Request for Proposals Fall 2013

Our 2013 grant cycle is now open! Applications due September 16, 2013 at 5pm. Check out how you could get books to kids who need them.

The Grant Program

First Book—Seattle is a local chapter of First Book, which is a national organization that promotes literacy and book ownership among children from birth to age 18. Our goal is to get books into the hands and homes of children in King County. Our fall grant cycle is open to any registered First Book Recipient Group, including classrooms and grade level teams at Title 1 schools, or day care centers, non-profit organizations, and social service agencies that serve at least 70% of children from low income families.

The grants will allow teachers, librarians, administrators, or program leaders to purchase brand new books from the First Book Marketplace at no cost and no delivery charge. Grants will ideally provide six books to each child and will be integrated into the educational mission of the program or organization.

We give priority to applications that:

• Focus on a targeted group, such as an individual classroom, a grade level team, an age group, or a subgroup (i.e. students who are English Language Learners; students receiving Special Education services; families receiving parenting support; etc.) 
• Intend to provide a six-book diet per child (at roughly $2.50 per book) Recent grants have ranged from approximately $100 to $3500. 
• Provide specific details about the mission and educational program of their organization. 
• Offer creative educational integration of new books. Examples of educational integration from recent successful grant applications include: 
• Bridging classroom work with reading at home 
• Creating family engagement activities/programs 
• Building after-school programs that encourage literacy 
• Developing weekly student book clubs 
• Connecting literacy activities with Special Education programs 
• Fostering reading skills in children who are English Language Learners. 
• Clearly suggest how books will be used as part of the curriculum/program AND make it clear that books are for children to take home and keep. 
• Indicate that book grants will be spent within six months and that books will be sent home with children during that time frame. 

The Grant Application Process

1. Register as a Recipient Group (If you have already done this, you will need your Recipient Group number). 
2. Complete the application (.doc download). 
3. Email the application to Jennifer Preisman at jpreis[at]uw.edu no later than 5 pm on Monday, September 16, 2013. 

Applicants will receive notifications about their proposals in mid-October.

If you receive a grant, you may order your books in the online First Book Marketplace, and they will be sent to you within a couple of weeks.

Questions? Please contact Jennifer Preisman, Recipient Group Chair, at jpreis[at]uw.edu.

'What was your first book?' review by Jannifer Zhan

For more info about First Book-Seattle click here

On Saturday, May 18^th, First Book-Seattle held its second annual big fundraiser at Hugo House, featuring local celebrities reading the first book they loved. Before the event started, the First Book-Seattle crew was busy getting the venue ready, including drawing with chalk on the sidewalk outside Hugo House to direct people to the front door. Many of our readers arrived earlier and as the time approached 10am, more and more audience members trickled in.  Parents settled down in the chairs while the kids sat criss-cross apple sauce on a rug closer to the stage. Some went to grab some snacks and refreshments, which were donated to us by Trader Joe’s and Eltana Bagels. Others went to the side alcove to check out our silent auction, which was filled with amazing prizes including a team-signed Sounders Jersey, which drew much interest. All the prizes were provided by generous donors.

Around 10, our host, “Voice of the Sounders” Ross Fletcher, stepped up to the stage with board members Jody Dorow and Megan Lehman to kick off the event. We had a great set of readers lined up for the event and each one was a natural at engaging the children in his or her respective books.

Our first reader Julie Trout, the 2012 Regional Teacher of the Year, after putting on her “teacher” glasses, read Mr. Pine’s Purple House, which she described as a book about “not being afraid to be a little different,” a lesson which she hoped the kids would remember always.

Husky Wide Receiver DiAndre Campbell looked very cool in his Husky jacket as he sat down to read The Giving Tree by Shel Shel Silverstein.

TV host from New Day Seattle Margaret Larson eschewed the reader’s chair and chose to sit on the edge of the stage nearer to the kids so that they could see the colorful pictures from her choice of book, Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss, whom she described as “a doctor of laughter.”

“Captain” Bjorn Toorun (aka Curt Nakon), who can usually be seen steering a Ride the Ducks boat in downtown Seattle, read One Duck Stuck and pronounced all the animal sound effects with great enthusiasm. Even more amusingly, he came prepared with a duck hat which would flap its wings when he tugged on the loop, which he would do each time the titular stuck duck called for help.

