General / Book Recommendations
This is part 2 of a 2-part blog post. For part 1, click here. Trust me. As the Children’s Book Buyer at Bear Pond Books I’m right there with kids in the search for the “next great book.” Lucky for me, poring over publisher sales catalogs and getting advanced reader’s copies of books … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
Staff note: We are thrilled to welcome Jane Knight, Children’s Book Buyer for Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, VT and CLiF Advisor, as an occasional guest blogger. Jane’s focus is on finding the best kids’ books on the shelves via resources and reviews. This is part 1 of a 2-part blog post. I’m hoping … Continued
Last week my husband and I walked our two girls down the street for their first day of school. There was a strong sense of community and celebration as our children paraded into the building. We have a great school with incredible teachers, programs, and families and we feel fortunate to be a part of … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
The 75 members of the First Church in Jaffrey, NH are an energetic group of individuals who feel that they should demonstrate not only in words, but also in deeds, their love for their fellow human beings and the planet around us.
One goal of CLiF’s Year of the Book program is to help teachers engage students with reading and writing in new and creative ways. To that end we offer mini-grants to teachers in Year of the Book schools to develop projects that meet this goal. This past school year one of my favorites came from … Continued
I am a mean parent. It’s true. And I had mean parents, for which I am eternally grateful. How mean am I? Mean enough to use the word NO in the face of adversity (begging, foot stomping, crying, and occasional tantrums), and mean enough to make demands of my children, even if they temporarily hate … Continued
CLiF Spotlight / Book Recommendations
Here’s a peek behind the scenes in the CLiF office. Julia is busy assembling a huge book order for CLiF’s fall programs through our partner First Book. It’s a thoughtful process. Lots of kids in New Hampshire and Vermont are interested in hunting, animals, and nature, so she’s including Tracking and Reading Sign by Len McDougall … Continued
Fifteen years ago CLiF’s very first literacy program supported rural public libraries. We’re delighted to once again offer the Rural Library Sponsorship and support public libraries and schools in New Hampshire and Vermont’s small towns. CLiF is accepting applications through September 16, 2013. Twin States public libraries in towns of 5,000 or fewer residents with … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
“This is my friend Peg. Can you all say ‘Hi!’ to Peg?” Seventy five kids waved and called out “Hi Peg!”
Sometimes it can be tough to get new readers to read on their own. Many beginning reader books are too complicated, too simple, or just plain don’t make sense. To be fair, it is really difficult to write a good story and stick within the necessary parameters for new readers: simple vocabulary, understandable content, and … Continued
48 different children’s summer programs across Vermont and New Hampshire. 3,300 kids. Two free books per child. That’s a lot of books. No wonder the CLiFmobile just needed its shocks replaced. Rec program at the Barre Municipal Pool in Barre, VT From June through August, CLiF’s Summer Readers program visits lunch programs, low-income summer camps, and … Continued
If you are reading this, you probably really love books. But what if they were forbidden? Would you love them even more? Would you fight for them? Would you keep the stories in your head and pass them on so they would never be lost? Imagine if there was just one book left in the … Continued
Katie Gunn is a native Vermonter who works for the management consulting firm Oliver Wyman in New York City. The firm’s Nonprofit Fellowship Program allows its consultants to take several months to work closely with a nonprofit anywhere in the world. Katie will lend her expertise to CLiF from July through October. Tell us a … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
The amount of thunder showers we are getting this summer seems a might bit excessive, wouldn’t you say? At our house, we have already sung, “rain, rain, go away,” until we are blue in the face. Ah well, I guess, when life gives you thunder storms the best thing to do is to make thunder … Continued
General / CLiF Spotlight / How You Can Help
Our excitement is ramping up for the newest Year of the Book town kickoffs, and we are thinking a lot about successes and lessons learned when looking back over our first year of offering this grant. We have been excited to hear about the burgeoning relationships between the school and the public library, the changed … Continued
I am ashamed to say that sometimes I take my public library for granted. Sometimes I act like having free access to all those resources, carefully filed and maintained for my use, is my God-given right. Ha! Sometimes I behave as if all those educational opportunities the local library offers my kids are nothing more … Continued
“How – do you -wokka-wokka?” author Elizabeth Bluemle chanted rhythmically to the beat of a drum. Kids at the Bobbin Mill apartment complex danced, shimmied and shook maracas as she continued,” I wokka-wokka like flamingos in a flocka- croackie-yocka, leggy-longy, pinky hoppa-hoppa…” Elizabeth’s performance was the perfect antidote for the muggy, drizzly summer evening. The … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.