Books for Border Kids

OUR STORY: Books for Border Kids

Books for Border Kids (BBK) was created by a group of concerned individuals in Minneapolis and St. Paul who wanted to inspire hope in young refugee children now on our border with Mexico.

Books for Border Kids (BBK) was created by a group of concerned individuals who wanted to inspire hope in young refugee children on the US/Mexico border.

Because we believe that books can stir a child’s imagination and enrich young lives, we teamed up with two independent children’s bookstores – Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul and Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis — to facilitate the purchase of bilingual, Spanish, or Portuguese books through our Books for Border Kids website. Both bookstores agreed to ship the children’s books free of charge to a distribution center in New Mexico.

Denise Chávez, author and owner of Casa Camino Real Bookstore in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has been collecting books and distributing them to refugee families at the border over the past year with the support of many volunteer groups in the area.

Denise is well-known and respected in the broader independent bookstore community and enthusiastically agreed to help us curate the recommended book lists, and distribute the books purchased for the children.

How to Support Books for Border Kids

The book drive began September 1 and will end October 31, 2019. Use these links to the Red Balloon Bookshop and Wild Rumpus Books to select and purchase books from the recommended list. If you prefer, you can select a dollar amount and the bookstore staff will choose the books for you. Book purchases can also be made in person at each bookstore by mentioning the BBK project.

We hope you will join us in this effort to put books in the hands of refugee children — books that can offer comfort, hope, and enjoyment, and in turn strengthen their ability to navigate this difficult period in their lives.

Read on for more on how to support Books for Border Kids and connect on Twitter.