Our First Grants

We are thrilled to announce our first partnerships with local organizations! In April, we awarded grants to Kent Youth and Family Services and Seattle’s Neighborhood House. We are excited to work with these deserving groups to get new books into the hands of King County children.

Kent Youth and Family Services’ Read To Succeed Initiative operates the After-School Academy for Millennium Elementary kindergarten students. These students participate in a class at the Birch Creek Youth Center, in which educators work to build literacy skills and support independent reading. This program operates in an immigrant community and strives to build connections between families and school.

Neighborhood House’s Child Development Programs serve four public housing communities in Seattle: High Point in West Seattle, Rainier Vista and New Holly in South Seattle, and Yesler Terrace in Central Seattle. The preschool programs offer extensive exposure to books and materials that are rich and reflective of the students’ cultural groups. Early literacy is incorporated into story times, projects, and dramatic play.

Congratulations to Kent Youth and Family Services and Neighborhood House! And thank you to our contributors and volunteers for making these first grants possible.

What was your first book? The one you carried everywhere and knew by heart? The one with tape on the spine? The one that opened the door…

There are just ten days until our “What Was Your First Book?” Read-A-Thon on May 19th, where twenty locals will settle in at Elliott Bay Book Company and take turns reading aloud the stories they loved first. If you’re in the Seattle area, we hope you’ll drop by that day for one story or six. Our event is free, and kids are especially welcome.

The Book Bank Came to Town

We were thrilled that the First Book Book Bank came to the Seattle area during the week of April 16. Seattle was one of three stops on First Book's "One Million Books in Just Ten Days" journey. World Vision in Fife generously provided the warehouse space to store the boxes and boxes of books donated by Random House, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and Townsend Press.

At the Book Bank, our local Recipient Groups were able to pick up these brand new books to distribute to the low-income children in their schools and programs. Volunteers helped ensure that these groups received exactly the books they wanted, sorting and organizing 350,000 books by the end of the week. Here's a picture of some of our First Book -- Seattle Advisory Board members after a day's work:

Is your organization interested in becoming a First Book Recipient Group? Registered Recipient Groups have access to the First Book Online Marketplace and the National Book Bank, and are eligible to apply for First Book -- Seattle's grants. You can sign-up here.

Our First Author Reading!

How many quills does a porcupine have?*

Local author Laurie Isop asked more than 40 toddlers and preschoolers this question at an event sponsored by Cheerios and First Book at Seattle’s Mockingbird Books on March 27. Isop, the 2009 winner of the Cheerios Spoonful of Stories program, delighted her young audience by reading her book, “How Do You Hug a Porcupine?” and two other selections.

Cheerios is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Spoonful of Stories program, which encourages parents to read to their children. Since the program began, Cheerios has distributed more than 60 million free books in its cereal boxes and has contributed more than 3.8 million dollars to First Book nationally.

We were so excited to introduce First Book -- Seattle to this inquisitive group of young readers and their families. Many thanks to Mockingbird Books for hosting.

*The answer, by the way, is 30,000 quills. OUCH!