CLiF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural children up to age 12 throughout New Hampshire and Vermont.
CLiF arranges for more than 65 professional authors, illustrators, poets, graphic novelists, and storytellers to give inspiring presentations for children. These memorable events help kids get excited about books, stories, reading, and writing. CLiF holds nearly 1,000 events each year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our storytelling events have been outdoor, socially distant, or virtual.
At almost every CLiF event children can select new, high-quality books of their choice from hundreds of titles. In some CLiF programs, children can pick at least ten new books of their choice over one year. CLiF also donates significant collections of new, high-quality children’s books to school libraries, public libraries, classrooms, shelters, affordable housing developments, and other locations where children and families may be found. Many programs have been sending home books with meals or other learning materials, or offering safe, curb-side book pick-up.
CLiF provides a wide variety of literacy resources, and support to parents, caregivers, and staff members at organizations that serve our target audience. CLiF also hosts periodic conferences for educators and librarians (virtual in 2021).
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Early literacy skills are one of the strongest indicators of a child’s future success. Yet, more than two-thirds of low-income fourth graders in New Hampshire and Vermont do not read proficiently. Many have limited access to inspiring literacy programming and high-quality new books. CLiF’s programs aim to increase enjoyment of reading and writing for low-income, at-risk, and rural kids in the Twin States, provide access to high-quality reading materials that meet children’s interests, and give families, schools, libraries, and programs the tools they need to encourage literacy skills.
Our ImpactCatch up with our latest featured posts from our blog
Literacy Activities / Presenter Profiles / CLiF Spotlight / Education
CLiF’s Wednesday afternoon storytelling series will be back for the winter! Join CLiF and one of our professional presenters Wednesdays at 1 p.m. EST from January 6 to February 10; register here. Watch the spring, summer, and fall presentations here. CLiF started these weekly sessions to: offer kids and teachers or caregivers a chance to take a break and … Continued
CLiF’s virtual Book Club for Grown-ups series continues! In Book Club, CLiF’s award-winning presenters share their work and answer your questions. You can find the full October discussion with author Sarah Stewart Taylor of The Mountains Wild here (skip the first 10 mins, which is just chatting and set-up). In November, we’ll be talking poetry … Continued
General / Presenter Profiles / CLiF Spotlight
CLiF’s Wednesday afternoon storytelling series is back! Join CLiF and one of our professional presenters Wednesdays at 1 p.m. EST from October 14 to November 18; register here. Watch the spring and summer presentations here. CLiF started these weekly sessions to: offer kids and parents a chance to take a break and share a story, … Continued
Since April, we’ve been offering a weekly virtual storytelling series for kids, featuring CLiF’s amazing storytellers, authors, and illustrators. Now, we’ll be offering a virtual book club for grown-ups, too! Many of the 68 Vermont and New Hampshire authors/storytellers we work with also write for adults. This will be an opportunity to dig into the … Continued
CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help / Education
An update to this post: Now that school is underway, CLiF is looking to rethink its Community Building Grant. We NEED your ideas! We will use them to formulate the components of this year’s Community Building grant. How CLiF can support teachers, parents, librarians, and administrators to succeed with literacy curriculum in a different and … Continued
The process of writing begins before you actually put pen to paper (or words on a screen). Many people find “pre-writing” helpful, notes or an outline to help guide their writing. Some prefer to just jump in and start writing and see what happens. There’s no “right” way to go about writing. Some kids are … Continued
Year of the Book / CLiF Spotlight
Enosburg Falls Elementary School in Enosburg Falls, VT has had a busy school year so far. In September, they kicked off their CLiF Year of the Book with storytelling by Duncan McDougall, their first book giveaway where kids chose new books for themselves, and a family literacy event featuring author David Martin and two more … Continued
CLiF staff and presenters are saddened that COVID-19 means we can not visit schools, libraries, and out-of-school-time programs to complete our exciting grants. Instead, we offer your students the chance to interact live with our presenters from home. For five weeks starting May 5, each Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. EST, we will have an opportunity … Continued
When you want your child to learn something new, the most important thing is to show him that the learning process will be interesting and engaging. Forcing your child to write and driving him into a rigid framework can result in a lack of interest/engagement in writing. For a preschool child, these are all abstractions … Continued
As a writer, I fail. A lot. Since January, I’ve submitted 116 times and gotten 69 rejections. But I’ve also gotten five acceptances, including winning Noir Nation’s Golden Fedora fiction prize, told extremely personal and difficult stories in HuffPost and OC87 Recovery Diaries, and got an Honorable Mention from Glimmer Train. In short, I’m doing … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
Getting your kid tucked into bed without any fuss can be an uphill battle some nights, and getting them to stay asleep can be even more of a struggle. If you want to make bedtime run a little smoother, try incorporating a nighttime routine into your regular evening schedule to help your child wind down … Continued
According to studies, children who work out are more likely to do well in their studies. Read on to learn how exercise can benefit your child, both physically and mentally, and how you can encourage your child to exercise. Boost Your Child’s Concentration with Exercise At school, every day, kids are dealing with a number … Continued
Front Porch Forum doesn’t just help you find your lost dog or that bunk bed you desperately need for your kids. In my case, it found me a summer internship.
CLiF has provided free and inspiring literacy programs and brand-new books to low-income, at-risk, and rural children up to age 12 in almost 85% of the communities in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Please contact us if you’re interested in attending an event. Details may be subject to change.
Ted Scheu will spend a day with students at Disnard Elementary School in Claremont writing poems. He will meet with K-2, 3-5 virtually, and then offer live, virtual writing workshop for 2 groups of second graders.
Register here to receive a link to meet Marek Bennett and hear more about his comics.
Register here to receive a link to meet Steve Swinburne and hear more about his non fiction.