NASHUA – The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua hosted a parent seminar, storytelling event and book giveaway on Thursday, April 10, for their children thanks to a grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation.

Members were able to participate in the literacy event, which focused on the importance of reading.

Children’s author and illustrator Marty Kelley, of New Boston, demonstrated strategies for parents to make reading aloud easy and fun, even if parents aren’t strong readers. Kelley’s titles include “The Rules,” “Summer Stinks,” “Fall Is Not Easy,” “Winter Woes” and “The Messiest Desk.”

After the seminar, Kelley modeled techniques in an interactive storytelling presentation. At the end of the presentation, each child was invited to select two new books to keep from among hundreds of titles.

“Reading skills are essential to ensuring that all children can become lifelong learners,” club CEO Norm Bouthilette said. “We are thankful that CLiF is helping us to achieve our goals for helping our members achieve academic success. This event will allow us to encourage members to read and work with their parents to encouraging reading outside of school time.”

CLiF seeks to reach young readers in New Hampshire and Vermont who are most vulnerable to growing up with low literacy skills. The presentation at the Boys & Girls Club was provided through a grant available to social service providers, school-based programs and community organizations that serve at-risk populations in New Hampshire and Vermont.

These include low-income families, foster children, teenage parents, migrant workers and refugees.

Other grant recipients include shelters, Head Start programs, ELL classrooms and similar organizations.

The grant also includes a library for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua to provide children even more access to books. Also, CLiF has selected the Boys & Girls Club as a site for its Summer Readers grant, which will offer additional literacy opportunities for members this summer.