Posts tagged Target Read With Me

Ten Cool Things First Book Did in 2010

Jan06
2011 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Ten Cool Things First Book Did in 2010

2010 was a big year for First Book, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to our friends, fans, and generous supporters, we have a lot to celebrate.

Here are some of the cool things you helped make possible this past year:

We Reached the Milestone of 80 Million Books
At our annual Book Bash fund-raiser in New York City, we handed a basket of books to Round the Clock Nursery. One of the books in that basket was the 80 millionth book that First Book has distributed to kids in need since our founding in 1992.

We Shared the Stage With World Leaders
Kyle Zimmer, our president and co-founder, spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Kyle discussed the impact and importance of the First Book Marketplace as a leading model for social entrepreneurship.

We Worked in Our Local Communities
Local First Book volunteer groups (known as Advisory Boards) in cities, towns and counties nationwide helped distribute $3 million worth of new books to kids in their communities.

We Teamed Up With ‘Reading is Fundamental’
First Book and Reading is Fundamental (RIF) joined forces to provide 600,000 new books to children in RIF programs across the country.

We Added New Books to Our Marketplace
We added lots of great new titles to our online Marketplace – including authors like Eric Carle, Jeff Kinney, Susan Meddaugh, Mo Willems and many others – so teachers and program leaders have even more choices.

We Got People to See Waiting for “Superman”
First Book was excited to kick off the pledge campaign as a promotional partner for this powerful documentary film.

We Released Special Editions
First Book continued one of our favorite traditions this year, releasing several new special editions, including Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie books and Eileen Spinelli’s ‘While You Are Away’.

We Distributed One Million Books With Target
To celebrate the launch of the ‘Read With Me’ campaign, Target helped us distribute one million new books to schools across the country. When a million people pledge to commit to read with a child, Target will provide another million books.

We Read a Lot of Short Stories
Volunteers from First Book’s local Advisory Boards read nearly 8,000 stories submitted through the Cheerios® New Author Contest in order to pick the top 25. That’s more than twice as many submissions as last year!  (Check back in March to read the winning entry).

We Helped Kids Learn About Science and Math
Working with Lockheed Martin, First Book started a new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) section in our Marketplace, featuring books, educational materials and other resources for teachers.

We Rode the Book Bus
Our friends at Bess the Book Bus distributed over 36,000 new books to kids everywhere on their nationwide tour, and put smiles on more than a few young faces in the process.

We Helped Feed America
First Book joined up with Feeding America to distribute 250,000 new books at 25 of their food banks, reaching some of the kids who need our help the most.

To all our hard-working volunteers, our tremendous corporate, nonprofit partners and publishing partners, our generous donors and – most importantly – the kids who take our books home and read them and come back for more, we wish you a happy New Year!

PS – If you are counting, there are actually twelve items on this list. We did so many cool things this year that it was difficult to narrow it down.

Posted in Advisory Boards, Authors & Illustrators, Book Distributions, Book Recipients, First Book Partners, Marketplace, STEM - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

First Book Holiday Countdown: Target

Dec16
2010 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

It’s snowing outside the First Book offices in downtown Washington DC today, which is a lovely reminder that the holiday season is nearly upon us. It is also a stressful reminder, since very few of us have done much Christmas shopping yet.

Fortunately, your friends at First Book have all kinds of great holiday gift ideas that do not involve you wrestling with desperate crowds of last-minute shoppers, and we’ll be sharing them with you from now until Christmas.

First up … a great offer from our friends at Target.

Without spending a penny, you can give the gift of reading to kids from low-income communities. Visit Target’s Facebook page and click on the Give Joy tab. Then put together your own wish list online and submit it. You’ll be automatically entered in a drawing for the chance to receive the items on your wish list, and – more importantly – for each list submitted, Target will donate $5 to First Book.

There are only two days left in this campaign, so get a move on!

And, after you build your wish list, don’t forget to take the Target Read With MeSM pledge to read with a child. Target Read With MeSM is an initiative aimed at helping more U.S. children read proficiently by the end of third grade. Target and First Book are calling on parents and caring adults to pledge to read with a child by visiting www.target.com/reading or texting READ to TARGET (827438).

For every pledge received, Target and First Book will donate a book to children in need, up to one million books!

Target 'Read With Me' First Book campaign

Posted in Books & Reading, First Book Partners - Tagged , , ,

Thank You Thursday

Oct14
2010 Written by Becky H.

This week’s thank you is brought to you by the  students at Highlands Elementary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who received books through First Book’s partnership with Target.

First Book and Target have come together to place up to two million new books into the hands of children across the country.  Through Target Read With MeSM parents and caring adults can pledge to read with a child by visiting www.target.com/reading or by texting READ to TARGET (827438). Once one million pledges have been received, Target and First Book will distribute a total of two million books across the country.

Posted in General - Tagged ,