Middle Ground: Shining a Light on Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature
I was one of those kids who secretly stayed up past her bedtime and read books under her blanket with a flashlight. Nearly twenty years later, not much has changed.
What’s New
Feb. 7 Friday Links Library
Winter is in full swing here in northern Vermont. When life hands you snow, make a snowcone. Isn’t that what they say? Here are some links we liked this week: Cartoonist and CLiF presenter Marek Bennett has just returned from Nicaragua, where he documented the coffee harvest with help from some local kids. It’s worth … Continued
If you’re a parent and your toddler is a wild child…
If you’re a parent and your child is perpetually on the move, I can relate. My methodical, industrious two year old has snapped into a new state of existence defined by loud, energetic gross motor skills. Our afternoons, once spent quietly lining up Matchbox cars, are now full of jumping, running, soccer, roaring, and all-around … Continued
Jan. 31 Friday Links Library
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
CLiF Spotlight: Boys and Books
Every year CLiF works with thousands of low-income, at-risk, and rural children from birth to age 12. And every year, without fail, our most challenging clients are the oldest boys.
When Your Kids Read Books You Hate
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
Jan. 24 Friday Links Library
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 / Book Recommendations
The Next Great Book: 2014 Preview, Fiction
If you missed yesterday’s post on 2014 nonfiction books Jane’s excited about… click here. Moving on to fiction, it won’t take serious convincing to get any child to read Mo Willems’ latest Pigeon picture book, The Pigeon Needs a Bath. (“No. I do not.” says Pigeon.) However, it sounds like Pigeon is going … Continued
The Next Great Book: 2014 Preview, Nonfiction
For many of us in the book world, January is a strange mix. We’re looking forward to new spring titles. And we’re pondering our favorite books from the previous year with delicious hand-wringing in anticipation of the American Library Association’s award ceremonies, announced at the end of this month. There are several bookstores, libraries, and … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
CLiF Spotlight: More than 800 Books!
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
Picture: Books – Fly with Dragons
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!
Life, Kids, and Books: Feed the Hungry Readers!
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
CLiF Spotlight: A Day On the Road with Duncan
CLiF serves many thousands of children each year across New Hampshire and Vermont – a service area of 19,000 square miles.
CLiF Spotlight: A Book On Every Bed
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 fighting a cold…
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
CLiF Spotlight: Connecting Inmates and their Children Through Stories
We gave four presentations to a total of 135 inmates about the significant positive impact that sharing books regularly can have on their children’s development, and ways to make reading fun and easy even if the parent is not a strong reader.
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
CLiF Spotlight: Holiday Book Drive Season!
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