Mini version of the wren
Gallery Wall
How Brave is The Wren bookshop
How Brave is The Wren bookshop
How Brave is The Wren bookshop
How Brave is The Wren bookshop
Mabel's drawing of me and the caravan
Mabel and the Wren at Just So Festival 2015
Colouring wall by Adam Higton
How brave is the wren at Just So Festival 2015
How brave is the wren at Just So Festival 2015

the wren

How brave is the wren is a children’s book shop based at 4 York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7RZ. We stock beautifully-crafted books created by authors and illustrators that appeal to the young and the young at heart. Our stock includes a wide range of books to suit newborns, pre-school, young and older children, or even grown ups who just like children’s books (like me) we have board books, picture books, chapter books and graphic novels.

Opening Hours 10am – 5pm / Wed – Sat

Starting life as a mobile shop in 2015 at Just So Festival we have since toured the country visiting markets, festivals and schools fully stocked with a fantastical range of adventures ready to inspire young minds. Opening as a permant shop in Kings Heath in 2022  we now have plenty of space for browsing, reading and even a spot of colouring in.

If you can’t join us in Kings Heath then you can shop online, each book has a full description and selection of photos so you can see what’s inside the cover. Look out for our monthly recommendations via Instagram and twitter plus if you join our mailing list we’ll keep you posted with information about new titles and where we’ll be next.

booking the wren

We’re always on the lookout for interesting events to attend and new places to visit. Offering a unique setting for book launches, special events and festivals, How brave is the wren can provide workshops and activities either on our own or in partnership with our friends at Anorak Magazine.

Storytelling service, how brave is the wren offers a range of school services including story telling in the caravan and an independent bookfair. Aimed at Key stage’s 1 & 2 we can bring the caravan to your school for a day of reading, books can be selected to suit a theme or can be taken from our existing stock, or for the bookfair we can set up a bookshop inside the school, schools receive a profit share of  book sales. Find out more information about the service and pricing here:

Storytelling service here

Independent book fair here

For further information about any bookings please get in touch by email: [email protected].

why the wren?

The name comes from a record found in a charity shop by my husband Ben Javens. The sleeve art has a lovely illustration of a wren and the record was created as a school project in the 1970’s- it’s an operetta written and performed by children from Grendon Primary School in Kings Heath Birmingham. I had the record for a long time and when i decided to start a shop it seemed like the perfect option. After I launched the business my lovely friend Cathy did an interview with me about the shop on her blog for Anorak Magazine shortly after she published it a lady got in touch to say that she was one of the children that had sung on the record, she was 10 years old when they made it, she told me that the “fantastic teachers and the operetta project made going to school a joy” every child deserves to feel like that about school!! in a lovely twist the email arrived in my inbox on my birthday!

About me

My name is Jenny Moore.  A love of art, illustration and design have always played a huge part in my life. An education in photography matched with a passion for music led me to co-found Capsule and Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, where I was Co-Director for 13 years. The birth of two daughters, Mabel in 2010 and Molly in 2013, led to thoughts of a new career and an ever-growing collection of children’s books. And so How brave is the wren was born.

To find out how the wren came to life visit our tumblr page for a full picture diary of the caravan conversion.