Two years ago, at a middle school community read event featuring the husband-and-wife author team, Pamela and Jon Voelkel, a passionate writer in the 7th grade named Kayla took Pam up on her invitation to stay in touch. The two of them corresponded steadily since the event, and then mysteriously stopped a few months ago. Then Pamela received an email from Kayla on a topic other than writing. Here’s Pamela:
“In a little town in Maine, there’s a teenage author whose world is falling apart. Her name is Kayla and I first met her a couple of years ago on an author visit to her middle school. She asked if I’d look at her work and that’s what I’ve done ever since. She’s at high school now, but she’s still as passionate as ever about her writing (mostly historical fantasy with strong female characters). Kayla writes and writes and writes – sometimes whole books! – and sends them to me for critiques. I hadn’t heard from her for a while and then I got the saddest email a few weeks ago, apologizing for her lack of output and explaining that her mother had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. This will be a terrible year for Kayla.
One day, she’ll be a famous author. But right now, she’s out of words. Which is why I think she needs a group hug from her fellow authors and booklovers. We can’t rewrite Kayla’s story, but maybe we can give her strength for what she has to face. Her school guidance counselor says that such a gesture would be greatly appreciated by Kayla’s family.
That is from a letter Pamela is sending out today to other authors and to booksellers, encouraging them to send out notes of support to Kayla. Pamela contacted me to help with the project. She shared with me that…
“My own mother died when I was a bit older than Kayla. It felt like it should have been headline news, but the world just kept on turning. I want to show Kayla that she’s in the hearts of people she doesn’t even know. She’s a writer and that means her fellow writers and booklovers will always be there for her – booksellers, librarians, editors, publishers, readers, everyone. It’s the most supportive community I’ve ever encountered and Kayla needs to feel the love right now.”
Kayla’s family thinks this would be a wonderful and supportive idea. Anyone interested in sending Kayla a note of support should do the following. (This is from Pamela’s letter; I’m not going third person on you.)
“Cards, letters, signed books, messages of support should be mailed to Kayla via her local bookseller, Kenny Brechner at DDG Booksellers in Maine. Or you can email your message to kenny@ddgbooks.com, putting “For Kayla” in subject line.  (Of course, all correspondence will be checked by Kayla’s school guidance counselor before it’s passed on to Kayla and her family.)
For letters, please put Kayla’s envelope, unsealed, in an outer envelope addressed to:
Kayla
c/o Kenny Brechner
DDG Booksellers
193 Broadway
Farmington, ME 04938
If you can spread the word on social media, please use #grouphugforkayla”
A full copy of Pamela’s letter to authors is here, Thanks everyone!

Counterintuitive as it may seem, most people don’t go into bookselling for the “selling” piece of it. As a whole, we are avid readers, librarians at heart who love to be around books and recommend them to people, and would rather just give them away if we could. The “selling” part is a necessary, but not beloved, aspect of the job, involving enough craziness (plus frustration, plus absurdity) in the details of ordering, receiving, selling, and returning books to drive us to the outermost edges of our patience. And occasionally, I’m sorry to report, we will get a real pip of a customer—someone who forgets that the person on the other side of the counter is a human being. That’s when our brains get busy and we start wondering how close we are to saying or doing something completely outrageous at the store.
Some of our temptations are of the amused, mischievous variety. I am often tempted to pretend I’ve never heard of a very famous series that a customer is asking for. “The Magic Tree House?” I want to say with a look of thoughtful puzzlement. “Not ringing a bell.” Or, “Percy Jackson series?” Shaking my head, blank expression. “Who’s the author?” I actually have done this now and again—usually only with Harry Potter, because I know the customer will get the joke right away.
Sometimes my temptations are creative. I have to wrestle myself to the ground not to do things like rearrange all of adult fiction by color. Or size. Or to group books by theme instead of alpha by author, so the shelves would be divided into sections like: Books That Make Your Heart Happy. Books That Make You Cry, But in a Good Way. Books with Worlds You Don’t Ever Want to Leave. Books That Teach You Fascinating Things. Books That Make You Laugh on Every Page. Fabulous Books with Terrible Covers. Brilliant Gems You’ve Never Heard Of. And so on. I remind myself that this is what displays are for; I don’t need to revamp the entire store.
We did create a Mystery Mystery section on April Fool’s Day:

