When I’m prepping for a sales call we pull all the ARCs for that list and set them up in piles like mini skyscrapers. I start at the roof and have a look through each floor of the continually shrinking building until we are back down to the foundation which, in an inspired architectural stroke, was crafted to resemble a wooden stool.
I was going through the Random House fall piles last week when a book in the pile brought me up short, Point of View by Patrick Bard. The tagline was “Addicted to Porn. Powerless to Stop. Until…”  My first thought was, “Wow, that was bold.” My second thought was twofold. Could I put this out in the store without incident? (We’ll return to that shortly.) Would school libraries bring it in? My third thought was “Is it good?” Which is the nub of the matter.
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“Have you been here long?”
“Eleven years in this location, sixteen overall.”
“I’ve never been in.”
“Welcome, we’re glad to see you.”
“So, do you think you’re going to make it? It seems like local stores don’t last long.”
This exchange at our register happened on Friday, the day before Independent Bookstore Day, which seemed particularly poignant, if not ironic. Our store was covered with IBD displays, the #HoosierBooktour totes were stuffed with tissue paper and lined up behind the counter, and the calendars of May events were stacked by the new release table. The store was loud and chaotic — the weekly Gymboree Art class had just let out from our event room, and preschoolers were zooming toward the train table, and emptying the contents of the impulse item bins into the toy shopping cart (that I forgot to put away in the stock room, again.)
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Happy Children’s Book Week, everyone! Publishers Weekly just spoke with Leonard Marcus (here) about the origins of this 100-year-old literacy initiative, the longest-running one in our nation. Hooray for the books that help form thoughtful, empathetic, curious, bright people!!
In thinking about how best to celebrate this week dedicated to my favorite of all literary forms—books for children and teens—I thought I would set a challenge: to read 100 children’s books this week, and to give away 10 books to children, schools, or libraries.
If you participate and succeed, and send me your list of titles read and books given, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a fabulous prize (see below).
 
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Everyone who works in children’s books is familiar with the Harry Potter conundrum. Written over a 10-year span, the books increased in complexity and emotional heft book by book as the characters aged up with their audience. Kids who read the first charming, magical romp when they were seven were 17 by the time the 700+ page final tome rolled around. Not a standard model for series publishing for children, the series nonetheless defined the childhoods of a generation of readers and captivated adults in equal measure.
If you’ve ever worked in a bookstore, you also know that Harry Potter conversations themselves are rife with tricky interactions. Many a precocious six, seven, or eight year old has read Harry Potter, leaving their parents confident that they are ready for something just as thick or written at an equal level (which by book seven basically means YA). It’s almost a bookselling cliché at this point—that everyone’s gifted grandchild has read Harry Potter years ahead of their peers and needs something new to challenge them at their “advanced level.” Continue reading →

