In celebration of the release of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, is donating 26,000 new books to First Book! The children’s book series has introduced many children to the joy of reading and with this donation, First Book hopes to touch… Read More

This Month’s Recipient Group: The Shyann Kindness Project. “The mission of The Shyann Kindness Project is to pass on kindness by providing fun and needed items to children in stressful situations, while inspiring the performance of random acts of kindness and acceptance of others.” The Shyann Kindness Project has served over 8,000 children since April 2006, and is comprised of three programs: the Kindness Gift-Giving Program, Shyann’s Helping Hands, and Shyann’s Mentors Program. Kindness Gift Giving Events occur twice a month at venues such as hospital emergency rooms and clinics, homeless feeding programs, shelters for women and children, and after-school programs in low-income areas. During Kindness Gift-Giving Events, volunteers distribute Kindness Gift Packages to children that consist of toys, crafts, stuffed animals, and brand new books provided by First Book after an interactive talk about the importance of kindness and acceptance of all people. Read More

Around First Book there is a lot of talk about books. Go figure, right?  We talk about the bilingual edition of Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, Ezra Jack Keat’s Snowy Day, Rosemary Well’s Bunny Money, Curious George, The Cat in the Hat and even what books got us hooked.  And while we spend a lot of time discussing children’s books, we rarely talk about, well, what we’re reading. So I set out to find out what books my fellow First Bookers were reading to wrap up the summer. And so now, I present to you (drumroll, please . . . ) the 2010 Summer Reading Superlatives: Most Read Around the Office Committed, a Skeptic’s Guide to Marriage, by Elizabeth Gilbert Yummiest Reads for Foodies In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan My Life in France, by Julia Child Read More

National Book Festival Features Favorite Author Voting. Book-lovers will be able to select from among the roughly 500 authors who have appeared at the nine previous National Book Festivals, or will appear at this years festival. Using an alphabetical listing or voting from a page that includes… Read More

What do you get when you combine Hanna Montana: Truth of Dare, Ella Enchanted: True Love’s Kiss, Bess the Book Bus, Miss New Jersey, a stellar Advisory Board, and Philadelphia Public Schools?  First Book's most recent Book Distribution in the land of the Liberty Bell: Philadelphia! Members of First Book-Philadelphia, First Book staff, volunteers, and Miss New Jersey at the Philadelphia Book Distribution. Since I started at First Book, I have been continually intrigued by the Book Bank.  As our clearinghouse for publishers and a   resource for free books, the Book Bank is able to cater to programs that, without this resource, would have limited or no access to educational materials for the children they serve.  And while I know the ins and outs of the Book Bank, until a few weeks ago, I had never experienced a Book Distribution on the ground. Which is why on Wednesday morning I woke up with books to kids on my brain and ready to see over 85,000 books distributed through the First Book National Book Bank. Read More

Bess the Book Bus is nearing the end of her second nationwide outreach that will cover 36 states and deliver 27,000 books into the hands of children who otherwise may not have been able to experience the joy of owning their very own book. Our trip began at the end of April and will end in the middle of September. This leg of the trip has taken us to areas such as Pittsburgh and Camden, NJ, two of the most underserved areas on this trip so far. We partnered with Transitions Lenses and VSP to bring both healthy sight and free books to the Boys and Girls Clubs there. Thanks to the support of Candlewick Press, Townsend Press, and our great friends at First Book, Bess is overflowing Read More

First Book staff got in touch with their magical side yesterday making treats in celebration of Harry Potter’s birthday. Here’s a taste of some of the treats we made! Cockroach Clusters Melt chocolate in a bowl and stir in halved pretzel sticks to create these crunchy cockroaches. Read More

24 Hour Blogging to Benefit First Book! On July 31st, beginning at 6:00 a.m. (PST), a legion of bloggers from around the world will post once every thirty minutes for an entire twenty-four hour period to raise funds for charity. visit www.OpenDiary.com/ODAHQ… Read More

Name: Mitali C. Where is your home town? Terre Haute, IN – I am the Indian from Indiana. What do you do at First Book? I work with amazing national nonprofits and   government agencies to get them connected to First Book resources. What book are you… Read More

Photo by Saverio Truglia for TIME During the lazy, hazy days of summer, between the pool, video games and everything in the middle, children risk losing a significant portion of what they learned during the previous school year.  While some children have access to resources to curb their summer reading loss, many, unfortunately do not.  Without activities to keep these children’s minds sharp, they risk falling behind in school and beyond. In Time Magazine’s “The Case Against Summer Vacation,” author David Von Drehle argues that students should have access to a school’s resources all year long so that children who cannot attend summer camps or educational field trips retain their knowledge. If the school year were extended over the Read More