Announcing a new program! Free New Books for School Libraries! First Book Canada has provided us with about 160 new books to give away and we are anticipating about that many more in December! More news as we go!
FREE BOOKS FOR KIDS is a program of BEARS AND BOOKS!
Volunteers from Bears and Books will bring FREE children’s books to your school – along with a Teddy Bear with a scarf that says “Books are Beary Fun!” .
As of February 2026 we have placed 2445 books in 18 Elementary Schools and Early ONs! AND 20 "Reading is Beary Fun" Bears for libraries and 260 Read-To-Me-Plushies!
Included in this are 150 books to communities in need overseas through Warehouse of Hope. And 175 to a school in need just outside of our catchment area.
New additions! Reading reward stickers for the kids and mugs of dark chocolates for the office staff! :)
We have hundreds more books to share. Many are from Scholastic and all are post-2000 (unless they are super cute.)
Included in this are 150 books to communities in need overseas through Warehouse of Hope. And 175 to a school in need just outside of our catchment area.
New additions! Reading reward stickers for the kids and mugs of dark chocolates for the office staff! :)
We have hundreds more books to share. Many are from Scholastic and all are post-2000 (unless they are super cute.)
Why FREE BOOKS? Having books in the home is proven to positively benefit children in a myriad of ways. A two-decade long study found that the mere presence of a home library increases children’s academic success, vocabulary development, attention and job attainment. See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X18300607#fig2
Why a large TEDDY BEAR? To bring attention to the FREE BOOKS.
Did you know that reading to plushie can boost confidence? Studies show that as children get older and begin to learn to read, reading aloud to cuddly toy can be a great way to practice without any worry of judgement. See
https://wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/reading-to-a-pet-or-cuddly-toy/
Our Sponsor is Grace Mennonite Church. https://www.gracemennonitechurch.com/
Special thanks to the Catholic Women's League, St. Vincent de Paul, and Value Village. And to many individuals and other groups. We are family!
Why a large TEDDY BEAR? To bring attention to the FREE BOOKS.
Did you know that reading to plushie can boost confidence? Studies show that as children get older and begin to learn to read, reading aloud to cuddly toy can be a great way to practice without any worry of judgement. See
https://wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/reading-to-a-pet-or-cuddly-toy/
Our Sponsor is Grace Mennonite Church. https://www.gracemennonitechurch.com/
Special thanks to the Catholic Women's League, St. Vincent de Paul, and Value Village. And to many individuals and other groups. We are family!
