We’re launching Books for Babies … and Toddlers, Too!

There are 500,000 children in Arizona under age 5 and roughly 200,000 of them will enter kindergarten unprepared to succeed in school.

Early literacy skills, such as exploring and playing with books, singing nursery rhymes, and listening to stories, are the building blocks for kindergarten success.

Our early literacy initiatives support parents in their child’s development by providing the tools and resources they need to ensure positive and healthy early learning experiences for their young children.

Although these programs are about far more than just putting books in the hands of children, having access to books is one of the first steps of this important developmental process.

You can help us make an impact.

We’re launching a campaign called Books for Babies … and Toddlers Too! Starting just one week from today we’ll launch a children’s book writing contest and will begin accepting manuscript submissions of 600 words or less.

You do the writing and we’ll hire the illustrator, do the editing, layout and print the book! For our retail sales, we’ll be following a TOMS shoes model – “Buy One – Give One.”

Learn more about our children’s book contest here – Entries open July 15!

While the contest won’t open for another week, we need your help today!

We’ve started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $10,000 to help fund the upfront costs of producing a children’s book. Your donation of $250, $100 or even $10 will help us to launch this venture!

Will you join us in support of early literacy? Contribute to our Indiegogo campaign today!

The first week of a crowdfunding project can make or break the entire campaign! If we are able to get more than $3,500 in the first 7 days, our campaign will be elevated to a higher, “Featured” status and be more likely to generate additional donations.

Join us today and donate just $10 (or more) and help close the early literacy gap. Please donate online at http://igg.me/at/booksforbabies.