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New to First Book?
Join us to connect with thousands of fellow educators and access exciting educational events and resources for you and your students.
Ensuring children have access to books where they can see themselves, their neighbors and the world around them.
Reading books that reflect a child’s own experiences or introduces them to new perspectives increases reading engagement and fosters our collective ability to raise the next generation with a deeper understanding of our society.
The Stories for All Project™ curates new, relevant, high-quality books representing the many faces of our society, and makes them available and affordable to educators supporting kids in need, so that educators can choose what is most relevant for the kids they serve.
In 2013, First Book reached out to the publishing industry with the offer to purchase $500,000 worth of books featuring voices that are rarely represented in children’s literature: those whose experiences resonate with the children we serve in low-income communities. The response was overwhelming. In fact, we received so many great proposals that we decided to double our commitment, purchasing $500,000 worth of new titles from both HarperCollins and Lee & Low Books — $1 million worth of books altogether. Through that initial investment, First Book’s Stories for All Project™ was born and today is a combination of Special Edition print runs and carefully curated titles. In 2023, 54% of all purchases by First Book members included at least one Stories for All book, with hundreds of thousands of these books reaching the kids we serve each year.
First Book continues to harness market forces, aggregating the untapped demand for books and resources in thousands of low-income communities, helping to create a new market for the publishing industry. When that happens, they respond by publishing more titles with more relevant content. Everyone wins.
In a survey of the educators First Book serves 90 percent of respondents agreed that children would be more enthusiastic readers if they had access to books that reflect their lives. Through the Stories for All Project™, First Book is:
First Book’s commitment to increasing access to books where children can see themselves and others is bolstered by support for the ‘Stories for All’ Special Edition Initiative. Together, with publishers and funders, we can collectively accelerate access to books that will encourage a love of reading for all children, build respect for others and foster empathy across our communities.
In 2014, First Book and HarperCollins Publishers announced a first: the first-ever bilingual edition of the beloved children’s picture book, Goodnight Moon. While separate editions of Goodnight Moon have been available in English and Spanish, the bilingual edition, Goodnight Moon/Buenas Noches, Luna, came into being in response to requests from First Book educators.
In low-income homes and schools, purchasing even one book can be difficult, much less two. First Book served as the catalyst for the bilingual edition, commissioning a special print, buying in bulk, and making it available on the First Book Marketplace, enabling educators to support English-language learners.
“Having a treasured book like Goodnight Moon available as a bilingual edition means so much more than just making a classic bedtime story more accessible,” said Rhian Evans Allvin, executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. “This creates opportunities for very young English language learners to enjoy a cozy story time in their native and learned languages and to create a culture of reading in classrooms and homes.”
First Book also worked with publishers to create the first-ever bilingual edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The bilingual editions of both books are now available at retail for consumers.