Pick Up A 'Children's Book For The Soul' In Bed-Stuy This Weekend

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Last summer, Bed-Stuy native Brittany Thompson headed to Herbert Von King Park for a peace rally in the wake of a shooting that had tragically killed a 1-year-old boy.

As the speakers urged community action, she started to brainstorm how she could help.

"I sat down and I was like, 'I need to do something,'" Thompson told Patch. "...I knew my community was hurting for so many reasons and wanted to do my part, any way that I could."

Thompson, who teaches at a high school in Manhattan, decided to stick with what she knows — the power of words.

With the community's need for healing — plus recent struggles with remote learning — swirling in her head, Thompson set up a fundraiser in the hopes of bringing free books to the children in her neighborhood. Two days later, it reached its goal, allowing Thompson to buy and distribute 300 books by Black and brown authors to her community.

This weekend, she'll do it again.

"I want to do this every year," Thompson said. "Let's make reading cool again."

Thompson will be giving away at least 200 books for all ages to Tompkins Avenue Merchant Association's weekly block party this Sunday. She hopes to buy more with money raised in a GoFundMe.

Like last year, the selection, called " will include stories written by people of color with the goal of increasing representation in literature.

"We have so much resilience and our stories should be told, and told by us," Thompson said.

This year's drive will include 20 books by local author Adia Johnson, who will join the giveaway to sign copies of her book "21 Affirmations For Kids."

The book drive will be set up in front of boutique Make Manifest BK between Jefferson and Putnam avenues from 1 to 3 p.m. It will join a line-up of other activities along the street, including a children's fashion show.

Should more donations come in after that time, Thompson said she'll return to Tompkins Avenue with more books in the weeks ahead.

Kids will be able to stop by and pick out which book they'd like to take home. The hope is that kids can start their own collection of books they don't need to return, making it easier to pick up reading at any point they're ready.

Thompson says surrounding her own 10-year-old son with books has been an integral part in showing him the power of reading.

"It's about access — you may not read them immediately, but at least you have them," she said. "One day you’re going to stare at that book and say, 'I’m going to open it up.'"

Find Thompson's fundraiser here.