“We can tell the kids we love them. We can tell the community that we care. But they look at what we do. I say love is an action word. It’s a verb, and you have to show it.” – Denise Taylor For Denise Taylor, saying you care is not… Read More

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2018 Estela & Raúl Mora Award is … Johnson City Library in Johnson City, Texas! The Johnson City Library in Texas aimed to connect children with books, stories, language, and cultures. The library’s dual celebrations—one in… Read More

As kids and educators start a new year, we have an assignment: We must step up and be part of a child’s success. Kyle Zimmer, CEO & co-founder of First Book The following post first appeared on Medium, September 12, 2018. Authored by… Read More

The following post his blog post was written by Amanda Pell at Upworthy & first published on Upworthy.com in November 2017. This time last year, the top three most misbehaved boys at Equetta Jones’ elementary school were from the same family. Photo courtesy of Equetta Jones/Highlands Elementary School,… Read More

Turning the pages of a book from right to left — or left to right, depending on which language you’re reading — is not an innate skill. It’s something we have to learn. But most of us don’t remember that lesson in school, because when you grow up with… Read More

Many of the children our community of educators serve will return back to school this year without the supplies they need to learn; instead with worries and distractions caused by today’s social issues. The following post first appeared on the First Book blog on February 7, 2018. It has been… Read More

With engaging books featuring diverse characters, Kreitzer’s students’ achievement scores are now higher than the classrooms using school-provided resources. Kate Kreitzer, a 5th grade teacher in St Paul, MN, believes that finding culturally relevant, rigorous, and engaging academic material is key to her students’ academic achievement. Teaching reading can be tough… Read More

“It’s a group effort. Through [First Book’s] program, [we’ve] been able to help children in our county. It’s taken a village to help our children have a book in their hands.” – Rhonda Kersey Lincoln County is the number one county in West Virginia in which babies are born addicted… Read More

Imagine not owning a book. Think about what you’d do if you couldn’t afford school supplies. How would it affect your life? Your children’s lives? Sean Bellamy is a third-grade teacher in Washington, D.C. Sadly, this is a reality for many Americans. In fact, 61% of… Read More

This blog was originally posted on July 25th, 2014. It has been updated with new outbound links. All summer long, you’ve heard how summer slide – the learning loss that occurs when kids are out of school – adds… Read More