CLiF Library Programs Benefit Local Daycare
By Gretchen Stern
Did you know that each time CLiF sponsors a rural public library, we also visit a local daycare center? When a librarian receives a CLiF grant, he or she nominates one local daycare or childcare center to receive a captivating storytelling presentation from Duncan or another CLiF presenter. CLiF also provides free, brand-new books for an on-site library and for each child to take home and keep. Through this process, CLiF is able to reach even more children and help forge a connection and ongoing relationship between the center and the local library.
This week at CLiF, Duncan is visiting two rural public libraries: one in Franklin, Vermont and another in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. While he’s in town, Duncan will give books and a storytelling presentation to one daycare center near each of those libraries.
The opportunity to brighten the day for so many children is priceless. Not only do their faces light up when hearing stories that tickle their imagination, but also when they learn that the beautiful books laid out on the table are available for them to take home. They excitedly pick from dozens of crisp, colorful stories and proudly bring their new books home to show their families.
And if you have any doubt as to whether books are important to children who are not yet able to read, just ask our newest CLiF reader, my 16-month-old son, Emmett. He loves his books so much, he snuggles up to them at bedtime! We hope our daycare children do the same with their new books!
Check out this chart from the Pew Research Center‘s recently published study “The rise of e-reading.” It’s a great snapshot of how people use e-books and print books: e-books take the cake when it comes to convenience, but print books still trump when people want to share the reading experience with friends and children.
The statistic we mentioned in the headline of this post may not come as a surprise, but when we saw it highlighted on The Digital Shift, a website on libraries and new media from Library Journal and School Library Journal,we wanted to share it with you. The fact that 81% of readers prefer to read print books to children suggests that the experience of swiping fingers on an e-reader or tablet still hasn’t replaced turning pages, feeling paper, and otherwise sharing a colorful, beautifully designed book.
As e-books continue to grow in popularity – 21% of Americans have read one – it will be fascinating to watch and see if e-books become a bigger part of the personal side of reading.
There’s a huge amount of interesting info in the study. If you’re a constant reader or work in libraries or literacy, it’s worth reading to learn how the act of reading is changing in the U.S.
Learn more at the Pew Research Center’s website.
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We love children’s books here at CLiF, and when we come across a really good one we love to share it with everyone. One by Kathryn Otoski was published in 2008 and has won a few awards, so many of you may have seen or heard of it. If you haven’t, Otoski uses colors and numbers as characters to calmly and compassionately describe the circumstances around bullying and to demonstrate how each of us can have an impact
In One, the color blue is bullied by the color red. who is “kind of a hot head.” When no one stands up to Red he becomes stronger and stronger. Eventually, the number One bravely defies Red and when all of the colors join in and stand up to be counted, becoming numbers themselves, the bully loses power and becomes one of the group.
CLiF’s newest volunteer, Karen Ruben, recommended this book to us. Here’s what she had to say:
I volunteer with CLiF because I am, 1) a former teacher who knows first hand the need to spread the benefits of literacy, 2) a mother of three trying to raise brilliant, compassionate children, and 3) a book junkie with a passion for children’s books. It is from this perspective that I recommend Otashi’s beautiful and award winning book to you.
For all of you who want to learn more about One, you can visit KO Kids Books.
Kids Helping Kids
By Julia Rogers
Harry Hopper was only eight years old when he began supporting CLiF. At his eighth birthday party, Harry collected donations from attendees and sent CLiF a check for $200. “My mom works with children and shared with me that some of her students do not own any books of their own,” Harry explained. “I couldn’t believe it! I think that all children should have the opportunity to have books.”
Harry’s mom, Heidi, added, “Our family has a deep-rooted love of books. We believe in CLiF’s mission to serve the children and families of Vermont and New Hampshire. We love supporting CLiF!”
Harry, now 13, still holds a birthday party fundraiser for CLiF every year. This past year, he raised over $350, which went towards our literacy programming in Vermont and New Hampshire. “I had over 20 friends who came and donated to CLiF this year,” Harry stated proudly. “The parents love it – it supports a good organization and it saves the planet from more ‘stuff’!”
CLiF also receives new books as in-kind donations from children’s birthday parties and other events. It’s always a thrill to see kids taking the initiative to help other kids.
A huge thanks to Harry and all of our young supporters! We are truly inspired by your efforts to make a difference in the lives of other children. If you are the parents of a child who would like to raise money or books for CLiF for his or her birthday, bar or bat mitzvah, graduation, or other holiday, contact Julia Rogers at julia@clifonline.org. As Harry so nicely put it, “It’s true, the old saying: It is better to give than receive.”
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By Katrin Colby
Vermont poet and teacher Geof Hewitt recently visited Lunenburg Elementary and Gilman Middle School students for a Writer in Residence program. The program was part of a generous three-year grant award from the Children’s Literacy Foundation. Geof worked with each class for three days in preparation for a Literary Tea and Poetry Slam in an all-school assembly on his final day.
