Articles by Erika Nichols-Frazer
What do shipwrecks, flying pigs, and talking fruit have in common? There were all featured in story submissions for the Vermont PBS Kids’ annual Writing Contest, which I had the pleasure of judging last week. Last Friday, I joined nine other writers, librarians, and members of educational non-profits at Vermont’s PBS headquarters in Colchester to … Continued
Have you had a mentor who influenced your life? I’ve had quite a few, some through formal mentorship programs, but most have happened organically with a friend or colleague I respect who shares their experience and advice with me and acts as a sounding board when I need it. I consider my fellow writing group members … Continued
What do you get when you add 130 teachers, principals, librarians and superintendents from 37 elementary schools throughout two states together for an intensive, jam-packed literacy conference? One inspiring day and a whole lot of ideas for promoting literacy to take home to your school, library, and community! That’s exactly what happened yesterday at CLiF’s fifth … Continued
“Be like a duck,” actor Michael Caine once said. “Calm on the surface, but paddling like the dickens underneath.” That sounds a lot like CLiF: our small staff and team of volunteers and presenters always keep smiles on their faces while labelling and packing hundreds of books for giveaways each week, telling stories and giving … Continued
Did you know it’s Read Across America Day? It’s also World Book Day, and the beginning of National Reading Month. I know, all these “holidays” can get a little overwhelming and even feel a bit arbitrary. It seems like, just about any day you pick, you can find somebody somewhere declaring it “National Popcorn Day” (January 19) … Continued
My favorite part of CLiF events is always helping kids choose their own books to take home. But the CLiF event I went to last week was a little different. There were no kids. It wasn’t in a school, daycare center, or library. We were in the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord … Continued
The old adage goes “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” The same is true of reading and writing. Give a child a book and they might be entertained for a few hours, especially if that child had the chance … Continued
Williamstown Elementary School students giggled and shouted “Ewwwww!” as author/illustrator Jason Chin told them about salty iguana snot. Behind him a slideshow showed photographs of the salty, snotty creatures sunbathing in the Galapagos Islands, images from his research trip there for his children’s book Island: A Story of the Galapagos. Then, laughter erupted as he told … Continued
This week I returned to the CLiF office after an inspiring, invigorating, and exhausting ten-day residency at the Bennington Writing Seminars. This was the first of five residencies I will participate in during a two-year pursuit of a Master’s degree in Fiction from Bennington College. BWS is a low-residency MFA program that combines intensive on-campus … Continued
It’s probably no surprise that the CLiF Staff loves to read. After all, our mission is to share our love of reading and writing with low-income, at-risk, and rural kids in Vermont and New Hampshire. So of course, we read a lot. We read with our kids; we read by ourselves; and sometimes, we read … Continued
While children all over the world have been sending Santa their wish lists, two young CLiF donors had another idea. They decided to put Santa to work for a cause they cared about. The Patchett-Walsh grandchildren chose to raise money for the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) by making the beautiful Santas you see above and selling them … Continued
On a recent trip to Boston, my husband asked me, “Do you think going to the aquarium as an adult would be as fun as I remember it? Or is going to ruin it?” The undeniable answer: No matter how old you are, aquariums are still cool. And I’m pretty sure we weren’t the only … Continued
I don’t want to talk about politics. You don’t want to talk about politics. But let’s talk about how we talk to kids about politics. Because they’re paying attention, and if we don’t help them frame what they’re hearing in context, they’ll fill in their own blanks. Just because they won’t be eligible to vote … Continued
Last week at Russell Elementary School in Rumney, NH, professional storyteller Simon Brooks captivated kindergarteners through eighth graders with a hilarious Halloween tale about a trick-or-treater and the cursed black bubblegum (that’s him telling stories at RES above). Students of all ages squealed and giggled and were completely enraptured in Simon’s scary voices and pantomiming … Continued
My first grade teacher, Mrs. A., told me I could be a writer. For a voracious young reader, this revelation was life-changing. I’d loved to read and make up my own stories from a very young age, and while my parents encouraged it, no one had ever read one of my stories and told me … Continued
Did you know it’s Banned Books Week (September 25 – October 1, 2016)? According to bannedbooksweek.org, “The Banned Books Week Coalition is a national alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition seeks to engage various communities and inspire participation in Banned Books … Continued
(Horse not included) The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is seeking a summer intern who would like to work at a busy, innovative literacy non-profit. CLiF’s mission is to nurture a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural young readers and writers up to age 12 throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. We work directly with children who are at high … Continued
The Lake was placid, but a momentary commotion caused by a pair of loons who swooped down to breach the glass surface sent a wave of mirrored ripples across the lake. After the loons silent glide, they dove under the water for food, and all was calm again. Serenity. Despite the distraction of the amazing … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.