Online Animated Storybooks

There are many sites that offer online picture books for kids.  Here a few that I have come across:

Tumblebooks
Tumblebooks is a fantastic resource.  It has well over 200 books.  They all have the words highlighted as they are read. Another great feature is that the length of time is written so that you can plan according to how much time you have.  Tumblebooks requires a subscription but can be accessed easily by going through the website of a public library that subscribes to it.
Here is a link through such a library:
http://www.clarington-library.on.ca/taxonomy/term/37

Storyline Online
This site from the screen actors guild offers 25 books read by well known actors.  All the stories are streamed through youtube but offers an alternative in case your school blocks youtube.  They also indicate the length of the stories and offer suggested activities to go along with them.

Kids AOL jr.
This site offers many stories categorized by topic (animals, families, fairy tales and rhyming).  The category that is perhaps the most interesting is the Arthur series by Marc Brown.  There are 15 Arthur stories (the original books, not the animated series).  The words are highlighted as they are read.

Read to Me

Online Storytime from Barnes & Noble

Aesops Fables

SillyBooks.net

Gullah Tales

Bookflix
requires a subscription but can be accessed through learn quebec for quebec public schools.

Cookie

Wow!  Cookie is a new website I recently came across.  It is a goldmine for teachers (and parents) of young kids between the ages of 3 and 8.  It has online games, short animated videos, worksheets and stories.
They are all organized into different categories like language, math, science, puzzles and many more.
For a teacher it's a great place to quickly find a game or worksheet for students to work on a specific skill being taught.  Children can work on sequencing activities, phonics and alphabet activities, counting and math activities, personal hygiene, months of the year... a very wide array of themes.  It's worth a look!
The games are great worked on a computer alone but are also great played on a smartboard.
http://www.cookie.com/

Literactive

Here's a cool site with phonics activities and online books for young learners.  It's geared for children between the ages of 4 and 8 who are just learning to read.  A simple free registration is all it takes to access dozens of activities and guided reading books.
From the website:  The program takes the early learner on an interactive journey of exploration and learning. Starting with initial nursery rhymes, it moves through pre-reading activities, alphabet awareness, letter sounds, short vowels, CVC word blending, initial blends, long vowels and all the phonic activities critical for developing early reading skills. Scientifcially researched and teacher approved, The Road to Reading is the most comprehensive reading program available online.
The activities are fun and young children will enjoy playing with then without even knowing they are learning valuable pre-reading and reading skills.
http://www.literactive.com

Up to Ten - Boowa and Kwala

Up to Ten is an extensive web site with over 1000 educational and fun games for kids up to age 10.  Younger kids (0 - 6) can click on the Boowa and Kwala section to access lots of games, activities, songs, stories and colouring pages.  It is all very well organized so even younger students can navigate it on their own.  Older students (6-10) can access the games section where the selection isn't as extensive but still quite large.  This section has classic games, puzzles and coordination games.  Another really great thing about this site is that it is completely bilingual: English and French!  On the homepage there are three sections (Free, Premium and Teacher).  The free section is very abundant and it is not clear how to subscribe to the paying portions but, in my opinion, the free section is so extensive there is no need.

http://www.uptoten.com/

Gullah Net

Here's a neat website perfect for Black History Month.  Gullah.net is a website devoted to learning about the Gullah culture of Saint Carolina.  On the website you can hear folktales told in English or Gullah with animated pictures.  The folktales include stories such as "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Little Red Hen" so it can be used even if you aren't doing a "Gullah" unit in class.  Just hearing the narrator in English is worth it.   On the Gullah music part of the website you can see the evolution of African music in America.  A fun, interactive website to help learn about another culture. 

http://www.knowitall.org/gullahnet/