At Heart Reads, we believe stories can be a soft place to land.
Heart Reads is an independent New Zealand children’s bookshop based in Henderson, West Auckland, created from a simple belief: the right story, shared at the right moment, can help a child feel seen, understood, and connected.
Every book is chosen with care. Some offer comfort through difficult feelings, some celebrate quiet bravery, and others gently spark curiosity, imagination, and wonder. Rather than filling our shelves with hundreds of titles, we intentionally keep each collection small, making it easier for families to discover meaningful children’s books without feeling overwhelmed.
Whether you’re looking for a peaceful bedtime story, a book to help your child navigate worry or change, or simply a beautiful story to enjoy together, I hope you’ll find something here that feels just right for your family.
The stories you’ll find at Heart Reads invite children and the adults who love them to slow down, share conversations, and create memories together. There is no right way to read them. Sometimes the most meaningful moments happen when a child asks a question, points to an illustration, or simply wants to hear the same story again.
Because what matters most isn’t finishing the book. It’s the moment you share.
My name is Corazon Ramos, and Heart Reads is deeply personal to me.
If you’ve spent time here already, you may have noticed that Corazón means heart. It feels fitting, because stories have always been where my own heart has felt most at home.
As a child, I was drawn to books filled with wonder, kindness, and imagination — stories where anything felt possible. That love of storytelling stayed with me into adulthood and eventually inspired me to write for children myself.
I studied Writing Stories for Children through the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies, graduating with Excellence in 2013. Since then, I’ve had the joy of publishing my own picture books under Imagine Press NZ, stories that reflect the same values you’ll find throughout Heart Reads: emotional warmth, imagination, gentle encouragement, and hope.
But becoming a mother taught me something even more important. Like many parents, I discovered that storytime isn’t always perfect. Some evenings are busy. Children are tired. Sometimes the book is finished, and sometimes it isn’t.
Yet those small moments — reading together before bed, laughing at a favourite page, or talking quietly about how a character feels — soon become the memories children carry with them.
Those experiences became the heart behind Heart Reads. Today, every title you see here is personally selected, not simply because it’s beautiful, but because I believe it has something meaningful to offer a child and the people reading alongside them.
Alongside Heart Reads, I also write children’s picture books through Imagine Press NZ.
These stories are a personal extension of everything I value: wonder, courage, imagination, emotional warmth, and gentle encouragement. While Heart Reads exists to celebrate books from many wonderful authors and illustrators, I’m grateful to share a few stories of my own here as well.
Thank you for visiting Heart Reads.
Whether you’re choosing a first book for a new baby, searching for comfort during a difficult season, or simply looking for a story to enjoy together, I hope you discover books that become part of your family’s memories for many years to come.
Because sometimes the right story doesn’t need to have all the answers. It simply needs to help a child feel safe, seen, and loved.