Maplewood Book Store Featured On 'Today Show' For Autism Month

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — More than a decade ago, Jonah Zimiles left his law practice to spend more time with son Daniel, who is on the autism spectrum. When he and his wife Ellen learned the local bookstore in Maplewood was closing, and they decided to buy it.

Now, their independent book store, called [words], has become well known for hiring and welcoming people with special needs, and for having one of the largest collections of books about special needs in the country.

And on Thursday, the shop was featured on NBC's "Today show" as the first book store to be spotlighted as part of Jenna Hager Bush's three-year-old reading club.

The show's producers decided to highlight local bookstores to help small businesses during the pandemic.

"Since April is Autism Awareness Month," the show noted in a post, "our very first local bookstore spotlight is [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey — an independent, award-winning bookstore with a focus on helping the special-needs community."

In a post, the show noted that the store has provided job training to more than 100 people with autism.

But the pandemic has affected the business, which currently offers curbside pickup and delivery of books rather than in-store browsing.

They are, however, doing Zoom events with authors, including one with authors JohnGrisham and Harlan Coben later this month.

Last year, the store won an award from Publisher's Weekly. READ MORE: Autism Friendly Maplewood Bookshop A Finalist In National Contest

The bookstore owners were grateful to the Today show, Tweeting their thanks on Thursday. And Harlan Coben noted in a Tweet, "New Jerseyites: Shoutout to a great independent bookstore that does a lot of good for the community. Please watch and support @wordsbookstore."

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