Anna Banana Freeze, a performer from the b-boy/b-girl group Massive Monkees, read Elephants Cannot Dance with all the different voices. She then lead the kids through a dancing exercise before showing off a few of her own moves. Before she started, she jokingly warned us that her dance style resembled the eccentric technique of the elephant in the book. She then told the kids to help her summon the music by rubbing their hands together. As the children started, music really did begin to play, which obviously can be attributed to the music gods and not at all to the Hugo House employee standing behind the audience adjusting an iPhone! It was a great half time performance.

Before Rachel Kessler, a poet performer from Typing Explosion, read aloud her Mouse Tails, she explained that this particular book was really important to her because it was the book that caused her to love reading chapter books.  Chef Tamara Murphy from Terra Plata read us Where the Wild things are by Maurice Sendak. This was one of the most popular choices with the children enthusiastic from the moment she mentioned the title.

Linda Neunzig, owner of Ninety Farms, was joined onstage by her son, Sam, and they read When the Rooster Crowed together. She remarked that the book was very relevant to her family as they are not fond of early-rising.

Before Seattle Sounder player Andy Rose began his book, Froggy Plays Soccer, he commented that he hopes to one day attain Froggy’s soccer skills. Meanwhile Seattle Seahawks kicker Carson Wiggs told us how pleased he was to be getting involved in the community after only having signed for the team in March. He read that old favourite The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Our last reader, retired Rat City Rollergirl Shovey Chase (aka Jennifer Warnick) skated to the front of the room and asked all the kids to stand behind her onstage and make their best bear faces before joining her to read More Bears.

Finally, Ross Fletcher finished the event with some closing statements and invited everyone to visit the silent auction, as well as the book sale, where all the books that were read aloud were available for purchase.

In total, First Book-Seattle raised over $2000 from ticket sales, book sales, and auction sales, which means we can provide 800+ books to children in King County. What a successful fundraiser!

 

 

Pay-It-Forward

On May 28th, First Book-Seattle went to Concord International School to follow up on the students’ Pay-It-Forward project and celebrate their reading accomplishments.

This project started during the 2011-2012 school year, when the students at Graham Hill Elementary made a deal with us that they would read as many books as they could during the year and First Book-Seattle would donate a set of books to children at another elementary school of their choosing. They picked Concord International School in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood.  

The students at Concord received those books in October and made a similar pledge. They have read furiously during the school year, and so continue the cycle of “paying forward” by donating Magic Tree House books to students at Dearborn Park Elementary next fall. 

We arrived at the classroom to set up the books, book plates, juice, and cookies (what’s a celebration without snacks?). During the set up, one little boy rushed into the classroom to grab something, saw the stacks of books and shouted, “Whoa!” before dashing out. 

After a couple of minutes, the rest of the second graders trickled in. The instructional coach, Dan Coles, reminded the students about the reading pledge they made at the beginning of the school year and congratulated them for all their hard work during the year. Then, he introduced board member Jennifer Preisman.

Jennifer first remarked that she had heard about all the great reading they had done and asked the kids what books they had read. One student shouted, “Harry Potter!” Several members of the class nodded in agreement and another kid exclaimed that he had a Harry Potter book in his desk before pulling out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Other books included Fighting Freedom, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Magic Treehouse series, and a National Geographic book on space. 

After congratulating the students, Jennifer announced that she had a special gift and asked, “Has anyone heard of the Seattle Seahawks?” Hands shot up in the air and several kids gasped. Jennifer explained that she had met the kicker, Carson Wiggs, who was very impressed with the Concord kids’ achievements. She presented the class with a “What Was Your First Book” poster signed by Mr. Wiggs for them to hang in their classroom. The kids were delighted.

Afterwards, Jennifer turned their attention to the Magic Treehouse books stacked on a side desk and to the four bookplates on each student’s desk. She explained that they were going to sign their names on each book plate, which would go into donated book so the kids at Dearborn Park would know that those books were a gift from students like them. As the kids busied themselves with signing the bookplates, we handed out juice and cookies, as well as some First Book swag including pencils and temporary tattoos (which were well-received, though the kids were warned they had to wait until after school to apply them!)

As the celebration continued, Mr. Coles took showed us a board documenting the second graders’ reading challenge. The chart was sprinkled with large paper flowers labeled “start,” “25” etc. all the way to “200,” as well as a bunch of paper bees each marked with a student’s name. The bees were scattered on flowers on the board. Dan explained that the second graders were challenged to read for 20 minutes a night for as many nights as they could and each flower marked a milestone for the number of nights they read.

