Bullfrog & Baum Partners with First Book to launch Bullfrog & Books
Feeding the Minds of Children One Book at a Time

New York, NY (February 12, 2008)- Bullfrog & Baum, the New York and Los Angeles-based Public Relations and Marketing Agency specializing in hospitality and lifestyle clients, has partnered with Washington, DC-based organization First Book to launch Bullfrog & Books. This initiative is comprised of a series of events to support bringing new books to underprivileged children throughout the country. The first Bullfrog & Books event will be hosted by BLT Fish in New York on February 26, 2008.

Wanting to give back to her community, Jennifer Baum, President of Bullfrog & Baum, chose to align her company with First Book for their “very real commitment to bringing the joy of reading to young children who would not normally have access to new books,” says Baum. “Reading is an integral part of my life and as the mother of a seven-year old avid reader it became increasingly obvious that not all children have the same access to great books as my son.  I wanted to do my part to help shorten the distance between all kids and great books.”  Bullfrog & Baum will match all donations from the February 26th event.

First Book’s single mission is to “give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.” Recent studies have shown that access to books and reading materials is a critical factor in determining whether a child becomes a reader.  However, most recent data describes a profound and shocking gap: while the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is approximately 13 books per child, the ratio in low-income neighborhoods is 1 book per 300 children. Since 1992, First Book has worked to lower the barriers to book ownership by distributing more than 50 million new books to children across the United States.

The February Bullfrog & Books event marks the first in a series of many that Bullfrog & Baum will sponsor throughout the upcoming years. Jennifer Baum believes that in addition to being able to fiscally support First Book, her agency is “uniquely positioned to bring awareness and public exposure to their mission.”

Kyle Zimmer, First Book’s president, agrees and says, “First Book is thrilled to partner with Bullfrog & Baum, an innovative company that is dedicated to supporting the most disadvantaged children across the country.  With the launch of Bullfrog & Books, we can feed even more hungry young minds by providing them with a steady diet of brand-new books.”

Bullfrog & Baum, a public relations and marketing agency specializing in hospitality and lifestyle clients, was started in 2000 by Jennifer Baum.  Their current clients include chefs, restaurants, hotels, food products, specialty stores and beauty and fashion lines. Bullfrog & Books was created as an ongoing partnership with First Book with the goal of becoming more involved with community development and fundraising.

Media Contact:
Rachel Baumgartner, rachel@bullfrogandbaum.com
212.255.6717
To donate, please visit:  www.firstbook.org/bullfrog&books