_1_1

ISBN-0-385-24469-X
"People"
Spier, Peter
Bantam Doubleday Dell: New York, 1980

Poems by Shel Silverstein

http://www.poemhunter.com/sheldon-allan-silverstein/

Poem Hunter

http://www.poemhunter.com/

YSU

http://web.ysu.edu/home

Seussville

http://www.seussville.com/

The Franklin Institute (qa97)

http://www.fi.edu/qa97/me4/

The Storyplace

http://www.storyplace.org/