Geof and kindergarten students collaborated on an exciting story about a dolphin that met up with a shark. Then the class performed it chorally with their teacher at the Literary Tea. Students especially loved some of the gestures they performed to emphasize language: “But the shark saved [arms raised, fingers point to the sky] that dolphin!”
All of the other students worked on individual pieces that came from creative writing prompts from Geof. Students especially loved when he geared them up to write by having them hold their pencils high to the sky. Then, on the count of three, they raced their arms down to the page and started writing! The spirit of fast and furious writing helped break down inhibition and hesitation. After a freewrite, Geof had all students stand and read aloud their pieces at the same time. This delighted the students as they learned a new word: Cacophony!
At the middle school, students gathered in the hallway after lunch, notebooks in hand, awaiting Geof’s arrival to show himsdsd their most recent work. The older students were especially enthralled with the idea of a poetry slam, which poked fun at actually judging art and kept a fun and light-hearted spirit alive while giving students a venue to perform their work. The spirit of the slam even inspired our principal and math teacher to write and perform poems of their own. Although the math teacher was quick to remind students that although they would be scoring him during the slam, he would be scoring them for the rest of the year!
Geof’s sense of humor kept students completely engaged. His manner of speaking was a constant reminder of how much opportunity we have to carefully choose our words, our emphasis, and our meaning. Geof’s springtime visit blew a breath of fresh air into poetry for all of us.
New books by CLiF presenters Michael Daley and Jessie Haas
Kids love to laugh. So what better way to help them cross the threshold into a lifetime of reading on their own than with easy, funny books? Two new beginning reader books by Westminster, Vermont husband and wife authors, Michael J. Daley and Jessie Haas, are guaranteed to open the door to reading with lots of laughs.
Michael and Jessie are long-time CLIF presenters. They’ve done several author visit programs, as well as writer-in-residences, to help further CLIF’s work.
Michael’s Pinch and Dash Make Soup tells a tale of two friends, one lazy and one a great cook, who turn skinny soup into fat soup in a zany take off on the old Stone Soup tale. In the process they learn that being good friends sometimes involves compromise. “My passion for food and cooking began early in life,” says Michael, who at age six could be found frying shredded newspaper on his Nana’s steam radiator. “Pinch and Dash came to life with word play on those familiar cooking terms.”
In Bramble and Maggie: Horse Meets Girl, Jessie proves once again that she is the ‘reigning queen of all things equine’ with a delightful story about a strong-minded horse in search of just the right girl—not just any girl—and a horse-crazy girl in search of just the right horse—not just any horse. Jessie says, “I wrote Bramble and Maggie while getting to know my new horse, Robin. Like Bramble, she has her little ways, but we are now good friends. She thinks I still have a lot to learn, though!”
Experts agree that simplicity, word play, short sentences, and repetition are some of the key qualities beginning reader books must possess to help new readers find the confidence to read on their own. Early reviews by such respected authorities as The Horn Book, School Library Journal, and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books write that Michael and Jessie’s new books have these qualities in spades.
“Haas’ latest hits all the right notes,” Kirkus Reviews says of Bramble and Maggie, while The Horn Book praises Haas’ narrative voice as “superb”. The Bulletin says of Pinch and Dash: “Daley’s effective use of repeated words and phrases, simple vocabulary, and grouping of events into four chapters make this very accessible to novices, while the gentle situational humor will also help facilitate readers’ digestion of this easy reader.”
Michael and Jessie plan to do a number of reading and signing events for their books in the region. Check their websites for upcoming events: www.michaeljdaley.com and www.jessiehaas.com.
Earlier today, I came across a blog post about Worldreader, an international nonprofit whose mission is to make digital books available to children in the developing world. The post was an update about Worldreader’s project at the Humble United Methodist School in Uganda. The plan was to donate 100 Kindles to Humble and introduce them to elementary school students. The Crossroads United Methodist Church in Ashburn, Virginia, sponsored the project.
According to Worldreader, Humble has already seen exciting results in the weeks since the Kindles arrived.
Here are some examples from a list that Ugandan project manager, Bernard Opio, submitted to Worldreader:
- [The pupils] are improving their English speaking skills as they read and listen to their teachers. They have also learned how to pronounce different words which they could not pronounce before. For example, Mercy Anyango could not pronounce the word ”cooperation” or “colonialism,” but she now can.
- The pupils are now able to use the world atlas… This has been of great importance, and it has made the teacher’s work in P4, P5 and P6 easier.
- Using the Kindle, the kids have improved their vocabulary by playing games, especially those that help them to form words. Prisca Acheng, a P5 student, was able to complete the jig-saw. She was very excited, and this encouraged others to continue trying on the same.
