Urgent Call To Action from First Book's Kyle Zimmer - SAVE RIF!

Thank you for helping build support for RIF's Dear Colleague letter among members of the House of Representatives. Because of the thousands of people from across the country who wrote about the importance of reinstating RIF's funding, more than 60 members signed the letter, with more coming. But we still need your help! A separate Dear Colleague letter has begun circulating in the Senate. We have limited time to build support and let Congress know that without federal funding, more than 4.4 million children and families will not receive free books or reading encouragement from RIF programs. Remember, your voice is the most important resource we have to make sure Congress reinstates RIF's funding. Please send a message to your Senator today. Just enter your zip code to directly send a template statement. It only takes a couple minutes - and it will mean the world to the children we all care so much about. Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to send a message as well. Post this information on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or any other social networks you use. Remember, your voice is the most important resource we have to make sure Congress reinstates RIF. Thank you for helping our friends at RIF! Sincerely, Kyle Zimmer President and CEO

First Book provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities.

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Halloween Note From Lemony Snicket

Imagine my surprise when I was flipping through my InBox - you know delete, delete, later, delete, spam, delete...WHAT?!? A note from Lemony Snicket? YEP!

Lemony Snicket has joined with First Book on a Halloween Project - so give out candy to all the kiddies but don't forget to give books or help First Book give books...Mr. Snicket says it best:

Dear Reader ,

Every Halloween , I am disturbed by the number of children who jump out from the darkness and cry , “Boo!” If you have ever encountered such a person , you know that they are so upset that they are unable to finish the entire word , which is , of course , “Book.”

I am sorry to tell you that there are millions of children every year who can not afford a new book to read. Fortunately , there is a noble organization called First Book , which puts books in the hands of such children – more than 65 million books so far. Still , every Halloween , the ghastly cries of those growing up without new books rise into the night.

If you are as tired of hearing children cry “Boo!” as I am , you should probably do something about it. You might consider making a Halloween donation to First Book. For instance , $2.00 is an amount which here means “one new book.” And $20 is an amount which means “filling a backpack with enough books to make some lucky child a hunchback for Halloween.”

Wouldn’t you like to click here now to donate?

With all due respect ,

Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket has written many alarming books for children including those in A Series of Unfortunate Events and he is one of 70 astonishing authors and artists , including Neil Gaiman , Margaret Atwood , and James Patterson , who contributed to Half-Minute Horrors , a collection of instant frights published in partnership with First Book. Half-Minute Horrors is available wherever books are sold.

Gotta run - I think there are some ghoulies at the door - Boo - Boooo - Book!

Have your cake - and eat it too.

First Book proudly unveils Books for Kids, Books for Keeps for Birthdays, a new Web site offering something everyone wants: celebrations that give back.

Now you can tie charitable giving into your birthday celebrations. Just personalize a fundraising page and invite friends and family to donate to provide brand new books to the kids who need them most. Visit www.firstbook.org/birthdays.

Join us to celebrate the site's launch: tell us about the worst gift you've ever received. For each comment posted on Bookmark, the First Book blog, First Book will provide one new book to a child in need.

All participants will be entered in a random drawing on July 1 to win a prize - their choice of an autographed copy of one of the three following titles: Linda Sue Park's Keeping Score, James Patterson's The Final Warning or Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the Thirteenth

What Book Got You Hooked?

We asked and you answered! After launching this year’s What Book Got You Hooked? campaign, we’ve already received great quotes, memories and books that hooked you, making you a reader for life. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie, Ethel Glere Chamberlin’s Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who are just a few of the titles mentioned by you as you recalled the memorable books that got you hooked on reading.

But don’t stop there! We still have a few milestones to pass before meeting our goal of $100,000 by the end of August, and we need your help.

 

Your donation of just $20 will make 10 books available for the 50,000 book giveaway to be awarded to the winning state of the What Book Got You Hooked? voting contest that will take place later this summer.

 

So think back to the stories you read over and over again or the first book you just couldn’t put down. Remember the sense of accomplishment, the thrill, the feeling of pure bliss when the last page was turned.

 

Won’t you help make that feeling a reality for the millions of children waiting for their first book? Join the What Book Got You Hooked? movement today by making a donation…no matter how big or small.

 

All my best,

 

Tonya Shive

Director, Community Development

 

P.S. Father’s Day is just around the corner. Make bedtime stories possible for other Dads and their kids by making a donation in honor of your father 

What Book Got You Hooked?

In less than five days, What Book Got You Hooked? “ the campaign that celebrates the impact of unforgettable children's books“ will come to an end.

Together, you've shown us that the impact of children's books cannot be overstated -- whether it was Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, or Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.

In fact, it turns out even bestselling authors can still remember the books that got them hooked.

For Judy Blume herself, it was the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace:
"My mother bought me the first three books in the Betsy-Tacy series when I was 9 or 10, and from the start, I was hooked. I wanted to jump inside those books and live at Betsy's house. Some characters become your friends for life. Some characters you never forget. Thank you, Maud Hart Lovelace, for making me into a lifelong reader."

Join us in making sure children everywhere get the chance to know the joy of great books. Help us create lifelong readers by making a donation of $10 or more today.

http://www2.firstbook.org/whatbook/donate.php

Be sure to check back next week for a list of the Top 50 books that got YOU hooked, as well as the announcement of the state to receive 50,000 new books for kids in need through the What Book Got You Hooked? campaign.

It's all thanks to you.

All best wishes,

Kyle Zimmer

President, First Book