When you have bought children’s book frontlists for an expanse of time you have questions about magical creatures. A lot of questions and no answers. Why does the popularity of fairies and unicorns ebb and flow, while mermaids are always a solid, steady, second tier performer? Why does anthropomorphism render some real animals, like narwhals, into magical creatures, while others, like dogs, foxes, rats and badgers appear to remain talking animals? And what about food items, like hot dogs, potatoes, and spoons? Are they magical creatures or just food friends? It’s all very confusing. To try and clear matters up we are fortunate to be joined today by Dulph, executive director of the MCU (the Magical Creatures Union).
Kenny: Hi there, Dulph. Thank you so much for joining us here today.
Dulph: This is why they pay me the big money, to act professional even under trying circumstances.
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We play music in our store, as many retailers do. It helps keep the energy level high, gives the staff something to sing (and sometimes dance) along to, and seems to direct and lift the mood of customers and our interactions. While some stores use a Spotify channel or another streaming service, we have always maintained a somewhat eclectic mix of CD’s that we also offer for sale. On any given day at 4 Kids, you might be treated to the cast album of a Broadway show, the greatest hits of Sesame Street, or the latest Disney collection in karaoke version. My own musical taste runs toward instrumental classical recordings and light opera, so depending on which staff member has store opening responsibilities, the musical mix is as varied as the midwestern weather forecast. (Oh, you like this one? Wait five minutes… we’ll change.) I have always encouraged the closing crew to select whatever they want to listen to during evening clean-up and restocking chores, which happen after the front doors are locked. It’s a great staff perk, but it does require that I remember to TURN DOWN THE STEREO before I pop in the first CD of the day…. or be treated to blasting ABBA songs, the current favorite of our high school employees. You’re not really awake until you’ve heard “Dancing Queen” at level 8….
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Does anyone remember the two-sided animal from Dr. Dolittle, the Pushmi-Pullyu? It was a beast with two fronts, each of which stubbornly wanted to lead, so attempts to move forward in either direction went nowhere.
I am feeling a little pushmi and a lot pullyu about the current state of grammar in children’s books these days. There is a LOT of casual bad grammar floating around now—even in picture books, even in picture book titles—and I am struggling, fellow readers. I understand that language is fluid, vegetable, ever-changing, and reactive, yet I was raised by grammar enthusiasts and taught school by English teachers whose rules were precise and immutable. It’s not that I never violate those rules; there’s a tiny rebellious thrill to be had by beginning sentences with “And” or ending them with prepositions. (A schoolmarmish thrill, sure, but rebellion is individual.)
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Rotating through Austin’s big cities, Texas Library Association likes to spread the wealth, so its annual conference only comes to Austin every four years. That means TLA has only been to Austin a handful of times since I’ve worked at BookPeople. I don’t know if I just don’t remember how busy it was the first couple of times or whether our programs have just grown to the point where we can accommodate most of the proposals that come our way, but now when TLA descends on Austin, it unleashes a literary whirlwind that makes the city seem like the nexus of the kidlit universe for a brief, glorious moment.

Helping facilitate 16 children’s book events in 7 days with talents such as Alice Kuipers, Ann Braden, Dan Santat, Rhett Miller, Kate DiCamillo, Chris Van Dusen, Ashley Poston, Kathleen Glasgow, Tom Angleberger, Andrea Beaty, Raúl the Third, Adam Gidwitz, and David Bowles, we’ve certainly had our hands full. A schedule this complicated never goes off without a hitch of some kind, but although Tom Angleberger’s flight cancellation caused him to miss his school event, he made sure we got signed bookplates once he arrived so the kids still get something special to take home. Never underestimate the power of a bookplate in a pinch! Continue reading →

I have to admit that I only take in life wisdom as a kind of intellectual secondhand smoke. It’s something I overhear or stumble upon rather than read or seek out deliberately. Still, I’m pretty sure that those who dispense the stuff often recommend getting out of your comfort zone, taking on challenges, and doing things that have personal value. That was just what I had determined to do this spring with school visits. My plan was to take on some events away from my Upper and Lower Elementary School comfort zone and bring authors into more remuneratively challenging terrain like Middle and High Schools. I had a two phase plan for this.
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After 16 years as a shopkeeper, I have not exactly reached Yoda status, but I do consider myself pretty unshockable. I have witnessed countless tantrums (some by children, some not), been surprised by live animals in the store (remind me to tell you about the lady with the pet monkey wearing a little red cape – the monkey, not the lady) and even once, in the early years, was confronted by an attempted holdup. Why anyone thought that a children’s bookstore would have any actual money in the register on a Wednesday morning is a sad commentary on both the criminal mind and the state of our cash flow. When the unsuccessful robber pointed his gun (pistol? revolver? I should read more detective novels) and told me to empty the drawer, I actually laughed. I was told later by the very stern police officer that my response was totally wrong…. but then again, I’d like to see Officer Perfect handle a packed story time of two-year-olds at the end of a seven-day stretch of days too rainy and cold for outside play.
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