Articles by CLiF Staff
The big news in children’s literature this week was the American Library Association Youth Media Awards (ALAYMA, or #alayma). Featured on the red carpet this year: a superhero squirrel, a locomotive, the Gaither sisters, and many more great books. We’re particularly proud of CLiF presenter Tanya Lee Stone, who netted a YALSA honor for Courage … Continued
I once read about a woman who banned her kids from reading picture books because she believed her kids were beyond them and should be reading chapter books exclusively. I have also heard, and I am sure you have too, about parents who forbid books like Captain Underpants, books that are slightly vulgar in a … Continued
Trying something new here in the CLiF office. We’re tuned in to literacy news from near and far, and there are great stories every day out there about reading, writing, and books. So in the spirit of sharing resources, every week (mostly) we’ll post a mini library of links to stories we like. If you … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
Above: Joan Eldred, Hiata DeFeo, and Duncan celebrate Bridgeside Books’ Giving Tree book drive: the Waterbury bookstore collected 320 books to benefit CLiF. We don’t have all the books counted yet, but I can’t wait to tell you. This holiday season, book drives brought in more than 800 books to give kids served through … Continued
This original drawing is a collaboration between illustrator Grace Ahmed and her eight-year-old son. When you read, you can fly with any company you choose. Happy New Year from CLiF!
Kids’ minds are so amazing. Their appetites for new information and ideas are so voracious that they sometimes remind me of Cookie Monster gobbling cookies. It’s a beautiful thing to behold and being reminded of it makes me so proud to be a contributor to CLiF’s blog. A few mornings a week I help out … Continued
Here’s a holiday tradition all of us at CLiF wholeheartedly endorse. A Book On Every Bed is a program developed by the advice columnist Amy Dickinson together with Ithaca, NY’s Family Reading Partnership (whose executive director, Brigid Hubberman, was the keynote speaker at CLiF’s 2013 Community Literacy conference). The idea — and the concept can be adjusted for … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
If you are a parent and… …your child is incessantly fighting a cold–and I mean incessantly–I can certainly empathize! Every week it’s a new sniffle, a different cough, or a virus you never knew existed. You watch the tissues creep to the top of the trash can, ready to cascade down and flood the bathroom. … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
I love children’s books. Two perks of my job are maintaining CLiF’s inventory of books and ordering titles for our book giveaways. Around the end of the year I take stock of books bound for daycare centers, afterschool programs, schools, and other program sites. And I always come to the same conclusion: CLiF needs more … Continued
With Thanksgiving upon us, this is the perfect time of year to start gratitude journals. Shown to improve attitude and well-being, gratitude journals are a great way to help your child practice writing and focus on life’s simple joys. What’s more, they can be tailored for all ages and abilities, and working on journals makes … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
It’s snowing in Waterbury Center! Here in the CLiF office, we’re thinking about warm beverages. More importantly, we’re working with the communities we serve to ensure children participating in CLiF programs have new books in time for the holidays. This is what $25 brings a low-income, at-risk, or rural New Hampshire or Vermont child: A … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
Kitties always get a bad rap in fiction, don’t they? You never see an evil witch with a dog as a sidekick. Even when they are the heroes or heroines, cats tend to be portrayed as sarcastic, cranky, and self-centered. They are the David Spades of the animal world. In a household otherwise inundated with … Continued
There’s an acorn banging around in the dryer. Of course there is. That makes perfect sense. It goes along with the rest of it: the gobs and gobs of “art” stuck with magnets to the fridge, the Lego guy in my shoe, the missing checks and stamps that someone (and I know who!) used to … Continued
I have a theory that everyone who loves reading also has their own book kicking around in their imagination. It’s simple: reading other people’s stories empowers us to tell our own. I would bet every one of us — faced with an incredible real-life situation, waking up from a dream, looking up an interesting fact … Continued
There is something about the truly awesome body of children’s books that tempts people to try to separate the cream from the chum. It’s just irresistible. This week the New York Times noted two organizations that have recently published their lists of the 100 “best books” in children’s literature, the New York Public Library and … Continued
Above: CLiF Executive Director Duncan McDougall, left, and board member Dan Lynch, right, at the Summer Readers event held in memory of Richard Lynch in 2013. The photograph Dan holds is a picture of himself with his father. As CLiF’s Office Manager, I have the responsibility and privilege of processing the generous donations that come … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.
