Jennifer Wilder is bringing the bookstore to the block.
“After a little bit in the world of literacy, I realized that the narrative about the availability of books of color was a false narrative,” Big Red Book Truck owner Jennifer Wilder said.
Wilder created the Big Red Book Truck, a mobile bookstore, to change the narrative about the availability and abundance of books written from the perspective of an author or protagonist of color.
“Representation really matters, it’s a buzz thing people are saying but it is real,” Wilder said.
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The mobile bookstore travels through the Greater Hartford area carrying dozens of books that celebrate the “culture.”
“I think context in reading is everything, for children to be able to see themselves in the covers of books, number one, helps them to want to pick up the book and read the book and when there is language that sounds like language that is spoken in their homes, it makes it easier to read, it gives context,” Wilder said.
Wilder gets inspiration from her late grandmother Isabel Mendes Blake.
Connecticut In Color
“Isabel was a single mom of 11 children and education was what she believed was the ticket to a greater future,” Wilder said.
Blake was a pillar in the community and helped several single mothers in the north end of Hartford get access to housing and education resources.
Wilder honors her grandmother’s work through the mobile bookstore.
“So, reading and comprehension was critical to the work that we did as a family growing up and so to continue her legacy, literacy was the route that I took,” Wilder said.
Wilder’s daughter continued the family legacy by writing and publishing ‘Look at Me, I Can Write Poetry,’ all by the age of nine. The book travels on the red truck, among other books written by local authors, to different community events, farmers markets and birthday parties.
“I can pull up the truck and I can do periodic readings, so I will read every 15 minutes a different book with the theme of the event,” Wilder said.
Through partnerships and grants, Wilder is also able to donate books to children.
“I was able to purchase books and then do a city-wide book tour throughout the summer and give books at different community events,” Wilder said.
In the future, Wilder hopes to open a brick-and-mortar store.
“I hope to be a beacon for those who feel as though they need a space to belong, to be seen, to be heard and to learn something,” Wilder said.
