With the long summer behind us and school only a week or so away, the kids are probably more bored and restless than travelers trying to get through airport security.
For younger children, this may be the time to reintroduce them to reading -- assuming they spent the summer with only the Disney versions of Pocohantas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Sticking their noses into some entertaining tomes will help them when they have to hit the books for real.
Nothing can compare with a beautiful children's book, but if Mom and Dad lack the time (and money) to find real books, many wonderful childrens' stories can be found on the Internet.
We'll start by visiting the public library, which on the Internet is called - you guessed it - the Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.com).
This project, started by a group of library students at the University of Michigan, is an attempt to put books and library information online. Still small, the Youth section has a story hour section with five stories, including imaginative retellings of the ''Tortoise and the Hare'' and ''The Fisherman and His Wife.''
There are also interviews with authors and stories and poetry submitted by children.
Link to best sellers
One of the best compendiums of Web sites for children's stories is The Children's Literature Web Guide (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/) compiled by Canadian David K. Brown. This award-winning site links to information about best-selling children's books as well as sites with online books.
For example, link to the Edward Lear Home Page (http://www2.pair.com/mgraz/Lear) to read the entire text of the English limericks that have entertained children for more than 100 years. Or see a text version of Robert Louis Stevenson's ''A Child's Garden of Verses'' (ftp://wiretap.spies.com /Library/Classic/child.rls).
Children old enough to understand and appreciate fairy (or faerie) stories may want to visit Faeryland's Faerie Lore and Literature (http://faeryland.etsu.edu/~earendil/faerie/) for dozens of stories, old and new, and beautiful paintings of fairies. Faeryland also includes many links to other interesting sites about fairies and elves, including the full text of James Barrie's 1911 book Peter Pan (http://www.inform.umd.edu:8080/EdRes/ReadingRoom/Fiction/PeterPan)
Christmas in July
I always liked the idea of Christmas in July -- or at least reading Christmas stories as a way to beat the heat. The Last Christmas Tree, a delightful modern fable can be found on the Dads.Com site (http://www.dads.com/x_tree.htm).
Or read Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum's version of Santa Claus at the Baum site (http://rrnet.com/~djamund/books /baum/). Baum was a prolific writer, and a dozen of his works are collected there, including several in the Wizard series.
Fans of Madeline (who lived in ''an old house in Paris that was covered with vines...'') can visit Madeline's Friends to read three other books by author Ludwig Bemelmans. This site has some nifty effects, which could be annoying on slow connections.
Another slick but small site devoted to children's books is Storybox (http://www.dreambox.com/storybox/storybox.htm) although they currently have only one story available -- ''Bears in the Attic!'' - with more promised.
Among the uncommercial childrens' books sites are publishers with sites that are ads for their products. Small children might enjoy helping Curious George steal hats from bus riders at Houghton Mifflin's site (http://hminet.com/hmco /trade/hm/george/game/index.html). The Children's Hour Book Emporium in New Orleans (http://www.childrenshour.com) has a large site with interactive games, RealAudio samples of books, and lots of opportunities to order books.
You'll find a lot more children's books at a good bookstore or the public library, but cruising the Web in search of a good read beats watching Barney reruns any boring late summer day.
E-mail Charles Brewer with questions, comments and suggestions at CBrewer@enquirer.com.