General

How Reading with My Mom Saved My Life

Eighth grade was not a good year for me. Along with the usual teenage angst and social awkwardness, I was deeply depressed and anorexic. I spent a week at the Teenage Psychiatric Ward at the Keene State Hospital two-and-a-half hours from home. This was a harrowing experience and deterred me from seeking mental health care … Continued

General

Give a Child a Storytelling Presentation This Summer

After a difficult year, kids deserve some fun this summer! Fortunately for New Hampshire and Vermont children, they have CLiF to bring stories to life and give away brand new books to treasure. CLiF’s inspiring storytelling presentations by NH and VT authors, illustrators, and storytellers get kids excited about reading and writing and encourage strong … Continued

General / Book Recommendations

Summer Book Recommendations

This weird school year is almost over, which means one thing…summer reading! Sure, school-required reading lists can seem like just another thing to do, but make sure to take time to read what you enjoy – and let your kids do the same! One of my favorite things about summer is posting up in a … Continued

CLiF Grant Applications

Apply for a CLiF Literacy Grant Today

The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) has several grant programs currently available to libraries, classrooms, and programs serving low-income, at-risk, and rural kids (ages 12 and under) in New Hampshire and Vermont. Please help spread the word to educators, librarians, and those whom you know who work with youth! CLiF Program Manager Jana Brown says, “During … Continued

General / Presenter Profiles

New Books By CLiF Presenters

One of the special things about CLiF is that we work with 66 of the best children’s, middle grade, and young adult authors in Vermont and New Hampshire. In normal years, we send them to schools, libraries, homeless shelters, prisons, camps, and more spaces where kids and families spend time in NH and VT. They … Continued

Book Club for Grown-ups

Book Club for Grown-Ups with Katherine Paterson

RESCHEDULED for Friday, June 11, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. ESTStories of My Life (A Memoir)Sign up here Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 30 books, including popular children’s and young adult books such as Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins, and Jacob Have I Loved. She’s won the National Book Award twice, … Continued

Book Club for Grown-ups / CLiF Spotlight / Education

Drawing, Poetry & Discussing Trauma: Upcoming CLiF Events

It’s a busy few weeks at CLiF! During the pandemic, we’ve been offering free virtual programming for kids, families, educators, and the general public. We’ve got some exciting events coming up in the next week and we hope that you, your classroom/program, or family can join us. Illustrating Nature with Author/Illustrator Jason ChinThursday, April 22, … Continued

General / Writing

Announcing the Winners of CLiF’s Kids’ Poetry Contest

April is National Poetry Month and we’re kicking it off by celebrating the talented young poets who bravely submitted their work to our Kids’ Poetry Contest. We were so impressed with the dozens of submissions we received and are proud to share these students’ work (with their permission)*. Winners and runners up were selected in … Continued

Writing

CLiF Kids’ Poetry Contest!

National Poetry Month is coming up in April, but you don’t have to wait until then to get your poetic juices flowing! Poetry has lots of benefits for readers and writers of all ages, including building vocabulary, language, and imagination. It’s also fun! The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is hosting a Kids’ Poetry Contest. Children … Continued

Chris Tebbetts

Book Club for Grown-ups

CLiF Book Club for Grown-Ups: Chris Tebbetts

When: Friday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. EST What a blast we had with VT author Chris Tebbetts! See the video of his presentation, in which we discussed his latest novel, 1st Case (co-authored with James Patterson), the process of creating books, and co-authoring popular series such as Middle School and Stranded. CLiF’s Book Club … Continued

Writing

The Importance of Encouraging Your Child to Write

Research shows that literacy skills are one of the strongest indicators of a child’s future success. But literacy isn’t just reading; writing effectively is an essential skill for success in school and in life, and has a lot of social and emotional benefits, too. Writing can help kids (and adults!) process their feelings, destress, and … Continued

Book Club for Grown-ups

Dan Brown Joins CLiF for Book Club for Grown-Ups

When: Friday, February 12, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. EST Sign up to get the Zoom link here. At the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), our mission is to inspire a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural kids (ages 12 and under) in New Hampshire and Vermont. We bring local authors, illustrators, and … Continued

Book Recommendations

The Best Books We Read in 2020

It should come as no surprise that the CLiF team loves to read. After all, we spend our days sharing that love with low-income, at-risk, and rural kids in the region. Here were our favorite books we read in 2020: Duncan I’m a big fan of the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brien.  When he heard … Continued

General

Buy a Book for a Child This Holiday Season

Kids need books. Access to books is the number one way to ensure kids develop strong literacy skills, which are crucial to their future success. Books help develop empathy, vocabulary, and comprehension. They also provide a positive escape for many children from the challenges in their lives. They can be a connection to a larger … Continued

General

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

You did it! You helped us raise $17,363 for new books for children with incarcerated parents on Giving Tuesday! You made this our most successful Giving Tuesday ever! Thanks to our generous friends, Rick and Linda Roesch, who matched all donations up to $5,000. Hundreds of children will receive new books from their incarcerated parents … Continued

General

Giving Thanks

This week, we give thanks for the things that make us grateful, and that’s you! All of us at CLiF appreciate the support our friends give us, which allows us to give thousands of low-income, at-risk, and rural kids each year memorable literacy programming and new books! The kids we serve appreciate your support, too. … Continued

CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.

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