A “grandma-owned and -operated” children’s bookstore will have its grand opening Saturday, Nov. 15, after welcoming its first batch of customers in October.
Bird Rock Bookshop owner Jodi Bratch said the store is meant for children and young adults, carrying classic books alongside book-related gifts.
The store at 5604 La Jolla Blvd. joins other La Jolla bookstores such as Warwick’s, Barnes & Noble and D.G. Wills but is unique for its focus on children.
“It’s such a perfect age to set the stage for children to be lifelong readers,” Bratch said. “I feel like children’s bookstores are kind of evergreen, where there’s always going to be children reading — this is the hope. And also they’re reading books and turning pages. It’s a very tactile experience.”
Bird Rock seemed a proper place for the store, she added.
“I felt the community had space for it and it filled a need,” Bratch said. “There’s a charm and an identity that Bird Rock has, and a little children’s bookstore seemed like a good fit.”
Bratch said Bird Rock Bookshop is in a “nookish location” but she hopes it can become a fixture in the neighborhood.
“I think it’s tiny but mighty,” she said. “That’s going to be my goal for it — to have a good selection in such a tiny space.”
Author and La Jolla resident Zoe Ghahremani gives a reading to children at Bird Rock Bookshop on Oct. 25 as part of the BirdStock Music Festival. (Jodi Bratch)
The bookshop’s opening comes roughly two years after Bratch moved from southwest Florida to La Jolla to spend time with her daughter and young granddaughter.
With more time on her hands and a desire to connect more deeply with her new community in Bird Rock, Bratch got to work on establishing Bird Rock Bookshop.
Its debut comes amid renewed hope for bookstores. The Barnes & Noble chain announced this year that it plans to open 60 new stores across 17 states — one of which opened recently in the La Jolla Village Square shopping center.
Furthermore, the American Booksellers Association, which supports independent bookstores, said in its 2024 annual report that 323 brick-and-mortar, pop-up and mobile stores opened that year — marking the fourth year in a row of a boost of 200 or more.
Bratch believes that can be attributed to more stores being “LGBTQ-friendly” and consumers pushing back against book censorship.
She also theorized that people may be looking for book-finding alternatives as libraries cut hours, or they may simply want to experience visiting stores in person again rather than adding items to an online cart.
Bird Rock Bookshop participated in Banned Books Week Oct. 5-11, an annual event highlighting books that have been banned or censored. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, there were 821 attempts in 2024 to “censor library materials and services,” including 2,452 unique book titles. In 2023, it reported 1,247 attempts targeting 4,240 unique titles.
According to the ALA, 47% of the titles targeted for censorship in 2023 offered perspectives of the LGBTQIA+ community and Black, Indigenous and other people of color. It did not specify other types of topics.
Bird Rock Bookshop’s hours have been “spotty” so far, Bratch said, but following the Nov. 15 grand opening, the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
To learn more, visit birdrockbookshop.com or @BirdRockBookshop on Instagram. ♦