First Book Blog

Stories of impact, the latest research, best practices, curated book lists, and more.

Meet the Reading Dogs

Posted in: Impact Stories

Today’s guest blogger is Robyn Douglas from Down East Dog Scouts Troop 159 in Hancock County, ME. I want to tell you about Cirra. In her six years as a reading buddy, Cirra has given hundreds of books to kids. She’s helped dozens of children improve their reading and comprehension.... Read more

Welcoming We Give Books to the First Book Family

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Our New Partner: We Give Books We can’t keep it a secret any longer! As of today, We Give Books has a new home at First Book. The online platform, which features nearly 300 digitally-optimized children’s books, enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of... Read more

teacher reading with black and brown students

On Creativity and Culture: Yuyi Morales

Posted in: Author Voices

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we had the opportunity to talk with the award-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales about why she became an author and illustrator, the role of children’s books in understanding and celebrating cultures and her new book, “Viva Frida.” Click here to read this blog in Spanish.... Read more

First Book and ALAS: Better Serving Latino Youth

Posted in: Impact Stories

Veronica Rivera serves as the Executive Director for the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), which leads at the national level to ensure every school in America effectively serves the educational needs of all students, with an emphasis on Latino youth. She recently joined us for a Q&A session... Read more

A Path Appears

Today’s blog post is an excerpt from A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, the latest book from New York Times’ columnist and best-selling authors Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In A Path Appears, which was released yesterday by Random House, Nick and Sheryl highlight “some of today’s most successful... Read more

Read to Me – Creating Literacy Mentors

Posted in: Impact Stories

Today’s guest blogger, Barbara Greenway, is the Founder and Director of The Read to Me Project. When I ask the kids in my program how many of them struggle in school, half of their hands raise in the air. It can be frustrating to spend your day in an environment... Read more

Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Today’s guest blog post is by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on the importance of ensuring all educators and students have the books they need for back to school.  As an educator, there’s nothing quite like walking into the classroom on that first day of school…... Read more

187 Reasons Why a Teacher Needs Books

Today’s guest blogger, Sarah Kilway, wrote to us after receiving hundreds of new books for her students. We couldn’t resist sharing her story with you. I teach 187 kids at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center in Indianapolis, IN. The majority of my students live in poverty. Most have only one... Read more