MiJa Books is an independent children’s bookstore and school book fair provider. Our store has received acclaim from the Los Angeles Times as one of the "65 Best Bookstores in Los Angeles," and has been featured in NBC 4's Today in LA, KTLA 5's LA Unscripted, Spectrum 1 News, and LAist 89.3, Southern California’s leading NPR news station.

The meaning of the portmanteau “MiJa” is two-fold: it is an amalgamation of the first two letters of the founders’ eldest daughter’s first and middle name, Mireya Jamila, and it just so happens that this spells out the colloquial Spanish word for “daughter,” mija.

MISSION: To amplify stories by BIPOC creators, to champion multicultural and multilingual books, and to promote books that center children of color.

VISION: For children of color to be prideful of their heritage and identity. And for ALL children to have more inclusive bookshelves in order to foster empathetic and moral global citizens.

Stephanie Moran Reed is a native Angeleno and proud Mexican-American Mompreneur. In 2020 she co-founded MiJa Books with her husband, Muammar Reed. 

In 2016 she started her first business, Senior Sensory, a Los Angeles-based service that provides purposeful and stimulating activities for seniors. Stephanie earned her B.S. in Cognitive Science, Minor in Gerontology, and Specialization in Computing from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her interests in cognitive development and gerontology and the gratification she received from providing quality, person-centered care led her to a professional career working with seniors. Unfortunately, her senior business was severely impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Visitor restrictions on senior communities meant that she could no longer service most of her long-time clients. The pandemic also halted the launch of her second company, Reed Musicians, a musicians-for-hire booking service. But, in true entrepreneurial spirit, she took advantage of the extra time gained during California’s stay-at-home orders and created her third company, MiJa Books!

Upon reflection, she feels that she was destined to become a bookstore owner.

Growing up as a Mexican-American, in a low-income household of five, my weekends weren’t filled with weekly excursions to the zoo or aquarium. I didn’t spend my summers at space camp or dare to sign-up for those grade school field trips across the country. As much as I wanted those things, I assumed that those activities just weren’t for a brown and poor girl like me. 

But, thanks to my mother, what I did have was a bedroom full of children’s books and countless memories of her taking me to the local library as often as I wanted. And I lived for Scholastic book fairs at school! Living vicariously through the pages of a book was the next best thing to physically exploring the world.

Before the age of five, MiJa has already visited places like Hawaii and New York City! And we’re certainly planning on many more adventures with her, which is a great fortune and privilege! However, I also want to create for her the same memory that my mom was able to give to me: a home library full of colorful and diverse children’s books.

I remember the classics: Charlotte’s Web, countless works by Dr. Seuss, and The Little Miss series by Hargreaves. But only one other book from my childhood home library stands out prominently in my mind, The Woman Who Outshone the Sun, adapted from a poem by Alejandro Cruz Martinez.