The University of Colorado at Denver's department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Tattered Cover Book Store are collaborating through the Tattered Cover Children's Literacy Project and have produced KidsTown, a web site designed to promote children's literacy.

KidsTown is a resource for children, families and teachers to promote literacy through interactive activities. It was designed to engage children so they would want to learn, said Dr. Jody Paul, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UCD.

"Promoting literacy means providing the opportunity for children to want to use their language skills, and making it interesting so they will want to read and use their higher-level cognitive skills," Paul said. "We also use strong visuals to get the children to want to interact with the program."

The pages and artwork were designed by graduating seniors in Paul's computer science courses. The site features brightly-colored graphics and photographs to grab and hold children's interest. On the home page, children can choose various sites to visit within KidsTown, including the zoo, library, City Park, and Town Ship. In these sites, children answer trivia questions, play educational games, and learn about everything from animals to geography.

"The wonderful thing about this project is that it provides the opportunity for cooperative learning at so many levels and, at the same time, is committed to the development of a truly useful product," said Dr. Tammy Kilgore, Internet Services Project manager for Tattered Cover Book Store.

KidsTown was designed for children with upper-elementary school reading ability and with attention to the new literacy standards adopted by the State of Colorado and used by Denver Public Schools. KidsTown is now available to children of Denver and to children of the world through the Internet. The site is located at <http://kidstown.mine.nu>

Initiated in 1996, the Children's Literacy Project supports CU-Denver's mission as a New Urban University striving to connect with the community and facilitate the flow of information between the university and the community. It exemplifies an essential character of the New Urban University initiative by integrating research, creativity, teaching and service.