Try reading this short story and closing your eyes to think about it:

Imagine you are four years old. Your parents farm the food you eat every day. You sing songs and dance in joy around your fruitful village with your many siblings. Life is good.

Now you’re five years old. You just started primary school and are so excited to get a freshly pressed pink and blue uniform, books and a composition notepad. You walk home from school with a smile on your face. Your mother looks frightened. She stumbles through your sack of clothes and sends you off to sleep in the jungle. You are too scared to sleep.

For five years you walk to school, never getting a new book or uniform again. Each night you hide in the jungle, fearing that you will be kidnaped and forced to attack your family, become a sex slave or to do whatever the rebels ask of you. This is the only life you could ever see for yourself.

Fast forward ten more years. You are now 20 years old and you are about to graduate from University with a degree in Accounting. You have a fresh pressed uniform again, loads of books, and control of your future. Your life has completely changed.

What happened?

Watch Agnes’s story to find out.

TED, a non-profit dedicated to sharing innovative and thoughtful ideas around the world, has launched an “Ads Worth Spreading” campaign which they describe as an “initiative to recognize and reward innovation, ingenuity and intelligence in advertising – the ads that people want to see, and share with their friends.

We have just thing for this campaign! Recently, we have created a series of short films which highlight the impact that folks like you make every time you donate books or shop with Better World Books. We’ve entered six videos into the contest and would love for you to view and vote for them to be shown at the TED conferences this year.The videos

A homeless 9th grader who got his first book through the BWB/Feed The Children teacher store tells his story. The spot ties buying and donating to impact like Zachariah’s story.

2:40 – http://www.youtube.com/tedaws?x=us_showcasephase2_8324_27

60 seconds – http://www.youtube.com/tedaws?x=us_showcasephase2_8327_27

From the age of 5, Agnes had to sleep in the Ugandan jungle to hide from rebel soldiers. Today, she is a proud university graduate thanks to BWB and Invisible Children.

Read more…

He’s in the 9th grade. He and his mom were recently evicted from their home. He began this year on a 5th grade reading level. But thanks to you, Zachariah has hope – and a huge smile to boot.

Thanks to a partnership between Better World Books and Feed The Children, Zachariah now owns his very first book. Feed The Children does not only focus on feeding the literal hunger of children and families across America and worldwide, but also supporting healthy minds. With the help of Better World Books book donations, Feed The Children has distributed over 500,000 backpacks full of school supplies.

Zachariah’s success story would not be possible without you. Each time you donate or buy a book with Better World Books, students like Zachariah are given more opportunities to learn and grow.

Read more about how we met Zachariah.

Read more…

Imagine back to being in the 5th grade. Homework was just beginning to get difficult. Word problems in math class were becoming longer and more complicated.

Anytime I had a question about my homework, my mom was by my side and ready to help. She tackled the seemingly endless word problems with grace and humor. Thanks to her perfect explanations, not only did I get the answers correct, but I understood why.

There are many young students across the world, and right here in America, whose parents are unable to help them with their homework, not because they don’t understand the math, but because they cannot read the words.5th grader Antonio spent most of elementary school as one of these children. His dad worked nights and his mom did not speak English.

Maria, Antonio’s sweet mother, tried so hard to help. Finally, she found her little miracle: the local library.

Thanks to your book donations and purchases with Better World Books, we were able to grant Maria’s library in Shirley, New York an award with our partners at the National Center for Family Literacy and today, Maria can successfully help Antonio with his homework. Thank you!

What are your thoughts on Maria and Antonio’s story? How does it make you feel that it happened thanks to YOU?!