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As the 2009 winner of the What Book Got You Hooked? campaign, children in Hawaii will be receiving 50,000  new books this week, thanks to the more than 90,000 online votes cast by individuals across the state!

The books from the What Book Got You Hooked? campaign have arrived in the Aloha state and will be distributed later this week! On Thursday, March 25th, First Book will host a celebration rally at the Hawaii State Library featuring guest speakers, live music and hula, plus story time for the kids.  If you are in the area, come by and celebrate this amazing achievement with us!

Where: Hawaii State Library – Main Library
478 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

When: Thursday, March 25, 2010
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

First Book offices were a flurry recently when surprise visitor Kim Coco Iwamoto of the Hawaii Board of Education dropped in on First Book’s DC headquarters to pay a visit to the staff members behind the books.

Kim Coco Iwamoto Visits with First Book Staff

There’s quite a First Book buzz on the Islands these days. Hawaiians amazed everyone as they sped past other state hopefuls to become this year’s winners of our annual What Book Got You Hooked? contest. The prize? A distribution of 50,000 books. We’re encouraging programs that serve predominantly children in need to register with First Book to find out when this special distribution will take place and connect permanently with First Book resources to help get books for the kids they serve.

Special thanks to First Book Advisory Board members on the ground who will be helping to distribute books to the excited recipients on each of the Hawaii state islands in the coming months!

As a member of the Hawaii Board of Education, Kim Coco is as excited as anyone about the upcoming distribution. She came in and chatted with us about the all the enthusiasm from elementary schools to libraries and after school programs—everyone seems to be bursting with glee over this great win. As Recipient Group Coordinators, Matthew White and I have the pleasure of working one-on-one with potential recipients of books from First Book. We were able to tell Ms. Iwamoto all about the phone calls and emails that have been coming in from the endearing people in Hawaii and in turn, she expressed just what kind of an impact a distribution like this will have.

Ms. Iwamoto left us feeling inspired and thrilled to be working with such positive and energetic Hawaiians on an issue as integral and important as education. It’s always great to meet Recipient Groups and supporters. You are always welcome at First Book!

Vote now or forever hold your peace (until next year)…

Don’t forget to cast your vote for the book that got you hooked and the state to receive 50,000 new books. Voting is open through 12:00 am midnight ET TONIGHT, September 30!

Vote now to bring the 50,000 books to children in YOUR state! The winning state and the top books that got America hooked will be posted here later this week!

Thousands of you have already voted and shared the books and memories that made you a reader. Check out some of the great comments we’ve received. Is your favorite book listed?

If not, make sure to vote today and share your story of how you got hooked on reading! We’ll post more comments throughout the next several weeks.

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
“It was the first book I could read and understand myself. I grew up in a household of 8 siblings. I would hide in a closet with a flashlight and read an entire chapter.” – Vanessa

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
“I loved the book, I would have my parents read it over and over until they finally wouldn’t read it any more that day.” – Craig

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
“I just remember the pictures and the little boy seemed unafraid of anything. I really wanted to be Max. Plus, what a cool set of p-j’s!” – Paul

Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne; Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey; and The New Zoo McGroo Zoo
“Sorry!  I could not pick just one.  These three books still bring back fond memories of my room in my grandmother’s house, snuggled in my bed and having an expressive rendition of such old favorites.” – Ellen

Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss
“I got the book in second grade and could read it MYSELF!  Books have always taken me on adventures, allowed me to be someone else and encouraged me to ‘fly.’” – Carolyn

You’ve been waiting all summer for this and now the wait is finally over! First Book proudly announces that voting for What Book Got You Hooked?, our annual campaign celebrating the books that made you a reader for life, is now live!

You know the drill: visit FirstBook.org/whatbook to share the memory of the first book that got you hooked on reading and then vote for the state to receive 50,000 brand new books for children in need.

Nancy Drew has topped the list of the top 50 books for the last two years, will another book take this coveted spot this year? Will Oklahoma or Kentucky have a repeat victory this year or will kids in another lucky state receive 50,000 new books? Only time will tell.

Voting is open through September 30 — so cast your vote daily and spread the word — tell a friend, a neighbor or your favorite librarian and have them join in the fun! We’ll announce the winning state and the top 50 books that got you hooked in early October.

Do you remember when you were little — staying up late under your covers with a flashlight to finish a real page-turner?  Or what about that book you couldn’t put down at the beach last year?  All of us at First Book can’t imagine what life would be like without great stories, which is why we’re kicking off What Book Got You Hooked? again this summer.  We’re celebrating the favorite books that no child should grow up without.

Please help us (1) introduce kids to the stories that made you a lifelong reader and (2) meet our goal to raise $100,000 by the end August.  Tell us What Book Got You Hooked and then make a donation so that all children have access to great books — not just for this summer, but forever.

And stay tuned! Later this summer we want you to vote for the state to receive 50,000 new books from First Book. In the meantime, please spread the word and ask your friends and family to tell us What Book Got You Hooked?!

We asked you to share the memory of the book that got you hooked, then vote for the state to receive 50,000 new books – and you did!

We are excited to annouce the winner of this year’s What Book Got You Hooked? campaign…(drumroll please)… KENTUCKY! In early 2009, First Book will deliver 50,000 new books to programs serving children in need throughout Kentucky.

We were blown away by your response to our question. In fact, more than 250,000 votes were cast to decide the winning state in this year’s What Book Got You Hooked? campaign.  In a race that came down to the wire, West Virginia and Nebraska were out nosed by Kentucky, which cast nearly 94,000 votes.

As for the book that got readers hooked? Nancy Drew solved that case, coming in at #1 in the list of the top 50 titles. The complete list includes childhood classics like Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie as well as modern favorites including the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The full list of the top 50 books that got Americans hooked on reading can be viewed at www.firstbook.org/whatbook.

Although voting has concluded for our 2008 campaign, you can still make a donation to help provide brand new books to children in need as well as share your favorite books and memories year round!

Libraries can change lives. All of us here at First Book know this, and so does literary icon Ray Bradbury.

who recently wrote a fantastic Op/Ed piece in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on the potential closing of the Main Library in Long Beach, California.

Bradbury, who clearly proves that he’s still as feisty as ever at the age of 88, writes in his letter:

“City Hall decisions will remove access to over 1.5 million books from one square mile of the city! Is Long Beach at war with the printed word and books? …Tell City Hall NO to the threatened closure! Long Beach residents and children deserve nothing less than access to a downtown library with ready access to books and programs to help them achieve their goals and aspirations.”

Go get ‘em, Ray! We couldn’t agree more.

By the way — did you know that not only is Bradbury one of the world’s most beloved sci-fi writers, he also has an asteroid named in his honor, “9766 Bradbury,” along with a crater on the moon called “Dandelion Crater” named after his novel, Dandelion Wine?

We could only hope to be so cool!

P.S. We also know a few other serious Bradbury fans… check out the authors whose lives were influenced by this amazing writer on First Book’s What Book Got You Hooked? site! (Hint: their last names start with “A” and “S”…)