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.

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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?

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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.

2013 Readers: Julie Trout

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

This week's featured reader is Julie Trout, 2012 Puget Sound ESD Teacher of the Year.

Julie Trout is an arts educator and arts activist that can sometimes be seen teaching upside down in her classroom. In her many years as a teacher in both private and public settings, Julie uses the arts to teach core subjects and as a way to bring communities together. She draws inspiration from social justice issues, spending time in nature, motherhood, music, and the many cultures and lives of her students. Julie is the visual arts teacher at John Muir where she often encourages students to make something out of nothing while reminding the rest of the world that art is a right that all our students deserve to have.

Julie will read "Mr. Pines Purple House" by Leonard Kessler.

Tickets Available for "What Was Your First Book?" fundraising read-a-thon

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.  Follow our blog to learn more about this year's readers.

Buy Tickets Now

All funds raised will go towards buying books for children who need them and your ticket price is tax deductible.

2013 Readers: Linda Neunzig

Linda Neunzig, owner of Ninety Farms.

On a 50-acre sustainable farm in Arlington, WA, Linda raises all natural grass-fed USDA beef and Katahdin lamb for Seattle area restaurants and local farmers markets.  Linda's passion for farming, sustainability and quality have received recognition from Slow Food USA, New York City Meals On Wheels 2008 Benefit, Gourmet Magazine and National Women's Chef and Restauranteurs Association.  Linda's passion has also led to policy and advocacy for farming as Linda is also the Agriculture Coordinator for Snohomish County.

Linda will read "When the Rooster Crowed" by Patricia Lillie, a book she read every night to her son Sam who will join us at our May 18th event.

On May 18th from 10:00-12:00, First Book-Seattle will hold it's 2nd annual "What Was Your First Book" read-a-thon at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle 98122). An exciting and eclectic group of community leaders will come together to read their favorite book and help us raise funds to buy books for children in need.

2013 Readers: Anna Banana Freeze

Anna Banana Freeze, performer/instructor/creator with Massive Monkees.

Anna spends her time balancing motherhood with the demands of performing, instructing and creating with the award-winning group, Massive Monkees.   Anna recently created the Mini BREAKS breakin' program for children 2-6, is making a b-girl documentary and also returning to her DJing roots.  Her goal is to share hip-hop with people of all ages and social backgrounds with the hope of sharing the empowerment, self-awareness, creativity and community she has received from her involvement with hip-hop.

Anna will be reading "Elephants Cannot Dance" by Mo Willems.

On May 18th from 10:00-12:00, First Book-Seattle will hold it's 2nd annual "What Was Your First Book" read-a-thon at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle 98122). An exciting and eclectic group of community leaders will come together to read their favorite book and help us raise funds to buy books for children in need.

2013 Readers: Jennifer Warnick

Jennifer Warnick, Rat City Rollergirls Founder

Jennifer Warnick is a Seattle writer who loves to read and still gets in trouble for staying up past bedtime to finish a good book.  Jen is a Rat City Rollergirls founder, playing as Shovey Chase from 2005-2012.  She love traveling far and wide and returning to her beloved city, playing and watching sports, making and watching movies, clever turns of phrase, Chopin and AC/DC, sliced avocados, clean laundry, sushi, sunny days, Boston terriers, barbecues, front porches, flibberdigibbits and toast.

Jennifer will read "More Bears!" by Kenn Nesbitt.

On May 18th from 10:00-12:00, First Book-Seattle will hold it's 2nd annual "What Was Your First Book" read-a-thon at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave, Seattle 98122). An exciting and eclectic group of community leaders will come together to read their favorite book and help us raise funds to buy books for children in need.

Thank You

How often do you get to hear a Congressman, a pilot, a policewoman and other important members of the Seattle community talk about the first book that made a difference in their lives?  Thanks to the volunteers who helped make the May 19th Read-a-thon at Elliott Bay Books a huge success, we got to share this memorable experience with a crowd of families and other book lovers.

It was incredible to see how this event came together, all because of the people who volunteered their time to make it happen. Refreshments and books were swiftly arranged in an inviting display, signs and balloons were posted in the bookstore, and readers and other attendees were escorted to the reading area.

As the Volunteer Coordinator for First Book-Seattle, I can only stand in awe of what we've accomplished at our first big fundraiser.  I hope everyone who contributed to the event feels good about the difference they've made.  Not only did you allow some great individuals the chance to share the memory of their first book, but you've given a new generation of kids the chance to look back on a favorite book some day.

And this is just the beginning!  We have some creative fundraising events planned for the future.  There's a range of opportunities to help out, from joining the board to helping on a committee to taking pictures at an event.

Thanks again and hope to see you all again soon!

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!