By Maxine

flickr image by oddharmonic

We Give Books  is a free site that includes some wonderful eBooks from classic picture books such as ‘Madeline’ to popular Dorling Kindersley non fiction titles incorporating stunning colour photographs.

‘We Give Books’ is more than just an eBooks site as it promotes the enjoyment of reading together with our ability to help others. Penguin group together with the Pearson Foundation are working with non-profit literacy partner campaigns in various parts of the world to foster the joy of reading for many children.

By joining the site you can select which of the four current campaigns you wish to support and for each eBook you read online Pearson will donate a print book to your chosen literacy project. Over one million books have been donated so far and you can see a list of completed campaigns here.

New books are added every month with the current 200+ titles being available for varying length of time from seasonal to perennial depending on authors and publishers terms. Hard copy books are donated to campaigns monthly and include some titles from the ‘We Give Books’ selection as well as others from DK and Penguin that are appropriate for the needs identified by the literacy partners.

The books are intended to cover a variety of reading ages up to ten years old with a balance of independent and read aloud titles. You can search for books by clicking on the All Books tab which enables you to select an age group or author. Alternatively you can browse the three main categories: New Releases, Popular, Classics. The technology used on the site is Issuu which allows the reader to turn the pages of the book, zoom in and out, and enjoy the reading experience. Resources for educators include reading activity ideas.

This is a wonderful site to visit with a class for shared reading in the library and to talk about the enjoyment of reading for all. It’s also a great way of introducing eBooks to families who can access the site from home and share the online reading experience with their children.

How would you use this site in your school?

Further Reading:

EBooks and the issues: an overview