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You are currently browsing the First Book Blog weblog archives for November, 2007.
Archive for November 2007
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Author Laura Numeroff Celebrates Books at Bedtime
November 30th, 2007
Katie B.
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Earlier this week, best-selling children’s author, Laura Numeroff, helped host a special pajama party to celebrate the importance of families reading together at bedtime.Seated in a cozy chair and dressed in a pair of special KN Karen Neuburger mouse print pajamas, Laura shared a special reading from several of her books, including If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and signed autographs for the children in attendance.
Along with special guest, DJ Rick Zurich, Mouse himself made an appearance at the event, taking photos and sharing some of his infamous milk and cookies with children and adults alike!
The event was part of the “Books at Bedtime” program, a partnership between the KN Karen Neuburger lifestyle brand and First Book, which will help provide brand new books to children in need across the country.
Find bedtime reading tips, learn how you can host your own family pajama party or purchase a pair of the adorable mouse print pajamas on the KN Karen Neuburger Web site.
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First Book Advisory Board Spotlight- Dr. Geraldine Haggard
November 28th, 2007
Erin T.
Leave a Comment »Dr. Geraldine Haggard, First Book- Dallas. Dr. Haggard, member of First Book-Dallas, and head of the Plano Retired Teachers Book Project committee, has worked diligently to help deliver First Book books and other materials to Plano Texas area Title I students. Dr. Haggard often uses her home to stage and sort books by reading level and school. Once this staging is completed, Dr. Haggard harnesses the other members of the Plano Retired Teachers committee to personally deliver the books to Title I students–often staying on hand to read to the children or help create lesson plans to ensure books are used most effectively.
In recognition of Dr. Haggard and her Retired Teachers Group, the committee received the 2006 Collin County Volunteer of the Year Award and the Texas Retired Teacher’s Association presented the group with the 21st Century Award for Outstanding Community Service.
First Book-Dallas and the Plano Retired Teachers Book Project committee would not have been able to go from providing a few hundred books to several thousand books annually if not for the linking of the two organizations by this month’s volunteer Spotlight winner Dr. Geraldine Haggard.
Congratulations and thank you Dr. Geraldine Haggard.
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Help get new books to kids this holiday season!
November 26th, 2007
Rachel C.
Leave a Comment »Although today is known as “Cyber Monday,” the Monday just after Black Friday that kicks off the online holiday shopping season, you can help First Book get more books to kids in need when visiting your local Borders store.
Now through December 24th, you can make a donation to First Book at the register at any Borders, Borders Express, or Waldenbooks store and help children in need discover the magic of new books. The donations will be converted to Borders gift cards and distributed to local organizations in First Books nationwide network to purchase books for the children they serve.
Please shop at Borders this holiday season and help us bring new books to the children who need them most!
Learn more about this promotion at www.firstbook.org/borders.
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Celebrating a Swedish Icon
November 19th, 2007
Nicole T.
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Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C. celebration of Astrid Lindgren’s 100th birthday at the House of Sweden. In the U.S., we know Astrid Lindgren as the author of the fun and adventurous Pippy Longstocking books. In Sweden, she is the most famous and influential author of children’s literature, writing more than 50 books, including a detective series, fairy tales and even a collection of songs. Over the years she received many prestigious awards for her fiction including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. She’s also recognized for her concern for humanity, winning the 1978 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. After the author’s death in 2002, the Swedish government created the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award to keep Astrid Lindgren and her life’s work alive as it inspires the development of outstanding children’s literature.
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Interesting Bedtime Family Reading Findings
November 16th, 2007
Katie B.
Leave a Comment »Recently, the KN Karen Neuburger lifestyle brand worked together with Kelton Research to conduct a national family reading survey, with the hope to bring more attention to the need for children’s literacy development in the U.S. Their findings were this - fewer families are making time to read together at bedtime.
The poll uncovered some startling results:
- Nearly half (46 percent) of parents believe this treasured family tradition is fading and admit to reading to their children less often than their own parents read to them when they were young
- More than two in five parents (42 percent) are more likely to watch television than read to their children before they put them to sleep
This holiday season, First Book and KN have teamed up with beloved children’s author Laura Numeroff, of the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie fame, to promote children’s literacy and raise funds for new books for children in need nationwide.
As part of the joint promotion, Numeroff will participate in events throughout November and December to speak on “Books at Bedtime” and promote a collection of KN holiday-themed pajamas – including “Mommy & Me” mouse print pajamas inspired by the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book illustrations - available online or in select Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor stores.
To learn more about the family reading survey or about the books at Bedtime campaign check out www.karenneuburger.com/booksatbedtime.
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Thousands of New Books from the Click of a Mouse
November 15th, 2007
Katie B.
