As the holiday season arrives, I take a moment to refresh my mental arsenal of go-to funny picture books, because at this time of year in our store, funny stories simply fly. We certainly sell plenty of luminous, moving, and heartfelt picture books in December, but invariably the bestselling picture book from our holiday catalog each year has been funny—books like The Bad Seed, Lion Lessons, The Princess and the Pony, Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great, or Niño Wrestles the World. And of course there’s always and forever Bark, George. Funny books often offer irresistible, bite-sized “hooks,” and they’re a safe bet with a broad swath of kids. I totally get it. Unlike my oldest son who has always wanted to listen to any book someone was willing to read him, my youngest honestly tends to wander off part of the way through unless something captivates him early on with a dramatic twist, interactive element, or hilarious surprise. Continue reading →

This year was different. A haunting will do that, I suppose. Compiling our annual list of the top books for the season, The Holiday 20, is always a reflective experience, a kind of retail meditation. The list is the core of our fourth quarter marketing, in store, on our website and in the Gift Guides of two local newspapers. The particular qualities of tone, sentiment, the nature of the reading experience, and the adherence to the interests of an established gift recipient pool which commend a book as a great seasonal present, mark the Holiday season at the bookstore as a kind of parallel dimension, an extra room that appears once a year and then fades back into ephemera.
After the list was completed I became aware of shadow presences that had been lurking in the periphery, ghosts, the books of Holiday 20s past. Given its mystical aspects it is actually surprising that I have never experienced a Holiday 20 haunting before now. Though to be sure time plays the crucial role of stowing away years of such lists, their forgotten glories and failures, before a haunting can manifest.
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Tuesday morning, bright and chipper, feeling refreshed from my four hours of actual sleep following the several hours of tossing and turning that is traditional for retailers in the month of December, I pulled into the store parking lot two hours before opening. I was feeling smug about the bag of muffins on the passenger seat that I had remembered to pick up on Monday afternoon for story time, and the file folder full of completed order forms that a kind school media specialist had dropped off at a library author event the night before. Look at my efficiency! Bravo to my multi-tasking! I was holiday sweatered and sensibly shod for a full day of recommending great books, wrapping adorable gifts, and spreading literary sunshine… well, at least melting some hearts and their icy grip on their wallets.
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A customer came in today to scout some possibilities for her seven-year-old’s Christmas presents. Young Rose’s wish list includes “a fluffy fluffy robe,” “a real pink clock,” and “a fancy readable chapter book just for me.” This last item is what she came in for, and Rose’s mom wanted to spot some titles to run by Santa.
The words “readable… just for me,” Rose’s mother explained, means that she wants a chapter book she can read on her own without adult help. Rose reads at around an easy reader level 2, so it turned out to be a bit of a challenge to find a chapter book that fit the description.
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Snowflakes dangle from the ceiling, wrapped shelves gleam in gold and silver, catalogs are stacked  on practically every surface, and books are piled as far as the eye can see. The holiday season is upon us, and the bookselling elves have certainly been busy!
We just finished putting up our very last holiday display up today, so I thought it might be fun to check in with the mad paper cutting genius who spearheads our wrapping and cutting and twirling every year. Merrilee Wilkerson has been making things look pretty at BookPeople for 24 years, and she graciously offered some expert tips for aspiring elves. Continue reading →

That most honorable of Awards, the DDG Stocking Stuffer of the Year Award, has found its luster stained of late. The last three years running, 2015, 2016 and 2017, were marred by the unseemly spectacle of our judges awarding the top prize to themselves. Though steps were taken to avoid this odious outcome these last two years, those measures proved ineffectual. Clearly stronger and more potent safeguards were needed to insure a return to the state of unblemished integrity the award had earned in the past.
This year I chose to interrogate potential judges in a manner so direct that there would be no possibility of moral backsliding. The Judge who emerged from this investigative inferno was The Erratic Invader, a Clockwork Spaceship from a bygone era of ethical behavior in toys.
Kenny: Can you swear to me that you will not grant the Stocking Stuffer of the Year Award to yourself?
Erratic Invader:  I did not unwind my way across the stars to perform an iniquitous deed.
Kenny: Can you clearly state your answer as a yes or a no?
Erratic Invader:  The moral compass of the stars is infinite. It will brook no prevarication.
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Back in the summer, I wrote a little post called Dear Parents, with love from your bookseller, with some general suggestions for making the most of a trip to the bookstore with children in tow. I’d like to add to that list a bit, with a holiday-themed version on parenting advice from your friendly neighborhood bookshop and its slightly footsore staff, who are currently operating on equal parts caffeine, the broken bits of decorated sugar cookies, and dreams of …. well, sleep. I will call this the “Naughty and Nice” customer list, and allow you to choose your allegiance accordingly.
Let it be known that:
While bookstores are beacons of truth and inclusion, at this time of year, we must prioritize the needs of our youngest little reindeer over all else. There is to be no audible discussion in our stores of “believing” or “not believing.” We cannot provide you with new, creative Elf on the Shelf ideas, Mensch on a Bench inspiration, or hear your “when my kids found out” stories. Come back later, like in January, when we have lots of time to chat.

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Hello from Josie Leavitt, who writes a guest post today:
This Saturday was the 22nd anniversary of the Flying Pig Bookstore. It has been almost two years since I retired from the store and being a customer at store is delightful. I find myself popping by the store a lot lately. Going to the store is a lot like having coffee with a fun friend. The conversation is delightful and it leaves me feeling good. There is often something unexpected that happens at the store; either I wind up helping sell books or I get to visit with customers I’ve missed.

I get to see the store with very different eyes than I did for 20 years as an owner. Rather seeing everything that’s wrong, missing, askew, dirty, etc, all I see are masses of books with their riot of colors making promises about great stories. The store is so colorful in a very calming way. It feels very warm and inviting. The new shelf talkers are fun to read. And I have to read these because I don’t know the books anymore. I am enjoying getting to know the new books. For the first time they actually feel new. There is something about ordering frontlist so far ahead that can take the fun out of new release day. Now, every day feels like that because there is always something new to see at the store. I read reviews and then forget them unless it’s a book I want to order.
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…in this season of plenty, when somehow October mysteriously disappeared like the best of the trick-or-treat candy does after bedtime, when November has sailed by on autumn wind carrying left-behind signs from protest marches and polling places and plans for the holidays that are suddenly, alarmingly HERE….
…to ask our publisher partners for extended credit terms, faster shipping, an extra two percent if we buy the display, and oh! please add another case or two of catalog titles, perhaps cushioned to prevent damage with a little extra bubble…
…wrap “in birthday, Hanukkah, or Christmas?” as we inquire of each customer as they bring their purchases to the register, and watch their smile of delight as we gesture toward the giant rolls of…
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We always see a resurgence of interest in the classics come holiday time. Hardcover copies of The Wind in the Willows and Now We Are Six tumble out of the store with renewed vigor, along withThe Sword in the Stone, Treasure Island, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (perhaps my favorite version is this one, a lovely small book with gilded page edges which used to have a silver-edged companion, Through the Looking-Glass), The Hobbit (which has about six handsome hardcover versions and I love them all for different reasons), Eloise, Uncle Wiggily’s Story Book, and on and on and on. Suddenly poetry sells again for both children and adults, especially (and unsurprisingly) Shel Silverstein. The Nutshell Library fills many a stocking, and Zlateh the Goat heads into Hanukkah homes. There are countless classic favorites that find new life at the holidays—and yet there are two big holes in the list, books I’d love to be able to offer my customers, but can’t. Continue reading →