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

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

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

My Kids Need Books

Posted in: Impact Stories

Today’s guest blogger, Adara Robbins, is 8th grade teacher at YES Prep Southwest, a public charter school in Houston, Texas. Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s a tough question. But imagine trying to answer if you didn’t know what your life would look like tomorrow – much... Read more

A Market-Driven Solution to the Need for Diverse Books

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Last week, hundreds of thousands of parents, educators and readers of all ages issued a call for more diversity in children’s literature, rallying under the banner of #WeNeedDiverseBooks. The campaign spread quickly from Twitter to media outlets around the world as people shared powerful stories about the need for all... Read more

Books in Every Language for Every Child

Today’s guest blog post is from Dr. Mandy Stewart, an assistant professor of bilingual education at Texas Woman’s University. Follow her on Twitter at @DrMandyStewart. How many books have you read in your lifetime?  How many picture books did an adult read aloud to you while growing up? Most of... Read more

496 Million Women

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

Stories For All: Todd Parr – It's Okay to be Different

Posted in: Author Voices

Author, illustrator, and macaroni and cheese aficionado Todd Parr, uses humor and bright illustrations to celebrate the differences that make us all unique. Most of Todd’s books are now available on the First Book Marketplace. First Book recently interviewed Todd about his inspiration for writing so many books that make... Read more