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I recently got the chance to take my first trip to the gateway to the West – St. Louis, Missouri – with the First Book National Book Bank. I had been on several Book Bank distributions before, but this trip was unique because I was able to see the results from a promotion on The Literacy Site first-hand as well as meet some of the great women from Pi Beta Phi in person.
In September 2007, First Book, Pi Beta Phi and The Literacy Site hosted a Back to School Click Challenge to provide even more books for children in need. Visitors to The Literacy Site rose to the challenge and generated an additional 20,000 brand new books, donated by First Book and Pi Beta Phi, to disadvantaged children in the St. Louis area.From October 16th to 19th, First Book staff members and volunteers from Pi Beta Phi worked together to distribute the 20,000 beautiful books generated from The Literacy Site to programs serving children in need in the greater St. Louis area.
From organizing shipments to labeling and lifting boxes, Pi Phi members helped get thousands of new books out of the warehouse and into the hands of the kids who need them. The books, donated by DK Publishing, included titles about ballerinas, princesses, farmers, and firefighters, that will help spark the imaginations of thousands of children.
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Sense of Wonder
November 14th, 2007
Mindy Klasky
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Guest blogger Mindy Klasky is the author of six fantasy novels, including the award-winning, best-selling The Glasswrights’ Apprentice and numerous short stories. Her latest novel, Sorcery and the Single Girl, is the second book in a series about a love-struck D.C. librarian who discovers she’s a witch. Ten percent of proceeds from the sale of Sorcery and the Single Girl and Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft, will benefit First Book.When I was a child, I loved stories that swept me away, that made me think of the world in a very different way. My first “favorite book” was Goodnight Moon, because of the “Goodnight Nobody” line - I was tickled by the idea that we could talk to “Nobody” any time we cared to. I fell in love with A Wrinkle in Time, traveling with Meg Murray to distant planets. I was swept up in The Lord of the Rings, believing in the struggle between good and evil and the ability of one person to change the world.
I was overcome with a Sense of Wonder.
When I wrote my Glasswrights Series, I tried to weave that sense into my words. I created an entire world, populating it with gods and men, defining its rules and rewards, setting barriers and rewards for a young woman forced to choose her life’s path. In Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft and Sorcery and the Single Girl, I attempted to show “wonder” in daily life, intertwining my librarian-heroine’s real world with a magical one, where she is a witch.
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Meet First Book in Boston
November 13th, 2007
Katie B.
Leave a Comment »To all of our friends in the Boston area, you’re invited!
Tomorrow evening, Wednesday, November 14th, First Book will be hosting an informal opportunity to catch up on our recent activities in Boston and across the country. Join us to learn more about the three ways which programs in Boston can receive First Book resources, network with others doing similar work, and meet with representatives of First Book’s Boston and National teams!
The event will be held at the Candlewick Press offices (2067 Massachusetts Ave., 3rd Floor Conference Room, Cambridge MA) from 6-7 pm.
Hope to see you there!
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First Book University in the Buckeye State
November 8th, 2007
Erin T.
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Game day in Columbus, Ohio is a big deal, but last Saturday volunteers from Ohio and neighboring states skipped the tailgating to attend a seminar of First Book University. While the Buckeyes went on to win against Wisconsin, Advisory Board members learned about recruiting, fundraising, and grant making. Media specialist, Kim Knight, showed the participants how they could develop a media plan in their own community. Special thanks to the Ohio Department of Transportation for use of their beautiful facility, and to all the volunteers who didn’t get to watch the game in order to attend. Go Bucks!
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First Book and Borders Celebrate the Joy of the Holidays with Caroline Kennedy
November 6th, 2007
Melinda H.
Leave a Comment »I was proud to represent First Book last week in Ann Arbor, MI, as we ushered in the holiday season with our generous partner Borders. We celebrated the start of Borders’ holiday giving campaign for First Book at an event that featured Caroline Kennedy and a group of wonderful 11 year-olds from Detroit’s VIP Mentoring program.
Caroline Kennedy shared readings and memories from her new compilation of Christmas stories and poems, A Family Christmas. The children recited an e.e. cummings poem, and she told them about a letter to Santa that she had written as a little girl. The kids asked whether she had gotten everything on her list. (She hadn’t, but it was a happy Christmas anyway.) She presented each child with a copy of her book and personalized an inscription for each. The kids were beaming and clutched the books like they were made of gold. Borders CEO George Jones then handed a Borders gift card to each child, which they put to immediate use with a shopping spree for new books. First Book also presented gift cards to the VIP Mentoring program so that other children in the program can enjoy new books, too.
I was moved to hear Caroline Kennedy tell the children, ”when I was a little girl, my father was the President of the United States, and I got to live in the White House for a while.” How poignant to realize that the iconic events that shaped our history and culture are also, very simply, the story of this one woman’s life. One of the children asked if her father was still President, and she smiled and explained that that was a very long time ago.I have no doubt that this will be a night that these children remember for a very long time as well.