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Yesterday we went to Nashville and picked up 50 cases of books for our organization that serves special needs and will be delivering them tomorrow at our basketball signups.

This is going to be such an amazing thing for these special children and I can’t wait to see the smiles on their faces when they get an early Christmas present of these wonderful books.

Rick Ryan
Challenged Athletes Playing Equally (C.A.P.E.)
Murfreesboro, TN
www.capetn.org

I just can’t believe all the books I got this morning!!!  I do believe I got everything I asked for and more. We know that doesn’t often happen in this game of life.   I’ve gotten books before, but never like  this.  I thank you for offering this opportunity and look forward to some great book clubs and organizing a book give away with our kids at Warner.  We’d love to have you back in Nashville anytime!

On behalf of the students and teachers at Warner….thanks so much!
 
Mona Bruey
Library Media Specialist
Warner Enhanced Option School
Nashville, Tenn.

One of the ways First Book gets new books into the hands of children from low-income families is through the National Book Bank. Publishers donate new books to First Book, and we distribute them to schools and programs around the country.

Our publishing partners have been even more generous than usual lately, so our National Book Bank team is working overtime, traveling to donated warehouse spaces from coast to coast.

Book distributions are one of our favorite things – we get to meet the teachers and program leaders, hear about the kids they work with, and load up their cars (and trucks and school-buses and even horse trailers) with boxes of new books.

But they are exhausting – a week of 12-hour days spent moving more boxes than you can imagine. Our staff and volunteers give it their all, especially our National Book Bank managers, Katie and Anna, who are in Nashville and St. Joseph, Mo. this week, and traveling (without so much as a day off) to St. Louis and Casa Grande, Ariz.

So thank you to all the amazing local volunteers that show up at warehouses to help get these books to where they need to go, and thank you to all the hard-working educators and community leaders who make sure every book gets into the hands of a child who will take it home and read it again and again.

PS – If you’re on Twitter, drop Anna (@AnnaInTheCity) and Katie (@IAmNotNancy) a note and tell them to keep up the good work!

We register new schools and programs at First Book every day; the more programs we can reach, the more good we can do, the more efficient our efforts become and the more easily we can provide high-quality new books.

Last week, a program called The Aunt Rudy Fund registered with First Book. They serve children at The Neighborhood School and Cornerstone Preparatory School, both located in Memphis, Tennessee, and every book they give away includes a bookplate telling the story of Aunt Rudy, in whose memory the fund was started.

Candy Canzoneri shared the story with us, and we thought it was so sweet and charming that we wanted to share it with you:

Every Kid Needs an Aunt Rudy

When I was growing up, my favorite day of the week was Saturday. It was the day my Aunt Rudy rode the bus to downtown Memphis to pay her bills or do whatever shopping she needed. When I got old enough, Aunt Rudy took me along with her.

We’d catch the bus on Southern Avenue, near Buntyn Station. When we went down the Parkways, Aunt Rudy told me stories about riding horses on the bridal paths that used to run along the grassy dividers.

It was a wonderful adventure. We’d do her shopping, have lunch, and then came the best part. Our day always ended in the Book Department at Goldsmith’s. I was allowed to pick out any book I wanted and take it home. This wasn’t just a library book I’d have to read and return, this was a book of my own. Forever.

I still have those books, acquired one by one, week by week: the Black Stallion series, a whole set of Nancy Drew and countless others. I’m all grown up now, but I often read the books my Aunt Rudy gave me many years ago. She gave me the best gift: books. And through books, a love of reading and learning.

When Aunt Rudy died, I thought how lucky I’d been to have her as one of my aunts. And then I thought how unlucky other kids were not to have an Aunt Rudy. Every kid needs and Aunt Rudy. And so, in her memory, here is a book for you. Forever.

Did you ever have an Aunt Rudy in your life? If so, leave a comment below and tell us all about it. Or consider supporting First Book in our efforts to help programs like The Aunt Rudy Fund.

I am fascinated by the science of retrieving sound waves from wherever they go after they hit the air and dissipate. Since waves don’t end but keep spreading out, any sound ever made is technically still out there waiting to be rounded up and heard again. That’s incredible. It means, among other things, that if we could refine the science enough, we could literally hear epic moments like the Gettysburg Address or re-experience sweet, personal exchanges like a baby cooing. How eerie yet thrilling would it be to stand in a field in Pennsylvania and hear Abraham Lincoln’s actual voice brought back to life by modern technology corralling scattered sound waves? But, in some ways, I don’t think we need to wait for those advances. Have you ever been somewhere and heard the echoes of the past? Not specific words, maybe, but whispers of sound that seem to linger. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, there is a massive natural stronghold of great tactical benefit during the Civil War. The army that controlled Lookout Mountain, with its towering height and expansive view, was in a position of virtually impenetrable superiority, and as such it was the scene of fierce fighting. At the base of the mountain, if you stand very still and listen very carefully, the wind still carries the sounds of long ago. It is haunted. In Walt Disney Production’s The Haunted House, Mickey and friends are hearing things. I wonder if it would help to know it’s just trapped sound waves.

P.S. Enjoy your book, Little Rhys!

http://www.amazon.com/HAUNTED-HOUSE-Disneys-Wonderful-Reading/dp/039492570X

http://www.earlymoments.com/Our-Products/Disney-Book-Club/

Here's a story sent to me by Ryan from Tennessee about the time he saw Bigfoot in his hotel room. Talk about room service you could do without!

Hey Jason,

I was nine years old and I was with my parents and 4-year-old sister at a hotel in Tennessee. I was about to go to bed when I looked at the door and saw something that looked like Bigfoot walk through the wall and look at me. It stood there for a few minutes. Then it walked through the other wall. I tried to convince myself that it did not happen and went to sleep. At about midnight a loud noise woke me up. When I looked to see what it was I saw the creature at the end of my bed. It scared me so bad I blacked out. When I woke up I noticed something written on a piece of paper. It said "I will always try to protect you, Ryan". Since then I keep searching for whatever wrote that.

Ryan from Tennessee

While it's nice to have someone bigger than you looking out for you, I'm not sure I'd choose Bigfoot for my protector. Who's going to protect you from him!?

Here is my valentine piece for our mailer.


Happy Valentine's Day!

We had visitors swim in this past week to help Captain SeaCroft in his quest to clean up the sea: Boris Blowfish, Jasper Jellyfish, BuckStar (and you thought I was going to say Starbucks didn't you?) Clam-mity and Corabell Clownfish.

I think I'm in the sea, snail and bug mode of illustrating right now. This illo is not part of the original "captain" concept but one I've had in my sketchbook for some time. These cheery fellows were just wiggling off the page saying "pick us to be your visitors please!"

I'm dreaming of captains manning their underwater armies fighting to keep the seas clean. This is only a portion of the actual concept for "captain" however my time is very limited over the next couple of weeks, so I am posting just a vingette of the complete scene.

The illustration I indicated in my previous post is still not finished but I'm enjoying the subject so much. I'll give you a hint...it too has an underwater feel to it. I guess I must be dreaming of a vacation by the sea! Finishing it will have to wait though as my husband's parents are coming from out of state for a visit tomorrow.