When Dav Pilkey came to the bookstore in October, he gave over $1,000 in Flying Pig gift cards to kids who correctly answered Captain Underpants trivia questions. The cards ranged from $25 to $250 and there were seven questions asked. One young man, Carter, won the $200 gift certificate and he was ecstatic. Beaming, he leaped up to get the gift card, not knowing how much it was for. When he opened it and saw it was for $200 his smile was extraordinarily bright and almost made me tear up at his genuine joy.  Continue reading →

Our local Public Radio station, VPR, does a holiday book show every year. This year, Liza Bernard of the Norwich Bookstore and I were the guests. This holiday round-up happens on the show Vermont Edition which is hosted by Jane Lindholm. The show airs live at noon and then repeats at 7 pm. We sit and talk about our favorite books for the season for kids and adults and listeners call in with their picks as well. I love being invited on this show for several reasons. Continue reading →

It is time. Time, I mean, to announce the Seventh Annual DDG Stocking Stuffer of the Year Awards! The superb quality of the contenders demanded a worthy judge, one who could assess the degree of fun with a deep understanding of stocking stuffer qualities. Fortunately, a past winner of The Stocking Stuffer of the Year Award, The Whirl-O, agreed to do this year’s judging.
Kenny: As noted earlier,  you returned to retail life after disappearing five years ago. It is so great to have you in the store again.
Whirl-O: Thanks, Kenny. It’s wonderful to be back. I really appreciate the delicate challenge you’ve given me of assessing the merits of my new shelf mates. Justice is not dispensed by those who stand still.  Let us get things spinning, shall we?
Continue reading →

We booksellers LOVE the holiday season, especially in these early days of the rush, when our stores are brimming with customers and no one is seriously stressed out yet. We love these days because people want the beautiful books, the hardcovers and art books and decadent thick tomes with gilt-edged pages and fancy cookbooks (hello, Nopi) and other delicious gift-worthy gorgeous heavy satiny-in-the-hand BOOKS.
Continue reading →