Author Archive: Julia Hornaday

child reading a book

Children Should Have Books

Posted in: Impact Stories

Diane Brownstone grew up one block from the nearest public library. She attributes her love of literature to her early proximity to books. “The public library of my youth gave me an addiction to books that has enriched my life.  My wish is to give this experience and pleasure to... Read more

Q&A with Mary Mazzio: Underwater Dreams documentary filmmaker

Posted in: Author Voices

We had the privilege of speaking with Mary Mazzio – an award-winning filmmaker and creator of Underwater Dreams, a documentary film chronicling the inspirational story of four teenage boys, each the son of Mexican immigrants, who enter a sophisticated robotics competition and defeat the likes of engineering powerhouse MIT. In addition... Read more

Welcoming We Give Books to the First Book Family

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Our New Partner: We Give Books We can’t keep it a secret any longer! As of today, We Give Books has a new home at First Book. The online platform, which features nearly 300 digitally-optimized children’s books, enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of... Read more

A Path Appears

Today’s blog post is an excerpt from A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, the latest book from New York Times’ columnist and best-selling authors Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In A Path Appears, which was released yesterday by Random House, Nick and Sheryl highlight “some of today’s most successful... Read more

187 Reasons Why a Teacher Needs Books

Today’s guest blogger, Sarah Kilway, wrote to us after receiving hundreds of new books for her students. We couldn’t resist sharing her story with you. I teach 187 kids at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center in Indianapolis, IN. The majority of my students live in poverty. Most have only one... Read more

My Kids Need Books

Posted in: Impact Stories

Today’s guest blogger, Adara Robbins, is 8th grade teacher at YES Prep Southwest, a public charter school in Houston, Texas. Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s a tough question. But imagine trying to answer if you didn’t know what your life would look like tomorrow – much... Read more

Who Can Sign Up with First Book?

Posted in: For Educators

When the school year ends, so do many support systems kids in need rely on. Thankfully there are thousands of organizations working across the country to help kids in need during the summer months. First Book is here to support all of them. We don’t just work with teachers; anyone... Read more

graphic with text that says: "Double Your Impact to Help Give a Million Books! Help give a million books to kids in low-income communities this holiday season and beyond. The book you send may be the only holiday gift a child gets, and helping a child love books makes a lasting difference. Give by December 31 to double your impact through a Matching Challenge Fund from our generous friends at Pizza Hut — twice as many books with a single gift!" There is a red donation button in the lower right corner. On the left side of the graphic is an image of a young girl holding up a book and smiling.