Aligned with the founders’ mission to encourage more children to read books, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is bringing AR (augmented reality) children’s books in its second outing in Manila.

The first book sale that happened almost a year ago proved to be a blockbuster and Filipinos yearned for more. The 24-hour book sale will take place from Feb. 22 to March 4 at the World Trade Center in Pasay, bringing 2 million books with up to 90-percent discount. Entrance is totally free.

The Sale, the brainchild of BookXcess founders Andrew Yap and Jacqueline Ng, has been a trademark event in Malaysia since 2009. It has also started extending its footprint across cities in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

“We had such an exciting time in 2018 and we are thrilled to return to the Philippines this year. We’re happy to continue our long-term commitment to make books affordable and accessible,” said Ng. “We’re excited to also be partnering with Gawad Kalinga again and support their initiatives through the sale.”

In response to customer demand, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is bringing in more young adult fiction, romance, science fiction, crime thriller, business, self-help, architecture, design, cooking, children’s fiction, and activity books, among others.

It is also bringing in augmented reality (AR) books for children. The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is known as Asia’s exclusive seller of the Little Hippo AR books. Find a range of classic children’s stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks and the Three Bears all coming to life through AR.

“Children will be able to read, play, and learn through the Little Hippo AR books, which uses cutting-edge AR technology to revolutionize reading for the next generation. These books ‘come to life’ as the characters speak, dance, and sing. This creates a ‘magical’ feeling for children which will help them get excited to read more,” said Ng.

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale expanded in the Philippines last year. After a successful sale in Manila, it held the book sale to key cities of Cebu (July) and Davao (November).

“We want to continue to bring the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale to more communities in the Philippines to enable more people to enjoy a wide array of books at more affordable prices,” said Ng.

Partnership with Gawad Kalinga

In October 2018, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, as part of its Red Readerhood Programme, also made a donation of P5 million to poverty alleviation and nation-building movement Gawad Kalinga to support its initiatives in building homes to end poverty. These donations built and refurbished libraries in many Gawad Kalinga communities.

“Working together with the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale has enabled us to provide quality books to our communities,” said “Luis Oquiñena, executive director of Gawad Kalinga. “Their support has helped us build better reading corners for our Gawad Kalinga families. We are glad that we are able to continue this relationship this year and we hope to move forward together in making affordable books accessible to the other parts of the Philippines.”