Articles by CLiF Staff
A long time ago, when we were first married, my husband and I used to love to hang around on a Sunday morning reading the New York Times. In my memory of those days, it was cold and raining outside, or 20 below, and we had no place in particular to be. I made an extra … Continued
If you would like your child to be a great reader, should you give him or her… A book A Barbie A Lego set A trip to the zoo All of the above Well, let’s see. What are the tools of a really good reader? A good reader can decode the symbols on a page … Continued
They say that reading aloud to your child is a great way to start conversations about topics that you might have otherwise avoided, been too uncomfortable to discuss, or that would have never come up otherwise.
It can bring you closer to your child by giving you the opportunity to learn their opinions and see their perspectives on different subjects. As a parent of two boys, I can vouch for the validity of this statement.
As part of its mission to assure that all children begin school prepared, Jumpstart is sponsoringRead for the Record, an annual celebration of adults and children reading together.
In October 2011, more than two million people participated by reading aloud the classic tale,Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney.
This year, on Thursday, October 4th even more people across the nation will join in the celebration by reading Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad.
Over the past few weeks, CLiF Executive Director Duncan McDougall has packed the CLiFmobile with books and driven to Brownington, Newbury, and Johnson, Vermont, as well as Pittsfield and Berlin, New Hampshire. CLiF has partnered with each town’s elementary school on our newest program, CLiF’s Year of the Book. (We’re also working with Pittsburg, NH. Their kick-off event will be on October 11.)
It’s hard to believe that it’s autumn already! Over the course of the summer, CLiF presenters visited more than 2,600 children in Vermont and New Hampshire as part of our Summer Readers program. That’s a 24 percent increase over last summer!
The leaves are changing, the air is crisper and Halloween is just around the corner! After discovering an excess of Halloween books in our inventory, we thought it might be fun to celebrate by giving away some copies to our enthusiastic CLiF fans.
Anyone with young kids knows the drill – it’s time for bed, you settle yourself comfortably into the rocking chair, prepped and ready for some quality snuggling and an exciting bedtime story. But when you send the little tike off to choose that evening’s book, you find he returns with the story you read the night before…and the night before that…and the night before that…
CLiF spends a lot of time thinking about what a child will need to be successful. We are dedicated to getting books into the homes of children who don’t have them and to promoting the ability to read, write and understand printed material. We know the power of a literate mind and we want that for all children.
I have been hearing about it for months. Just a few days ago, I almost scalded myself while cooking when my husband Tom exclaimed, “IT’S ALMOST HERE!!!”
“What?!” I responded with more than a hint of annoyance. I assumed it was something dire based on his hurried inflection. I held my breath and waited for an admission of an upcoming bill or forgotten birthday.
“Talk Like a Pirate Day!” Tom replied, looking up from his calendar with a Cheshire Cat grin.
The Adventures of Raina in Rainworld is a collection of fabulous and creative stories starring Raina, the champion of all children who would be outdone by their older siblings.
Raina is glamourous, athletic, tough, adventurous and independent. She can do anything that an older sibling can do and then some. She can read, cook, climb, ride a bike, fly, and toggle between her world and ours in the blink of an eye.
Book Recommendations / How You Can Help
Time with a toddler can be an exhausting string of activity. When you’re not decoding the cause for the latest tantrum, you’re plucking your child from the arm of the couch before he belly flops onto the cushions.
This past Friday I was watching my own crazed toddler, Emmett, in addition to two other children his age. Needless to say, my morning involved a mug of coffee gone cold and a maze of picking up toys, mopping up milk, and repeatedly reminding them to be gentle. By naptime, I was ready to snooze myself and couldn’t wait for a small window of quietness. Before I lulled them to sleep, however, I bravely tried to tackle story time.
Usually we here at CLiF eat, think, breathe, and blog kids and kid’s literature. We do love them. But some days you just have to indulge your own interests.
Sometimes I just love the Internet. I really do.
I once read that “having children is like letting your heart walk around outside of your body.” It’s true, and sending your child off to kindergarten is a tough day for most hearts. It requires a huge leap of faith.
And having faith in your local public school is a tricky thing. On the one hand, it’s your community school. You and your friends and neighbors participate as families there, so there is often a feeling of local ownership (Go Cougars!).
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.