Joey Mathis is a First Book Marketing and Communication intern. She is currently an undergrad student at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, each year the average public school teacher spends over $500 of their own money on necessary supplies and… Read More

This guest post was written by Joey Mathis, a First Book Marketing and Communication intern. She is currently an undergrad student at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.  The Pride book list was curated by Lee Butler, First Book’s Senior Cataloging Manager. Every June, First Book celebrates Pride Month as… Read More

The past two years have exacerbated existing literacy challenges and inequities and contributed to a drop in reading fluency for many students, especially English language learners and those with learning differences. To level the playing field for all learners and support educators and students during a challenging time, Microsoft developed… Read More

This post was written in collaboration with the Mind in the Making team. As life begins to return to pre-pandemic days, more and more demands seem thrown our way—more appointments, events, commutes, and things on our to-do list. With our busier schedules come lots of pressures. Sometimes it’s… Read More

Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, Heartless, The Renegades Trilogy, and Instant Karma, as well as the graphic novel duology Wires and Nerve. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran… Read More

Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 225 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income communities. First Book currently reaches an average of 5 million children every year and supports more than a third of the estimated 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving… Read More

Nearly One Thousand Educators Participated; Report that over half (53%) of the students they serve struggle with their mental health. WASHINGTON, April 5, 2022—First Book, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring education equity for children living in poverty, today announced the results of a national survey designed to identify emotional… Read More

This post was written in collaboration with the Mind in the Making team. Tantrums are an inevitable and expected part of life with young children that can be very challenging for adults, especially as we deal with the long-term impacts of the pandemic. As children learn how… Read More

In 2021, the LEGO Group, a partner of First Book, worked to take a new approach to provide resources to our growing network of educators. Instead of creating resources based on corporate goals or assumptions, the LEGO Group worked with First Book to conduct research and create materials that were… Read More

In 2021, the Children’s Cooperative Book Center reviewed 3,357 books and found that only 9.3% were written by Black authors and 13.3% featured Black characters. While the statistics are staggering, the problem with the lack of diversity in books extends beyond any bookshelf as the books we read and learn… Read More