This post was written by Programs Intern, Connor Richter. In May, the Cooperative Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) at the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, published the 2018 statistics on diversity in American children’s books. Sarah Park Dahlen, an associate professor in the Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS)... Read more
Each year, we reach out to all the educators and community leaders who are registered with First Book Canada to hear from them about the kids they serve, the challenges they face in their communities, the impact of the books and resources, and more. We’ve taken out some of the... Read more
We at First Book are proud to announce the First Book Needs Index: a new research tool that works to combine public and proprietary data in new ways in order to identify areas lacking resources and affecting kids in need. An interactive and dynamic mapping tool developed in partnership with Palantir Technologies, the First Book... Read more
1. 27% of U.S. children under age 6 come from homes where at least one parent speaks a language other than English.1 2. Relative to other U.S. children, dual language learners/English language learners are far more likely to live in poverty and in two-parent families with low levels of... Read more
Classrooms packed, desks emptied, another school year is coming to a close. Summertime is on the horizon and for kids, that means three precious months of sweet, sticky freedom. But when kids from low-income families leave school for the summer, the outlook isn’t always so sunny. While their more affluent... Read more
What if your dreams were out of reach before you could even dream them? For 80% of fourth graders who do not read proficiently, this could be the case. A child’s ability to read in fourth grade is a key indicator to their future success. From their academic achievement to... Read more
Your support has a huge impact in the lives of the educators, program leaders and the children they serve. That’s why we are excited to share our latest Impact Report with you. In the report, you’ll learn about the challenges faced by students living in low-income families and how those... Read more
Last week, hundreds of thousands of parents, educators and readers of all ages issued a call for more diversity in children’s literature, rallying under the banner of #WeNeedDiverseBooks. The campaign spread quickly from Twitter to media outlets around the world as people shared powerful stories about the need for all... Read more
Ever wonder if having books around has any positive side effects? It turns out that, not only for children, but also for teachers, having books available doesn’t have a single positive effect, it has a multitude of them. This study looked at what happens when schools with little to no... Read more