Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The first day of school is a memorable time for kids, teachers, and parents alike! We’ve started posting our back to school memories on Instagram, and… Read More

Karen loves to draw. So when her teacher, Ms. Spezziali, told her class about the Purina® PAWty Challenge, this Garfield Elementary kindergartner was especially excited to participate. The rules of the challenge were: Draw a pet (or an imaginary pet) for your classroom, name it and write a story describing… Read More

They each shared their reasons for being there – cherished memories of reading with a parent, the desire to instill a love of reading in their own kids, wanting to honor a father’s passion for education. It was the first task Joy Brooke, co-chair of First Book’s Seattle volunteer chapter,… Read More

For kids from low-income families, summer doesn’t always mean carefree fun. Many kids have fewer learning opportunities and parents often struggle to find safe, affordable childcare, making summer a time of stress and worry. For more than 21 million kids who rely on free and reduced price meals… Read More

Guest Blogger Chris Dobbins became Director of the Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services on July 1 2013. Dobbins is a 20-year veteran of the US Air Force and is the former Health Director of the Gaston County Health Department.   Health departments throughout… Read More

Cathy Gafford, like so many program directors, was on a tight budget. In 2011, the director at Jean Dean RIF (Reading is Fundamental) found herself needing 14,000 books for her program at a price she had not been able to find. Cathy came to First… Read More

Shannon Bowers’ son Alex loves Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go. Shannon gets teary-eyed when they read it together. Someday Alex will grow up, go to college and live out his dreams. Alex gets teary-eyed when Shannon reads too many of the pages. He’s five now. That’s… Read More

New homes, a birthday party and a seaplane … what do these have in common? These are all ways that First Book volunteers got books to kids in need this year. First Book has a network of dedicated and passionate volunteers in hundreds of communities in the U.S. and Canada… Read More

“The biggest challenge our students face is the simple fact that they’ve been told they can’t do it. And so we charge them to have hope.” – Jamelle Settles, Assistant Principal, Robert Burns Elementary School First Book and our friends at JetBlue recently visited one… Read More

496 million. That’s how many women in the world can’t read or write even the most simple sentence. Many women never have the opportunity to reach 6th grade, and some don’t get to go to school at all. Today, we join citizens around the world in celebrating International Women’s Day,… Read More