- They enjoy reading the interesting stories during leisure time.
- It has greatly improved the students’ ability to count numbers by playing Number Slides.
- The use of the dictionary has greatly helped students learn the meanings of new words. The teachers have also encouraged the pupils to look out for new words during lessons.
- The playing of puzzle games has improved their puzzle knowledge.
While there are still challenges to the adoption of e-readers and digital books in most of the developing world, it’s possible to see a remarkable future in these results. After all, tablets, e-readers, and Kindles are more than books: They’re digital tools that can help teach children learn math as well as reading – and many other subjects. Opio’s comments and observations about the use of the world atlas, as well as number and puzzle games shows the versatility of the e-readers as learning tools.
What do you think? Is this still just a niche project or a sign of what’s to come – in developing nations as well as the United States? Please let us know in the comments section.
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Stories, songs, and dump trucks at Big Rig Day
It was tough competition for attention at this year’s Big Rig Day in Swanton, Vermont. In addition to the parking lot full of dump trucks, buses, fire trucks, police cars, army vehicles, other big rigs, the cafeteria of Missisquoi Valley Union High School was packed with stations offering different crafts and food activities. But as soon as Robert Resnick and Megan Butterfield started singing, it was as if the rest of the activities ceased.
Robert and Megan performed at Big Rig Day as part of a CLiF Rural Library Grant to the Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile, which received $2,000 worth of new books as part of the grant. Robert is best known as the host of Vermont Public Radio’s All the Traditions, but is also a fantastic children’s performer. He and Megan played hits like “Baby Beluga,” “The Ants Go Marching,” and Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” to a large crowd of enthusiastic tots. Megan and Robert also shared their love of reading and writing to their audience. Megan talked about The Very Hungry Caterpillar, while Robert captivated the kids with a rousing rendition of Green Eggs and Ham.
All the while during Robert and Megan’s performance, 600 new children’s books were waiting for new homes. After the show, every child present at Big Rig Day got to choose two books to keep. Robert and Megan barely had time to clear away their sound equipment before the children rushed to choose their books. It was the cherry on top of a wonderful event!
You belong at your library
Today is the first day of National Library Week 2012. This year, the American Library Association is promoting a variety of events through an awareness campaign called @ Your Library to remind Americans of the incredible resources available at our public libraries.
CLiF’s earliest programs supported rural public libraries in New Hampshire and Vermont. More often than not, these libraries have book budgets of a few hundred dollars per year. That’s why we still work with many libraries each year, providing a grant that supplies libraries with a storytelling presentation with a New Hampshire or Vermont author or illustrator and a donation of $2,000 of brand-new books to the library.
CLiF believes strongly in our public libraries. We encourage you to take part in National Library Week. Visit your library, try your luck at the Six Word Story Sweepstakes, or take the pledge to connect with your kids at a library near you.
In the meantime, let us know what you love most about your local library.
Children’s books and yoga: A peaceful combination!
Over the winter, Suzanne Loring, CLiF’s program director, received a call from Kat Colby, the community coordinator for CLiF’s Community Literacy Program in Gilman and Lunenburg, Vermont. Kat wanted to know if she could use part of her program budget to purchase yoga mats. Suzanne, after a moment’s hesitation, asked the obvious question: “What do yoga mats have to do with books?”
Kat explained that she wanted to read aloud books about sharing and kindness with kindergarten children and then illustrate story’s teaching with yoga poses, breathing, and meditation.
Suzanne thought it was a fun idea and encouraged Kat to go for it.
The first sessions were a hit with kindergarteners, and Kat turned yoga and books into a weekly practice.
Here is a little summary of a recent session:
After our namaste greeting, yoga song, sounding “OM,” and warming up with some Sun Salutations, we read The Red Hen by Rebecca and Ed Emberley. This is a version of The Little Red Hen, who would really like some help from her friends to make a cake, but no one will help her. But when the yummy cake is finished, everyone wants to help eat it!
We made a circle and talked about how much better it is to help out our friends when they ask, and then we went around the circle and held hands with our friends as we promised to help each other out whenever we can.
We practiced backbends like Cobra, Bow, and Camel to help open our hearts and clear our lungs. Backbends encourage compassion and positivity. We melted into Child’s Pose for a rest and finished with a seated meditation that brought us back to our breath and heart.
Kat continues to find great children’s books to pair with yoga poses. She has read Sled Dogs Run by Jonathan London and taught the kids poses like Downward Dog and Extended Puppy. She also taught them poses from the Warrior series and had discussions about bravery after reading The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash.
This level of creativity in finding ways to inspire children to enjoy and discuss books is just what CLiF envisioned when we set out to develop community-based literacy programs in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Local knowledge and ideas are fantastic. We have to admit, we wouldn’t have thought to pair yoga with children’s books!
