Two lovely boys, ages seven and ten, came to the store yesterday and I wanted to clone them. They were enthusiastic readers and honestly, just some of the sweetest kids I’d had the pleasure of meeting.
Sadly, these kids were just visiting Vermont on their school break. They were with their family who make it a point to go from independent bookstore to independent bookstore while on vacation. They were the second family this week who were touring stores in New England. These families always make my day. Sloan, the teenage boy from Monday, is what these two little guys will grow up to be. Pure, happy book-lovers who could easily spend hours in a bookstore. Their is a patience that these kids have in bookstore that is so pleasant to see.
What charmed me the most about Johnny and David yesterday were their comments to their parents. I overheard several times from each of them, “I want to live here and read all the books!” When a ten-year-old states that he wants to live at the bookstore, you know you’ve done something right.
Over the years we’ve had many children say they want to live at the store. Readers of all ages are comforted by the possibility of being surrounded by books. But one young reader took her need to be with books farther than we had ever considered. When we were in an our old store, a very serious eight-year-old told us she wanted to be buried under the store in the crawl space.
Personally, I just want folks of all ages to feel comfortable in the store, in whatever way makes them happy, even if it’s a scary crawl space.
Several years ago a family came in to shop, and the son was sitting on the floor in the kids’ section. He was engrossed in his book, and the family left without him (shades of “Home Alone”). Several minutes later, they cantered back into the store in a panic and retrieved the son, who was so deep into his book that he hadn’t noticed anything amiss and was wondering what all the fuss was about. They returned a couple hours later to continue their shopping, and guess what happened again?
Josie–
Imagine our surprise to see our visit to your store in PW this morning! Gasp! Our boys are famous!
It was our great pleasure to spend some time with you yesterday at THE PIG, as our family calls it. My boys do indeed love reading, and I credit wonderful independent bookstores like yours with much of their passion. Your stock for children is deep and thoughtful. Your knowledge of titles, from board books and picture books for my Florida nephews through YA titles for my older son, ensures that the right book ends up in a child’s hand.
Finding titles for my boys can be a challenge. They read voraciously and have been through most of the titles that most big chains will recommend. I trust booksellers to guide them off the beaten path, so that we can continue to fuel the reading machine.
You’ll be happy to know that the book on swords chosen by one child and the drawing pad chosen by the other were put through their paces in the car as we drove back to VA. Tin Tin and the Ranger’s Apprentice helped make the hours in the car a pleasure. Snowflake Bentley and Where Does Joe Go? are headed to Florida at the end of the month.
Thanks again, and see you next time we’re in VT.
As a young girl (and truthfully, even as an adult!), I wouldn’t have minded being left behind in a bookstore for a few hours while the rest of the family went shopping for other (far less interesting!) things!
Bookstores were and still are my very favorite places to hang out!