First Book in the News

Author Gifts 'Magic Tree House' Series to Newark Kids: Beloved (and large-hearted) author Mary Pope Osborne donates copies of her popular 'Magic Tree House' series to kids in Newark - every single third-grader in the Newark Public School District gets their own copies of the entire 28-book collection - with a little help from First Book. (April 27, 2012)
Thousands of New Books Donated to Help Low-Income Children in Milwaukee: A TV clip from the local FOX affiliate in Milwaukee on First Book's distribution of 187,000 new books to kids in the area. (April 26, 2012)
Mickelson, KPMG Team Up to Bring Books to Kids: USA TODAY highlights a great new partnership with KPMG, one of First Book's most generous corporate partners, and golf legend Phil Mickelson, that will put hundreds of thousands of new books into the hands of children in need through First Book. (March 28, 2012)
Twelve Books for Summer: How one elementary school in Lousiana is using books from First Book in their classrooms. (Feb. 22, 2012)
Reading, Writing and Giving Back: Language magazine looks at what First Book and some other nonprofits are doing to help teachers. (Feb. 12, 2012)
Buyers and Retailers Assess the State of the Publishing Industry: Chandler Arnold, First Book's executive vice-president, discusses the state of the publishing industry at a Children's Book Council (CBC) panel in New York. (Feb. 9, 2012)
Impact Investing: How Do We Harness the Hype?: In the Huffington Post, Abigail Noble of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship discusses a major new report on impact investing released at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report, by Credit Suisse and the Schwab Foundation, hails First Book as a prime example of social entrepreneurship in action. (Jan. 29, 2012)
How Do We Move Mountains?: First Book's executive vice-president, Chandler Arnold, discusses First Book's efforts in West Virginia in the Huffington Post. (Dec. 28, 2011)
National Turnaround Plan Targets McDowell County Schools: How First Book, the American Federation of Teachers and a coalition of other business and nonprofits are working together to help rescue a rural community in West Virginia. (Dec. 16, 2011)
News Flash: Progress Happens: David Bornstein talks about the work that First Book and other great organizations are doing every day to solve real problems, on the New York Times Opinionator blog. (Dec. 15, 2011)
First Book Opens a Chapter in Children's Lives: First Book distributes 350,000 new books to kids in need in St. Louis and across the country, working with dozens of local schools and community groups in Missouri. (Dec. 12, 2011)
Missouri Children Receive New Books: First Book distributes 350,000 new books to children from low-income homes in St. Joseph, Mo., and across the country. (Dec. 5, 2011)
Giving Where It Works: Tina Rosenberg, writing for the New York Times, describes First Book's work as a "particularly good use of charitable dollars" and "proven to work". (Nov. 30, 2011)
First Book Clicks with Social Media: First Book partners with Random House Children's Books to increase its social media following; more than doubling to 33,000 in one week. For every new follower, Random House donated a new book to a kid in need through First Book. (Nov. 10, 2011)
First Book President 'Leaps Out of Bed' to Help Kids: First Book president and CEO Kyle Zimmer, reflecting on the personal history that led her to co-found First Book, and sharing some insights into the power of books and reading to shape our society for the better. (Oct. 3, 2011)
National Groups Provide Charleston Kids With Books: First Book joins forces with the American Federation of Teachers to bring new books to kids in West Virginia. (Aug. 30, 2011)
Nonprofit Distributes Free Books for Youth: First Book distributes half a million books to kids in need across the country from a warehouse in Lansing, 100,000 of them to children in Michigan. (Aug. 11, 2011)
Agencies Working With Low-Income Kids Receive New Books: First Book distributes 420,000 books from Milwaukee, a quarter of them to state and local programs serving kids in need. (July 22, 2011)
Getting Children the Books They Need: Kids need books, argues Kyle Zimmer, First Book's president, in an op-ed piece in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (July 18, 2011)
Jacksonville Warehouse Serves as Distribution Point for 400,000 Donated Books: First Book distributes 400,000 new books across the country from Jacksonville, Fla. (June 3, 2011)
Publishers as Partners in Literacy. Writing in The New York Times, David Bornstein continues his discussion of the First Book Marketplace, and addresses some of the specific ways that First Book provides a unique and proven solution to an often intractable problem. (May 19, 2011)
Ideas We Like: Books for Low-Income Kids - The New Yorker's Books Department discusses David Bornstein's New York Times article on the First Book Marketplace. (May 18, 2011)
A Book in Every Home, and Then Some - Writing in The New York Times, David Bornstein discusses the innovation of the First Book Marketplace: "The First Book Marketplace is trying to do for publishing what micro-finance did for banking: crack open a vast potential market that is underserved at significant social cost." (May 16, 2011)
John Merrow: Vocabulary is King - John Merrow, education correspondent for PBS NewsHour and president of Learning Matters, discusses the importance of reading and vocabulary-building on the First Book blog. (April 28, 2011)
Rick Riordan & James Patterson Event to Benefit First Book - Authors Rick Riordan and James Patterson, will be appearing at Lincoln Center in New York City next month, at an event to benefit First Book. (April 26, 2011)
First Book Executive Vice President Chandler Arnold Talks to Education-Portal.com - A wide ranging interview, from careers in nonprofits to how First Book operates. (Mar, 30, 2011)
School Library Journal Interview with Kyle Zimmer - First Book president and CEO Kyle Zimmer talks about plans for the organization's expansion into digital resources. (Mar, 24, 2011)
The Gifts of Hope – First Book was featured in New York Times’ columnist Nicholas Kristof’s annual humanitarian giving guide. (Dec. 18, 2010)
Facing Challenges, First Book Keeps on Giving – Publisher’s Weekly story on First Book’s distribution of 80 million books. (Dec. 16, 2010)
Social Edge Interview with Kyle Zimmer - First Book president and co-founder Kyle Zimmer shares advice on social entrepreneurship. (June 10, 2008)
Hooked On Phonics - Chip Paucek, president of Hooked on Phonics, and Lynda Lancaster of First Book announce a new youth reading initiative in honor of the reading program's 20th anniversary. (August 17, 2007)