First Book Blog

The Stories for All Project: Latina Author Pat Mora on the Connection Children Make with Books that Include their Culture and Language

Posted in: Archive, Author Voices

Our guest blogger today is author Pat Mora, whose book “Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!”, from Lee & Low Books, is part of First Book’s Stories For All Project. “Once upon a time . . .” A magic phrase that can change our breathing. As far as we know, humans are the... Read more

Coinstar + Spare Change = Books for Kids!

Posted in: Archive

Make your coins count!  During the month of May you can magically turn your spare change into books for kids in need! Coinstar’s partner, Change Making Change, is featuring First Book as their “charity of choice” throughout the month of May. Have a coin jar or a jumble of noisy... Read more

The Stories for All Project: African American Author Tony Medina on Connecting Multicultural Books with Children of Color

Posted in: Archive

Our guest blogger today is author Tony Medina, whose book “DeShawn Days”, from Lee & Low Books, is part of First Book’s Stories For All Project. “As a child in the Throgs Neck Housing Projects in the Bronx, I did not grow up with books. The only person I saw reading... Read more

Lose Ten Pounds & Get More Dates: Five Reasons to Volunteer with First Book

Posted in: Archive

First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books to programs and schools serving children in need. Dedicated volunteers around the country (called First Book “Advisory Boards”) raise funds in their communities to provide brand-new books to local schools and programs, and YOU can be a part of... Read more

Students at Holy Family Catholic School Receive Over 1,000 Books

Posted in: Archive

Our guest bloggers today are students from Holy Family Catholic School located in Toronto, Canada. Holy Family is an elementary school that recently signed up with First Book Canada, and they’ve already received over 1,000 books for their small school. Forget the electronic games, nothing beats spending time with a... Read more

The Stories for All Project: Native American Author Joe Bruchac on Growing Up on the Reservation and the Power of Books

Posted in: Archive

Our guest blogger today is author Joseph Bruchac, whose book “Jim Thorpe’s Bright Path”, from Lee & Low Books, is part of First Book’s Stories For All Project. What does a book mean to a child? A book all his or her own? I can’t remember a time when I didn’t... Read more

One Million Books Available Now for Schools and Programs in States Affected by Hurricane Sandy

Posted in: Archive

Since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast last fall, First Book has been working to help local schools, community programs and families rebuild their lost libraries. Now, thanks to our friends at Random House, we have the resources to rebuild tens of thousands of home and classroom libraries: over one... Read more

Young Diplomat Killed While Bringing Books to Kids

Posted in: Archive

Yesterday morning, Andrew Meyer, the operations manager for the First Book Marketplace, sent an email to the First Book staff sharing his thoughts about Anne Smedinghoff, a young foreign service officer killed in Afghanistan while bringing books to children in need. I was touched by Andrew’s email, and asked him... Read more

Happy Birthday, Amelia Bedelia! A Q&A With Author, Herman Parish

Posted in: Archive, Author Voices

It’s been 50 years since the original author of Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish, debuted the popular children’s book series. Peggy passed away in 1988 but her Amelia Bedelia legacy lives on. Herman Parish, Peggy’s nephew, took over the series after Peggy’s passing. First Book recently interviewed Herman Parish about Amelia... Read more

First Book Supports 50,000 Local Schools and Community Programs. (Yes! 50,000!)

Posted in: Archive

Last year First Book made it a goal to reach more kids in need by doubling the number of local schools and community programs in our national network, from 25,000 to 50,000. We’ve reached that number! Over 50,000 Title I classrooms, early childhood education programs, afterschool programs, museums and libraries,... Read more