The worst temptation is the one when we’ve just had it with retail for the moment. Maybe we’ve dealt with people using the store as a showroom to make online purchases. Plus some kids are using picture books as skateboards while their oblivious parent reads a book in a section nearby. And an entitled customer is snapping his fingers at us for his change while another blames us for the gift card she lost. At those times, I can feel myself nearing the danger zone, which means that the very next person who is intolerably rude or treats the books, store, or my staff with disrespect is in danger of hearing out loud what I am chanting in my head. “Get. Out. Get out get out get out!” Happily, it’s never gotten to that point. Yet.
Josie and I used to have a smiley-face-on-a-stick that came with some book back when we first opened the store. We kept it for years, and whenever something drove us absolutely bonkers at the store, one of us would go behind the counter and—unseen by anyone else—raise it up to our face. It made whoever was on the front lines of the bad moment laugh and remember that, as ridiculous as retail can be, it’s still a pretty great job to be a bookseller.
Fellow booksellers, teachers, and librarians—what are your secret temptations?

Birthday parties are a gold mine for children’s bookstores. Every Saturday morning (and some Friday afternoons if folks are planning ahead) we are usually helping families pick out books for birthday parties. As we help folks find the right gift, I couldn’t help but notice there’s been a shift in the birthday party standards. There are always go-to books for many families. These are the books they love to share with friends: the books that make their kids giggle, the books that families feel good about giving. These are the new classics and I’ve noticed that there are some books that have firmly established themselves as books families want to give in hardcover as treasured presents. The following is a list (in no particular order) of books that are new go-to books for birthdays.
The first book is Flora and Ulysses. Kate DiCamillo knows how to speak to kids and parents alike. One mom came in for the hardcover and said, ” I love everything about this book. And how did she come up with all those ideas?”
Another book for the middle grade set that folks just love to give are anything in the TumTum and Nutmeg series. These lovable stories about mice and their world within our world are great fun for any animal-loving child.
Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie books for early readers are outpacing almost all other early readers for gifts by a margin of two to one. Kids just love these and they love sharing them with their friends. The Mercy Watson books are also early reader favorites.
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library is a massive kid favorite to give to other kids. They love the humor of it and the sense of adventure.
Any book by Wendy Maas in the 11 Birthdays series is a winner. Kids just love these and they have a broad appeal to many readers.
In the picture book world there is less of a shift away from the old standards. Blueberries for Sal, Where the Wild Things Are, and Make Way for Ducklings still tend to be the lion’s share of what gets gift-wrapped for parties or baby showers. Though I have noticed that The Day the Crayons Quit  is rapidly working its way up the list and is a book we sell for parties a fair amount.
Graphic novels are slowly getting on the list of must-haves for birthdays, and Smile is by far the one we sell the most of to kids to give to other kids.
Readers, what books would add to this list of modern classics that you feel need to be gifted into a child’s library?
 
 

Kids these days are growing up, at least superficially, very fast. Younger and younger children want older and older books, or at least think they do. I ascribe this to media exposure, social media saturation, and our lovely culture of “cool” that makes every child anxious about being called babyish.
A teacher wrote to a mutual friend, looking for books for 5th to 7th graders that feel “sophisticated and savvy” but that are still appropriate for her middle-grade readers. She says she is “always on the lookout for smart, teen-y books that are stealthy in their middle gradesness. Some examples of the books we’re always looking for more of… Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart, When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds, Paper Things by Jennifer Richards Jacobson and, for older readers, The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu.”
What books do you give to a fifth-grade girl with an eye for YA romance? How about a sixth-grade boy who thinks he can handle all the toughness or violence in the world? The teacher’s examples are all realistic fiction, so that’s where I started.
I immediately thought of Shug by Jenny Han, Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen, After Eli by Rebecca Rupp, the books by Phoebe Stone (The Boy on Cinnamon Street, Deep Down Popular, Romeo Blue, The Romeo and Juliet Code), Alabama Moon by Watt Key, Hound Dog True by Linda Urban, Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner, I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora, The 10 P.M. Question by Kate De Goldi, Abduction by Rodman Philbrick, Addie on the Inside by James Howe.
Given the titles the teacher mentioned, I suspect some of my recommendations are still too young-feeling (i.e., have covers that telegraph MG) for what she’s looking for.
It’s tempting to rail against popular culture and insist on keeping MG kids paired with MG books, but that’s not how reading really works. My own impulse is to steer kids toward the books meant for their ages, the ones I do believe will best meet them where they are, whether or not they agree with me. But that would be hypocritical. I read books waaaay beyond my age, interest level, and appropriateness from an early age, and I managed to grow up without becoming jaded. I can’t think of a book that compelled me to behave differently from my innate self’s natural trajectory or to take risks I otherwise wouldn’t have. I think gaining the trust of young readers by listening to what they want and trying to meet that wish respectfully will earn us the trust to recommend a broader ranger of great MG (and young YA) books than they might discover on their own.
What would you recommend for these young readers who want something older, books that will truly resonate with them given their younger age?

