Delaware’s first lady kicks off reading tour promoting literacy with new children’s book, ‘Books for Blue’

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“Meet baby blue hen nicknamed just Blue… the youngest one here and the smallest one, too…”

With these playful words, Delaware’s future leaders gathered around as first lady Tracey Quillen Carney turned a recent story time into an unforgettable adventure at the Wilmington Public Library. Quillen Carney read excerpts from her new children’s book, “Books for Blue” as she made the first stop on her statewide book tour. In the story, a small but determined chicken named Blue embarks on a quest for a new book, learning that every library visit offers a chance to discover something new with an open mind.

“We got an author in the house,” said Delaware Governor John Carney as he praised his wife’s dedication to children of the First State.

“The tour gives us an opportunity to show off a little bit with the incredible investment that we’ve made using mostly federal money and state funding for new libraries and to enhance existing libraries,” he said. “After serving as your governor for seven and a half years, it really gives me an opportunity to thank Tracy for sticking with me for all these years. For her service as first lady, for the tremendous work that she’s done and her part of our efforts to bring literacy to our state.”

The release of her first book is a cornerstone of the First Chance Delaware initiative, designed to provide every Delaware child with the opportunity to thrive. This effort focuses on enhancing learning readiness through literacy, health and robust parent-child engagement programs.

“A lot of our work has been about moving the needle, where it desperately needs to move,” she said. “Culture shift level stuff in areas like youth mental health, early education, eradicating hunger and building communities of hope with wraparound services for families.”

Quillen Carney said the reading tour is about much more than her book. It’s an opportunity to foster a lifelong love of learning, encourage children to make regular visits to the library, appreciate the value of education and see how literacy activities can enhance family and community connections.

“We’ve intentionally called this a ‘reading tour’ and not a ‘book launch’ because we don’t want it to be just about one book. We want it to be about early language experiences toward healthy brain development and school readiness, because we know if we want to meet the third grade reading benchmark, we need to start pre-reading skills long before anybody shows up at kindergarten.” she said.

Accessibility is a key focus. “Books for Blue” will be available for borrowing at 33 libraries across the state and will also be distributed to school districts and early learning centers. The book is offered in three languages: English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

The reading tour will continue from late summer into fall.