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First Book’s National Book Bank team just got home from Pittsburgh, where they boxed, labeled and shipped 400,000 books to kids in need all over the country, from Jacksonville to Santa Monica.

That’s a whole lot of books – five tractor-trailers full, to put it in perspective. The books all came from Disney Publishing Worldwide, and included some great titles, like ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’, ‘The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks’, ‘Caterpillar’s Springtime Day’, and books starring characters beloved by many children, like Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse and Hannah Montana.

Shipping that many books in less than a week is a big job, and we couldn’t possibly have done it without the help of some great friends who came out to lend a hand. Volunteers like the local high school Key Club, college students, a Girl Scout troop (they were amazing on sticker duty) and service-minded individuals of all stripes. Not to mention the team from a local KPMG office, whose accounting skills were put to excellent use. KPMG is a major supporter of First Book, and we can always count on their local offices to help us out.

And, perhaps most importantly, our hosts at World Vision, a truly inspirational organization that provides badly-needed resources to children and families in the United States and around the world who have been victims of natural disasters, famine, war and disease. Because First Book has no warehouses, we rely on donated space to temporarily house the books donated to us by generous publishers, and World Vision stepped up to help out in Pittsburgh. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer, friendlier, more helpful bunch of people to work with.

The best part of our book distributions, though, is getting to meet some of the local schools and programs who take our books back to the children that they serve. They always thank us when we fill their trucks and station wagons with cartons of new books, but we tell them that they’re the ones who deserve the thanks. It’s a privilege to help them in the heroic work that they do to each and every day.

So hats off to Pittsburgh. We couldn’t have done it without you!

A few days ago, in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Japan, I heard about a family acquaintance in Canada whose elderly grandmother in Yamagata had a very bad stroke.   Yamagata is in northern Japan and some of the services to that area were disrupted, exacerbating the situation for anyone needing medical care.   What did this family acquaintance do?  Well, she and her mother packed up their bags immediately and booked a flight to Japan to be with their loved one even amidst all the furor and panic around the nuclear power plant situation in Fukushima.  Hearing this story, I had an epiphany.  Love does not flee, it goes to whom it must attend, at all cost and without fear.

World Vision is one of those organizations that understands this notion and acts on it with conviction.  This week I was heartened by reading the blog posts of one of its workers in earthquake and tsunami ravaged northern Japan.  So, today I am focusing my post on one of its initiatives — books for children.   The World Vision Early Readers series are photo-illustrated picture books published by Tundra Books in conjunction with World Vision Canada.  The books are authored by Marla Stewart Konrad, a former World Vision communications professional.  PaperTigers recently did an interview with Marla and reviewed one of the books in the series: I Like to Play.   As mentioned in the interview, all royalties proceeding from the sales of the World Vision Early Reader books go to World Vision to help support their initiatives for children.   Marla’s own long career with the organization has helped cement her beliefs in the efficacy of its work in assisting children all over the world.

Right now, it is families in northern Japan that need the most assistance.  As you can see from its website and blog, World Vision is speedily making its way there as did my family acquaintance to her ailing grandmother in Yamagata.  Isn’t love truly the greatest thing?

Recent floods in Pakistan have immobilized the country and have put many lives at peril and risk.  Of course, among the many affected are children.  Response to the disaster has been slow but there are places where one can donate specifically to help children such as UNICEF, World Vision,  Save the Children in addition to the Red Cross.   PaperTigers has covered a number of books about Pakistani children in distress, particularly those in refugee camps on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and those working as child laborers.  The plight of children in distress and the way their stories can be told in books is the focus of Pegi Shea’s Personal Views piece in this month’s PaperTigers issue which is about refugees.

This month's outreach has a direct tie-in to the book. Here's Holly Cupala to tell us more about it:

"Even though TELL ME A SECRET is not about sexual exploitation, it is about women and secrets and dealing with shame, so I felt there was a connection there.

"Ten percent of my author proceeds go toward World Vision's Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls, helping girls all over the world who have escaped from this kind of abuse - food, medical care, job training, and if possible, a loving family situation.

"Thank you for spreading the word to help support these girls!"

Learn more about World Vision, and about this specific cause.