Author Archive: Marissa Wasseluk

Create a Future of Possibilities for Less Than $0.50 cents

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Books are critical, but scarce, for kids in need—and the consequences of that scarcity are significant. A lack of access to books is one of the greatest contributors to educational inequality in the United States,[1] and poor educational outcomes are tied to future poverty, unemployment, and illness.[2] Yet the reality is that... Read more

In Their Own Voices – What Makes a Book Work for Young People

Posted in: Our Partners

This blog post was written by guest blogger Erika Duncan, Founder and Director of Herstory Writers Workshop.  There is magic in reading a book or listening to a story in a group setting. You don’t have to say whether the same thing once happened to you. If you are in a... Read more

Read with Your Head & Your Heart

Posted in: First Book Community Highlight, Impact Stories

This blog is a guest post by First Book community educator, April Insley. I believe you read with your head and with your heart. As a library media specialist, I know there’s a book for every one of my students that will help them fall in love with reading. It... Read more

How to Give Back to First Book While You Holiday Shop

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Our Partners

As the holiday season approaches, we want to thank several of our partners who are making it easy for you to give back to First Book. Their partnership helps us provide books and educational essentials to kids in need, and helps you donate to First Book. Keep us in mind... Read more

Building Inclusive Classrooms with YASMIN en Español

Posted in: Author Voices, Our Bookshelf

Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger Saadia Faruqi, author of the YASMIN series of early reader titles. Read more

First Book Staff Recommends: Books That Changed Us for the Better

Posted in: Our Bookshelf

Every month, First Book's team of children's & young adult literature experts on staff (or as they like to call themselves, THE BOOK NERDS) choose their favorite titles from the Marketplace. September's theme is Books that Changed Us for the Better. Read more

All I Ever Wanted… Stories of Children of the Incarcerated

Posted in: Author Voices

"All I Ever Wanted…" is a very special book, written by nine young people with parents in prison and one older woman looking back, with the goal of helping others to know how it feels to go through the rites of passage of childhood and adolescence without a father or mother, and how it feels to suddenly find out the truth. Read more

Welcome All Kids with Respect & Empathy

Posted in: For Educators

Developing respect and empathy skills requires time, practice, repetition, interaction, and patience with others. In our toolkit, Promoting Respect & Empathy: A Toolkit for Educators of All Grades, we’ve collected activities, tips, book recommendations, and more from First Book educators across the country, who, like you, support kids in under-resourced... Read more

Can This Be the K-12 Edtech Marketplace That Finally Succeeds?

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Games and Learning will create an online space where First Book’s community members can find, test, use, and provide feedback on educational games. Read more

“Voces Sin Fronteras”: Coming to a New Home

Posted in: Our Partners

Today’s blog is a guest post, originally posted on the WRAG Journalism Fellows program blog and reposted with permission from our publishing partner, Shout Mouse Press. The writer is an author of “Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth,” a graphic memoir collection by teen immigrants of the Latin American... Read more