First Book

Happy 250th Anniversary, America!

Today is a great opportunity to help kids explore what it means to be part of a community, whether it’s through reading together or finding ways to give back. 🎆

💛 Tell us: How are you encouraging civic engagement in your classroom or program?

Find books to support these conversations in our Activism & Civic Engagement collection: https://tinyurl.com/yax246at

What’s in your summer reading stack? 📚☀️

Summer is the perfect time to catch up on reading, whether you’re planning for the school year ahead or picking something up for fun. We’d love to hear what’s on your list!

👇Share your favorite summertime reads below!

When kids have access to books all summer long, they continue developing skills and growing their love for reading.

For many kids, access to books isn’t guaranteed, leading to what’s called the “summer slide,” where many students lose important skills they’ve worked to build all school year.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. With your support, First Book can help kids in under-resourced communities books to call their own.

Help stop the summer slide today: https://tinyurl.com/mwzhnjfa

Across six countries, Time for Change is now reaching more than 7 million students and 200,000 educators. This shared initiative led by Ashoka, First Book, and Teach For All, in collaboration with Audemars Piguet under the guidance of the Audemars Piguet Foundations, is building momentum toward our goal of embedding changemaking into everyday learning.

Beyond the numbers, what stands out is how this impact takes shape on the ground:

In Lagos, Nigeria, a teacher who went through a Time for Change sponsored training program designed for educators in public secondary schools began to shift his classroom approach. Instead of focusing only on content delivery, he created space for students to take more ownership of their learning. First Book is proud to have co-led the development of resources used in the teacher training program.

From that shift, Peer Power emerged: a student-led tutoring initiative where learners support each other in English, Mathematics, and Science.
As a result, students started approaching learning through empathy, encouragement, and shared responsibility. Over time, confidence grew on both sides, and those who had struggled began to improve and believe in their own abilities.

The initiative later received national recognition in Nigeria. But its most meaningful outcome reflects a broader pattern across Time for Change in all six countries where the initiative has come to life: when educators are equipped with the right tools and mindset, they unlock behaviors that extend well beyond the classroom.

Book Foundations