Wow Book and Toy Store in Gulfport teaching kids about Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa started the day after Christmas and one local book store is teaching kids about the celebration through stories.
Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration of African-American culture from December 26th to January 1st. To help educate children about Kwanzaa, Wow Book and Toy Store in Gulfport is helping to spread knowledge through books. Owner Tonisha Kimble said, “Kwanzaa celebrates commitment to community and family, faith, and just looking toward the future.”
Kimble says she started her online book store in 2017 and after seeing a lot of online traffic she decided to open a small 100 square foot store in hopes of sharing her love for books with the community. “Being a life long reader and having a child and of course you know you want to pass things on to your child that you are into.”
The Kwanzaa books go into detail about each of the seven days and the principles practiced. “It’s a non-religious holiday that people can celebrate because it celebrates principles of community, unity, being together in faith, and I think it’s a lot of principles people can get into.”
Although most of the store’s traffic comes from online, there has been more foot traffic coming into the store lately. “I just wanted it to be easier for other parents who are like minded to find things like this.”
Along with Kwanzaa inspired books, Wow Book and Toy Store also sells coloring books, non-fiction, fiction, baby books, and activity books.
Kimble says she wants kids to be able to have books that represent them. “There are toys and books and things that our there that reflect you, that look like you.”
