Exploring Holiday Traditions through Children's Books
Blogger Charnaie Gordon has put together a list of her favorite holiday books. They celebrate a number of holiday traditions and introduce children to a variety of cultures around the world. If you are looking for books to expand your family's holiday horizons, here's a place to begin from
ReadBrightly.com.
And if you are looking for some great book lists for holiday book giving -- no matter what holiday(s) you celebrate -- here are some wonderful ideas from a variety of sources about the best children's books of 2019. Click the pictures for direct links. Books are such a remarkable gift for the children in our lives! Gift on!
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Red Tricycle
(photo: Gibbs Smith)
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Speaking of gifting...there is a special way for civilian federal employees, federal retirees, active duty military members, Postal Service employees, and federal contractors to give to nonprofits like Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia. If you are in one of these categories or know someone who is, please consider RIF of NOVA via the
Combined Federal Campaign. This year, the campaign runs through
January 12, 2020. Click
here and enter the Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia CFC number: #
18818
. Thank you! Other ways to donate to RIF of NOVA are listed below.
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Monuments, Memorials, and Museums...Oh MY!
RIF of NOVA Book Distributions are Underway!
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Crestwood's Museum Walk
At Crestwood Elementary School in Fairfax County, librarian Victoria Washington welcomed students to the school’s RIF distribution and took them on a “museum walk” through displays about historic anniversaries being celebrated in 2019. Displays included several 50th anniversary observances, including the publication of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the
walk on the moon, and
Sesame Street. Then it was time to pick out books to keep “forever,” as one child explained. Before returning to class, students had an opportunity to watch a video about caterpillars or about the
Grand Canyon (which is celebrating its 100th anniversary!). Older grades had a chance to look at database articles at computer stations, which referenced many of the anniversary topics. The children also picked out scented bookmarks -- always a hit.
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The real celebration began when the children learned that this year, they would pick out TWO books, thanks to a generous donation in 2018 by the Vineyard Family Foundation. Bradley Vineyard is shown celebrating with some of the older children. The Foundation recently gave a brand new gift to RIF of NOVA, which will support books for an additional 3,000 children next year.
THANK YOU to the Vineyard Foundation's Bradley and Mark Vineyard for this incredibly generous gift of literacy! Zowie!
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Three Crestwood students celebrated their RIF of NOVA book day by drawing illustrations of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
on its 50th anniversary. Good readers and good artists, too!
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Marumsco Hills Spends a Night (okay, a Day) at the Museum!
At Marumsco Hills Elementary School in Prince William County, the book distribution theme was
Washington D.C. -- Monuments, Memorials, and Museums. Reading specialist Sharon Nottingham and librarian Julie Platt hosted close to 600 hundred students from preschool through fifth grade for a "tour" through the nation's capital. In addition to receiving one free book, each student received a map of Washington D.C. and a visitor's guide donated by Washington's Office of Tourism.
Kathleen Morris from the county's Office of Elementary Math Education was a special guest. For over 30 years, she has been a Saturday morning volunteer at a variety of D.C. museums. Said Sharon Nottingham, "She was amazing! She brought books, pictures, and great stories of the many museums that are located in the city. It was an exciting, informative, and interactive distribution!"
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Kathleen Morris showed off maps and photos of D.C. She is seen here showing a panda photo from the National Zoo. Very cool!
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Marumsco Hills children showed off their RIF books and D.C. visitor maps. What a fun way to learn more about the city of Washington!
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South County Health Center's Gift of Reading
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Children at the South County Health Center WIC program celebrated the holiday season with the Gift of Reading. After picking their RIF of NOVA books, they made Santa puppets, which they carefully colored. RIF board member Hazeline Harris (shown in photo) reached across all ages and language groups with her
Coloring Book of Magic
, and the children howled with laughter as the pictures appeared and disappeared from this special book.
Parents learned about the importance of reading to their very young children. Each child left with a RIF book, as well as a gift bag with crayons, a holiday coloring book, and a Snoopy book celebrating the moon landing's 50th anniversary.
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Waiting time at the Health Center was much more fun with a new RIF book and a Santa to color!
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Caught in the act...of reading my new RIF book!
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Couldn't be prouder of my Santa puppet...colored by...me!
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Friends of the RIF of NOVA board Justin and Liza Aromas-Janosik have welcomed baby Emelia. RIF RAP readers may remember Devon's Library, a collection of over 600 books donated to Bel Air Elementary School in December 2018 in memory of the Aromas-Janosik family's first child Devon Christopher. Baby Emelia came a little early but is doing well and clearly loves her Devon bear. We are so happy and also very sure that books will be a big part of her life!
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Board member Dora Sue Black has been named Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School's Teacher of the Year. Whoo hoo! Her name will now be presented for consideration at the Arlington county-wide level. Said Dora Sue, "This is an honor because fellow members of the staff nominated me. They see that my teaching and collaborating make a difference. I love my job, the students, the parents, and the staff." And we love you, Dora Sue! Congratulations!
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OH! Such a difference books make!
The faces of our children tell the story...books make such a difference! Thank you to all RIF RAP readers for donating to RIF of NOVA and the cause of literacy. Please remember...
Every $2.00 you give = one book for a child
. Small donations add up to real books for the NOVA children we serve.
Here are several ways to donate:
1) Until the end of 2019, we are still collecting funds for our
Book It For Books 5K campaign. Send a check to Book It For Books Treasurer, Sheryl Leeds, 2408 Gretter Place, Alexandria, VA 22311.
2) Send a check to our mailbox: P.O. Box 7012, Arlington, VA 22207-0012.
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4) As noted above, give at your workplace via the
Combined Federal Campaign. This season, the
CFC open solicitation period runs through
January 12, 2020. The Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia CFC number is: #
18818
.
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5) Register with
smile.amazon.com
. Type in Reading Is Fundamental of Northern Virginia, Inc. to select us as the charity you want to support. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to RIF of NOVA. With the holidays coming, the 0.5% can add up!
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Merry and
Happy
and
Thank You
to all!
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Please share the RAP! Forward our newsletter to your friends and anyone interested in providing books to children who need them! Subscribe
here
!
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United Way # 8959 | CFC # 18818
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