Sitting Down With One of Big Bad Wolf's Founders, Jacqueline Ng

I was lucky to be invited to the media event for Big Bad Wolf Davao. While there, DJ Sahara from Monster Radio BT 99.5 asked a great question: “How does Big Bad Wolf choose which books to bring to Davao?”

Turns out, it’s not a quick or simple process. It takes a full year of planning, sourcing, and building relationships with publishers and distributors, most of them from the UK and US. They’re constantly ordering, attending book fairs, and keeping up with what readers might love, all while staying true to their mission.

And that mission really struck me. Big Bad Wolf isn’t only about selling books. It is their mission to reach the 95–97% of people who don’t usually read, especially in places where English books are hard to find or too expensive. They want to make reading accessible and spark curiosity in people who might never think of walking into a bookstore.

What’s even more inspiring is how they started. With only Jacqueline herself and one other staff member, they had no fancy background in books, retail, or events — just pure passion, creativity, and a lot of trial and error. Jacqueline simply imagined what she would want as a customer and tried to offer that. Everything they have done since they started, from keeping prices low to not charging admission, ties back to one simple goal: to grow readers.

She also shared that the Philippines holds a special place in their journey. Filipinos, she said, love to read — and our English literacy is much higher than in many of the other countries they’ve been to. That’s why the selection here is broader, from children’s titles to adult fiction and non-fiction.

Listening to her, I couldn’t help but feel inspired. Her story is such a powerful reminder that when you have a clear purpose and the determination to follow it, nothing is impossible.