Welcoming Caregivers as Creative Partners in Storytime

By: Holly Van Hoy Are you lucky enough to have caregivers and/or community members offering to volunteer at your library during storytime, but feeling unsure how to include them?  Here are a few ways that I have been able to welcome caregivers and community members as creative partners in my storytime sessions. Hand Them a …

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Create an interactive early literacy training with a little help from CLEL Bells

By: Mary Ann Lawler How do you teach new staff about early literacy quickly? Get hands-on as soon as possible. Here’s a way to do that using the CLEL Bell winners’ Activity Sheets, found on the CLEL Bells website. I recently co-led a 45-minute workshop at an early childhood educators’ conference focused on teaching the …

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Join the 2026 English CLEL Bells Committee!

If you’re interested in lively, collaborative, in-depth discussions about early literacy, CLEL Bells is the place for you! Be part of advocating for quality children’s books that support early literacy. The English CLEL Bells Committee is recruiting new members for the 2026 award season! What are the CLEL Bells? One of the two early literacy …

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Announcing the 2025 CLEL Bell Award winners

COLORADO – Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy today announced five winning picture books that exemplify the early literacy practices READ, WRITE, TALK, SING, and PLAY. Winners were selected from a 25-title shortlist put forth by the awards committee. The 2025 CLEL Bell Award Winners are: READ – When You Love a Book – written by …

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Announcing the 2025 CLEL Bells Shortlist

We are pleased to announce the shortlist titles for the annual CLEL Bell Awards. The 2025 year was historic in its submissions, representation, and unique expression of early literacy. The CLEL Bell Awards are an annual recognition of five high-quality children’s books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in children ages 0-5. This …

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¡El Premio CLEL Bell 2025 está buscando candidatos para el comité de selección! – El plazo de la aplicación ha sido extendido hasta el 31 de enero.

Cada miembro seleccionado formará parte de uno de los cinco subcomités que se centran en las siguientes prácticas: Leer, Escribir, Cantar, Hablar o Jugar. Los miembros del comité se comprometen a leer libros ilustrados y libros de cartón publicados entre junio 2023 a junio 2025, con el fin de eventualmente nominar libros que mejor reflejen …

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Announcing the Spanish CLEL Bells

May 25, 2024 • info@clel.org COLORADO – Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is pleased to announce a newly formed committee that will present CLEL Bell Awards to winning Spanish-language titles in 2025. A complement to the English CLEL Bell Awards, the Spanish Bells will select five outstanding picture books produced in Spanish that model the …

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Join the 2025 CLEL Bells Committee

Hi!  My name is Holly, and I have been on the CLEL Bell Awards committee for two years. I am excited to stay on for a third year as a co-co-chair. (Yes, I meant to put two “co”s there.)  Now, I am normally not the type to volunteer myself to take on more responsibilities. I’m …

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