He pointed out the three highest achievers, Abby, Jason, and Max, who all reached 125 nights. We were so impressed that we asked if we could meet them, so Mr. Coles introduced us. When asked about what they enjoyed most from their many nights of reading, they unanimously said the fun of reading itself. (Mr. Coles also informed us that the entire class’s reading skills had improved greatly and that one kid had gone up 8 reading levels since the beginning of the school year.) Then they declared that they highly recommended the Magic Treehouse series and hoped that the students at Dearborn Park would enjoy them as well. 

Overall, this was such a fantastic event. It was a great way to encourage reading in students as well as allow them to give back to their community. We hope that the cycle will continue to be successful next year! 

Note: This was the last event that our chair, Megan Lehman, will be attending. She has served as chair of First Book-Seattle for two years, but she will be stepping down from her position as of June 1st. Thank you for all your great work! 

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.

2013 Readers: Carson Wiggs, Seattle Seahawks' Kicker

On Saturday (May 18th) First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising event at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon. Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with. It's a great event to inspire children about reading and raise money to buy books for kids who need them. 

Buy Tickets Here

The final reader we have to announce is .......

Carson Wiggs, Seattle Seahawks' Kicker

A Grand VIew Prairie, TX native, Wiggs attended South Grand Prairie High School where he was ranked the nation’s No. 4 kicker nationally by ESPN.com and No. 11 by Rivals.com.   

While majoring in construction management technology at Purdue University, Wiggs became the most accurate kicker in Boilermaker history.   

Wiggs connected on 73.6 percent of his field goals (53 for 72) and his 53 field goals are the second-most ever at Purdue.  As a senior, Wiggs earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2011.  He was signed by the Seahawks on March 5, 2013.

Carson will read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", by Eric Carle.

'What was your first book?' reader schedule

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising read-a-thon on Saturday at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon on May 18th. An exciting and eclectic group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Here

Here is the reader schedule. It may be subject to last minute changes but we will try and keep you posted on facebook and twitter if that happens:

10:00am: Welcome by Voice of the Sounders, Ross Fletcher

10:10am: 2012 Puget Sound ESD Teacher of the year Julie Trout reading 'Mr. Pine’s Purple House'

 10:20am: Husky footballer DiAndre Campbell reading 'The Giving Tree'       

 10:30am: King 5 presenter Margaret Larson reading 'Oh the Places You’ll Go'

10:40am: Ride the Ducks Captain, Captain Bjorn Toorun reading 'One Duck Stuck'

 10:50am: Massive Monkees dancer Anna Banana Freeze reading 'Elephants Cannot Dance'

 11:00am: Intermission with performance by Massive Monkees Anna Banana Freeze

 11:10am: Poet Rachel Kessler reading 'Mouse Tails'

 11:20am: Chef Tamara Murphy reading 'Where the Wild Things Are'

 11:30am:  Owner of Ninety Farms, Linda Neunzig reading 'When The Rooster Crowed'

 11:40am: Seattle Sounder reading 'Froggy Plays Soccer'

 11:50am: Rat City Roller Girl, Shovey Chase reading 'More Bears'

Master of Ceremonies - Ross Fletcher

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising read-a-thon on Saturday at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon on May 18th.

An exciting and eclectic group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Here

The voice of the Sounders, Ross Fletcher, will be the Master of Ceremonies for our fundraising event 'What was your first book?'

Ross is now in his second season as the voice of the Seattle Sounders, announcing games alongside Kasey Keller. Previously he was a soccer commentator and reporter for the BBC covering the English Premier League and the Championship and a presenter on BBC World television.

For seven years Ross was the voice of Derby County for BBC Radio Derby, commentating on the English Premier League and Championship. His most memorable call was the 2007 Championship playoff final in which Derby beat West Bromwich Albion in front of 75,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. 

He has worked at two summer Olympics, a junior summer Olympics, a winter Olympics and a junior winter Olympics.  He spent July in London interviewing athletes including Usain Bolt in the Olympic Stadium.

