I found this site on the Internet where you can read entire books for free! It’s called ManyBooks.net. They have over 26,500 books that you can read online OR download for free to your computer or handheld device like iPod Touch, Kindle and the new iPad. Many of the texts are from Project Gutenberg but many books from other sources are here as well.

Although most of the books are old, there are many classics and non-fiction books that could prove very helpful for research. On a quick search, I found Alice in Wonderland and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (in addition to many of his plays). Some other interesting titles:

• An Elementary Study of Insects
• The ABCs of Science (Pluto is not a planet.)
• Dracula
• Beauty and The Beast
• Manners and Conduct in School and Out (Published in 1921 – Read this for fun to see how times have really changed!)
• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

You can search by keyword and also browse by author, title, genre and language. I found browsing by genre to be the most fascinating; clicking from topic to book to book to author back to book and to another book. I spent quite a bit of time exploring the site and even found that if you search the author’s name, there’s a link on the right-hand side to Wikipedia where you can learn more about that author.

I hope you’ll try it and leave a comment telling what was the most interesting book you found. Is this something you think you would use? Would you download a book on your computer and read it (PDF) or read it on your iPod Touch or iPad or Kindle? Or are you a hard-copy book kinda person?

I look forward to your comments.

Image credit: Valentina Photography on Flickr (Creative Commons)

Are you ignoring Books? We have some students who are not reading for pleasure and that makes me sad. It also has a serious impact on their learning in every subject matter including writing.

You can help.Your recommendations are needed!

What books would you recommend for 10 year old boys and girls?

Please leave a comment and:

1. tell us a little about yourself like what grade you are in or what type of job you have and why you read
2. what book do you recommend and why.
3. tell us what state/country you are from (remember, never leave personal information, like last names, phone numbers or addresses, on websites).
4. feel free to leave any other information you feel will help our reluctant readers learn to find the joy in books.