
Celebrating Friendiversary with Mo Willems
Posted In:Author Voices
January 28, 2020 Friendiversary is all about appreciating your friends, old and new, and remembering the good times you’ve had together. For First Book, one of our oldest and best author friends is Mo Willems, award-winning creator of the Elephant and Piggie children’s book series. Like any old… Read More

Building Inclusive Classrooms with YASMIN en Español
Posted In:Author Voices, Our Bookshelf
September 26, 2019 Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger Saadia Faruqi, author of the YASMIN series of early reader titles. Read More

Q&A with Gaia Cornwall, Author of Jabari Jumps
Posted In:Author Voices
April 30, 2019 Gaia Cornwall is an illustrator and children’s book author, best known for her book Jabari Jumps. We asked her about her creative process, what it’s like to read her book with children, and her tips on being brave. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Why This Story?… Read More

Q&A with Mary Louise Sanchez, author of “The Wind Called My Name”
Posted In:Author Voices
October 30, 2018 Today we wish a happy “book birthday” to The Wind Called My Name – a middle-grade historical fiction novel about a young Latina girl & her family settling in Wyoming during The Great Depression. We here at First Book are particularly excited to see this title hit bookshelves today! Its author, Mary Louise… Read More

LIGHTS ALIVE! Why Telling Your Story Matters
Posted In:Author Voices, For Educators
October 11, 2018 Guest post by author Laura Geringer Bass. There is a scene in my new middle grade novel, The Girl with More than One Heart, that is based on a real life parent conference I had once with my son’s kindergarten teacher. I called the chapter… Read More

Telling Our Stories: Author Laura Geringer Bass & the #BeYourOwn Writing Workshop
Posted In:Author Voices, For Educators
September 20, 2018 Everyone has a story to tell. Often, we need a little encouragement to listen to the voice inside our heads and hearts that tells us, “Be your own!” We are so proud to work with author Laura Geringer Bass to help empower young readers and writers to tell their own… Read More

Redefining Youthful Rebellion: YA Authors on Social Justice
Posted In:Author Voices
July 17, 2018 “I think young people have something to say, and I think that they do the best they can to say it and sometimes the language isn’t there, but we as adults have an obligation and a responsibility to hear the things that aren’t being said–and to help them carve the… Read More

I Pledge Allegiance
Posted In:Author Voices
June 28, 2018 This blog was originally posted on June 20, 2014. It has been updated with new outbound links. Today’s guest blog post is by Libby Martinez, co-author of the children’s book I Pledge Allegiance, on teaching kids to be proud of the place they were born while being a proud American. Read More

I AM LITTLE RED: Teaching Kids About Child Trafficking
Posted In:Author Voices, For Educators
May 31, 2018 Wolves can come in all shapes and sizes. Do I have your attention now? Mary Mazzio with Ricky Martin. Mazzio and her team received the Ricky Martin Foundation’s Tau Humanitarian Award for I AM LITTLE RED. So warns Lady J, the animated version of Academy Award-nominee Jessica Chastain, as she… Read More

“We Need to Help Our Kids.” Laura Geringer Bass on The Girl With More Than One Heart
Posted In:Author Voices, For Educators
April 17, 2018 Laura Geringer Bass, author of The Girl With More Than One Heart, and Saradine Nazaire, whom she mentors through Girls Write Now. First Book talked to author Laura Geringer Bass about her latest book, The Girl With More Than One Heart (Abrams), and her extensive work… Read More