2013 readers: DiAndre Campbell, University of Washington Student and Husky Wide Receiver

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising event on Saturday May 18th at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon. An exciting and inspiring group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Here

DiAndre Campbell, University of Washington Student and Husky Wide Receiver

Born and raised in Oakland, DiAndre earned plenty of accolades as a Bay Area athlete before enrolling at University of Washington.  DiAndre redshirted his Freshman year, served as a game captain vs. Arizona as a Sophomore, and in his Junior year distinguished himself with 2 TD's, a start in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas and honorable mention Academic All-Pac-12 honors.


DiAndre is double majoring in Political Science and Communications.

DiAndre will read "The Giving Tree", by Shel Silverstein

2013 readers: Curt Nakon, Ride the Duck Captain Bjorn Toorun

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising read-a-thon on Saturday at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon on Saturday May 18th.

An exciting and eclectic group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Here

Curt Nakon, Ride the Duck Captain Bjorn Toorun

You'll never guess how this Northern New Jersey country boy ended up in Seattle. He attended the University of Washington because "my brother lived here, so I had free housing!" After earning a degree in geology, he stayed in Seattle because he loves the city and it's convenient for his active hobbies. Captain Bjorn loves to do all the things his son is doing: snowboarding, roller hockey, clam digging and bedazzling Quackers. Now a 25-year Seattle native and former wedding photographer, he says the best part about being a Duck Captain is "showing people my city - it's unbelievable to see the look on their faces when my guests learn something new!"

Captain Bjorn Toorun will read "One Duck Stuck" by Phyllis Root

2013 Readers: Chef Tamara Murphy

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising event on Saturday May 18th at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon.

An exciting and inspiring group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Now

Tamara Murphy, Seattle Chef, Restauranteur and Author

Tamara Murphy has been integral to Seattle’s food scene since 1987. Her journey from New York City brought her first to Dominque’s Place, then executive chef at Campagne. She opened Brasa in 1999 and her newest venture, Terra Plata in 2012. Tamara’s first book which celebrates farmers, cooks and eater’s was published in 2010. Tamara’s passion and inspiration for cooking delicious foods comes from her relationships with local farmers and the foods they bring to her restaurants. Tamara has been celebrated for her work behind the stoves by the James Beard foundation: Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest, Ten Best Chefs in America by Food and Wine.  

Tamara will read "Where the Wild Things Are"by Maurice Sendak 

Photo: Angie Norwood Browne

2013 Readers: Margaret Larson

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising read-a-thon on Saturday at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon on May 18th.

An exciting and eclectic group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Now

Margaret Larson, Journalist and New Day Northwest Host


For more than 25years, Margaret Larson has worked as a broadcast journalist, most notably with NBC News as a foreign correspondent based in London, news anchor for the Today show and Dateline NBC reporter, and as a reporter/news anchor at KING-TV in Seattle.  During the Kurdish refugee crisis in southern Turkey at the end of the first Persian Gulf War, she began reporting on global humanitarian crises. What she learned and experienced changed her outlook, her career and her life.   Margaret devotes time to international causes in partnership with Mercy Corps and has formed a communications consulting practice for international nonprofit organizations including World Vision, Mercy Corps, PATH and Global Partnerships, creating video and online content to serve humanitarian causes.   Margaret has won broadcast journalism awards including four Emmys, two national Clarion awards, three Telly awards and a national Society of Professional Journalists award. Additionally, she has been recognized with the Headliner Award from the Association of Women in Communication ('04),  "Best Voice for Humanitarianism" by Seattle Weekly ('05), Women of Vision award by the "Women Work!" organization ('07) and chosen to create the profile videos for the global humanitarian Opus Prize awardees in Nicaragua, India, and Burundi ('08).

Margaret will read "Oh the Places You'll Go", by Dr. Seuss.

Won't you come to our story time?

Won't you come to our story time?

Buy Tickets Now

2013 Readers: Rachel Kessler

First Book Seattle is holding its 2nd annual 'What was your First Book?' fundraising read-a-thon on Saturday at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle) from 10am to noon on May 18th.

An exciting and eclectic group of Seattle celebrities will come together to read the first book they remember falling in love with.

Buy Tickets Now

Rachel Kessler, Founding Member of Typing Explosion, Vis-a-vis Society and LOCCAL.

Rachel Kessler is co-founder of literary collaborations The Typing Explosion and Vis-à-Vis Society. Her poems have been published in Poetry Northwest, The Far Field, City Arts Magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing in public schools and in homeless shelters in Seattle.

Rachel will read "Mouse Tails" by Arnold Lobel.