Presenter Profiles

Marty Kelley, Author/Illustrator/Humorist

CLiF would like to introduce or re-introduce you to Marty Kelley of New Boston, NH. Marty’s books and presentations bring together his sense of humor and his degrees in art, animation, and elementary education. Things to think about: How do you describe Marty’s art and/or his style? Marty writes and illustrates his own books and illustrates … Continued

Year of the Book

The Year of the Book Inspires Keene Students

CLiF’s Year of the Book program is designed to increase enthusiasm for reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural kids, improve schools’ literacy efforts, increase family engagement in reading and writing, and create a community-wide culture of literacy. Each year, we award the grant to five elementary schools in New Hampshire and five schools … Continued

Book Recommendations

Hot Books Recommended by Public Librarians

At CLiF’s recent Rural Library Conference, attending librarians submitted their “hottest” book for kids and middle readers. Kids, picture books The Pigeon HAS to Go to School by Mo Willems (6 librarians picked this book as the hottest): “everyone loves pigeon!” and Elephant and Piggie: “Always popular, fun to read!” We Don’t Eat Our Classmates … Continued

Marty Kelley

Presenter Profiles

Q & A with Marty Kelley

One of our popular presenters is author/illustrator Marty Kelley, who has written or illustrated books such as Almost Everybody Farts, Summer Stinks, and A Cape! We asked him what inspires his work.

Year of the Book / CLiF Spotlight

The Year of the Book at Eden Central School

Eden Central School was one of ten elementary schools in Vermont and New Hampshire selected for this year’s CLiF Year of the Book grant. The grant provides $25,000 in exciting literacy programming, family events, new books for the school and local public library, as well as TEN new books for each student to choose. This … Continued

CLiF Spotlight

Spend April 19, 2018 with CLiF

How will you spend April 19, 2018? Maybe you will celebrate National Bicycle Day (we wish we could!), National D.A.R.E Day, or National Garlic Day. At CLiF, we will celebrate a big day of bringing kids together with books, community, authors/illustrators/storytellers, and having fun in school, the library, or at another favorite out-of-school-time place. So, … Continued

CLiF Spotlight

CLiF Spotlight: Belmont, NH

Question: Why is Marty Kelley, (right) author of the book Ladybug Award nominee Albert’s Amazing Almost Adventure and Almost Everyone Farts, reading The Organic Gardener’s Home Reference to elementary aged children? Answer: He read it to train them how to share books with others. Belmont Elementary School (BES) invited Marty to “train” their K-4th graders … Continued

If you're a parent and...

If You’re a Parent and…Captain Underpants Happens

Vermont has suffered through a rainy early summer. One rainy Saturday, I had a perfectly planned visit to the paint-your-own-pottery studio. My daughter and her friend had exchanged gift certificates for birthday presents; we spent the car ride analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of painting one big thing versus painting a few small items. Excitement … Continued

General

Behind the Scenes at CLiF

CLiF runs more than 500 literacy events, gives away $550,000 in children’s books, and serves thousands of children each year to nurture a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural kids (up to age 12) in Vermont and Hampshire. But how do we do it? With a little elbow grease and a … Continued

General / CLiF Spotlight

CLiF Spotlight: Back to Camp!

On June 25 I donned shorts and flip-flops and traveled to Bethlehem, NH to visit Copper Cannon Camp (CCC) located on 128 acres adjacent to the White Mountain National Forest.

FPO image for CLiF website

General / CLiF Spotlight

June 6 Friday Links Library

June is here! We’re celebrating lots of grant program finales and are gearing up for summer… Summer Readers in particular. Let’s take a breather to catch up on some literacy news.   Just in time for Father’s Day next weekend, here’s the #DadsRead campaign. The campaign, “designed to encourage fathers to read with their kids and celebrate dads who … Continued

CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.

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