John Muir Elementary book distribution by Jennifer Zhan

On Tuesday the 16^th, First Book-Seattle held a book distribution at John Muir Elementary in Kirkland. This particular distribution was made possible by the generous donation of 1,000 books by the Berg family, who are currently embarking on their Gump Trip across America. (Visit gumptrip.com to learn more about their journey) The Berg family have partnered with First Book to donate books to children across the United States.

By the time the Berg family pulled up to John Muir in their RV, the shiny new books, with titles ranging from Knuffle Bunny to Junie B. Jones is (almost) a Flower Girl, had already arrived and were placed on a cart. The First Book team and the Berg family made a couple of classroom visits to second-grade classrooms. As we wheeled in the cart, the children eyed the new books with curiosity before turning to their attention to the Berg family’s two children, Kelly and Anton, who described their trip and experiences.

 

After they finished their presentation, their mother, Brenda Berg, told the second graders about the Berg family’s love of reading and their mission to distribute books. She explained that each student could choose a book off the cart and keep it for themselves. “But,” Brenda added as the second graders’ faces lit up and exclaimed a collective thank-you, “make sure that when you’re done with it, you share it with someone else—a sibling, a friend, a neighbor, because a well-read book is just that much more powerful.” 

In some classrooms, the students were released all at once and they mobbed the cart. In others, teachers dismissed them one table at a time, while the seated children squirmed with impatience. Once they reached the cart, they eagerly began to pull out books, examining different titles carefully and trying to decide. One girl bounced over to her friend, proudly displaying her new copy of National Geographic Readers: Cats vs. Dogs and declaring, “This is the cutest book!” In one classroom, a small scuffle arose over the last copy of Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, which proved to be popular as the class had recently written to and received a response from the author, Mo Willems. The final classroom visit finished with Kelly reading aloud a childhood favorite, When You Give a Mouse a Cookie. As we left each classroom, we could see the children clutching their new book closely or already engrossed in its pages.

After three classroom visits, the Berg family and First Book-Seattle started on the second part of the distribution, which took place in the nearby low-income housing project where many of the students live. After the Berg family parked their RV, we set up two tables to separate the beginning and intermediate reader books and move large boxes of books from the RV as curious children began to gather around us.

As we unpacked the boxes, the children swarmed around and began to seize copies of Wayside School Gets a Little Bit Stranger and Fancy Nancy at the Museum, pausing to grab any new books that hit the table. Some wer were choosing books not only for themselves but also for absent siblings. One boy held up The Fairy Tale Detectives and Fairies in the Quest for Neverland and asked us which book we thought his older sister would like better.

Because the number of books being distributed was larger than usual, each child was allowed more than the usual one book and many looked relieved to find out that they would not have to undergo the difficult struggle to choose between the newest Rick Riordan book and The Hobbit.  The crowd continued to grow as more children streamed in, having been let out of school. The First Book crew and Berg family members navigated their way between tables, recommending books and complimenting the children on their good taste. Many children, satisfied with their choices, plopped down their pile of new books and sat down to read, while others showed off their loot to their friends.

The afternoon began to wind down towards 4:30pm. By then, the ransacked tables only contained a fraction of their previous bounty. When no more children came, we packed away the few remaining books, which barely filled half a box, and folded away the tables. Children busily reading were scattered in the grass around us. Mission accomplished.