Large-scale popularity in a genre doesn’t necessarily translate to imparting the life skills it depicts to its readers.  The widespread enjoyment of post-apocalyptic novels doesn’t mean that its readers are any better prepared to experience an apocalyptic event than people who read mysteries, for example. The enormous popularity of middle grade illustrated diary series, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Dork Diaries, is different in this regard.
We ran a diary writing contest which has just concluded. With a sample size of over 100 entries to consider, one thing was clear from the results. Kids have not only been consuming popular illustrated diaries, they have been learning how to express themselves in that genre as well. See for yourself!

 

First of all here is one of our three Grand Prize Winners, Amelia, with her winning entry and her prize, a signed copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

 

Here is Amelia’s terrific entry. Her delighted parents confirmed that 14 out of 16 Thanksgiving dinner attendees had gotten sick from the meal!

 Our second Grand Prize entry has it all!

Our third Grand Prize Winner, Ben, is much younger than the other two winners. We were as impressed as we were charmed by the effectiveness with which he integrated the illustration and the text to paint a vivid scene.

This runner-up entry helps clarify how kids feel about the Dork Diaries books.

Many parents, educators, and booksellers wonder how much illustrated diaries are developing kids as readers in general. We may not have answered that question but I think it is obvious that illustrated diaries are teaching kids to translate what they are reading into a dynamic form of self-expression. Many thanks to our sponsors at Simon and Schuster, the teachers who worked with us to engage kids in the contest, and of course all the kids who participated!

Let’s be honest, no one goes into owning an independent bookstore to get rich or famous. We do it because we love books and want to share our love of them with other people. Independent bookstores are quirkily curated places where book lovers can rejoice and folks new to reading can discover treasures. This is especially true with a children’s bookstore. New readers and their families can sit for long hours reading together and sharing. Older children can get lost in chapter books, middle grade and young adult books. It’s not just about the books, it’s about making connections, deep connections, with people.
Often these connections are not shared with store owners. Not through lack of thought but through the busyness of life. Every once in a while a customer takes a moment to say thank you and give us a window into what our store has meant to their family. This is why we do this. Not for the letters but because we know that this is happening for many, many families. But it is so lovely when someone takes the time to write.
Yesterday, we received an email from a long-time customer that she is allowing me to share here. First a little background. Sandy and her two daughters started shopping at the store when we first opened, almost 19 years ago. Martha is the older sister and Donna the younger one. Donna has just graduated from college! As is the way with children, once they hit high school, they don’t read for pleasure as often; they would still stop by, just not as much. Then college takes them away. So, getting this letter was especially heartwarming:
“I saw Josie recently and invited her to stop by at Donna’s graduation party. I was serious!! We love you both and you have been such important parts of my children’s lives (and mine)! it is at our house, Saturday 4:30 to 9. It is pretty casual. If you do not make it, pardon my sentimentality but please know that I am forever grateful that you opened your remarkable store in Charlotte in time to teach me how to read and share books with my kids!! It does take a village – especially in my case – and you were important parts of our village! You really introduced me to the world of children’s literature. I am an avid reader but neither of my kids were. Martha was forced to read and had to complete a reading log. Reading is such a source of pleasure for me, I hated the idea of forcing this. So I just read to her and Donna. It ended up being this wonderful part of my life with them. Through you two we read all of the classics (and some new classics). I remember meeting Katherine Paterson in the tent behind the store. I remember getting a British version of Harry Potter. And now they both love to read! So thanks. xo”
I had no idea the impact we had on this family. That we had some small part in creating two life-long readers is perhaps one of the loveliest things I’ve ever heard. This is why people open bookstores. This is why we put up with challenges from Amazon and big box stores. It’s all about connections and the very massive ripple effect books can have on someone’s life. Honestly, only an independent bookstore can do this.
So, dear readers, if you have been moved by your local store, let them know and make their day.
 

He arrived in a trunk, a very large trunk. On Saturday there were about 20 little ones eagerly awaiting his arrival. These Curious George fans did not know that Curious George wasn’t real, they really believed him to be a living thing. Usually, there are one or two small kids who find the reality of a six-foot high monkey to be utterly terrifying, but luckily we were spared that this time. Only one older kid tried to spoil the surprise and shouted, “He’s just a guy in a costume.”
Well actually, he, on this day, was a woman. A very good friend of the store eagerly volunteered to be George for us. She braved the body pod, the furred feet and the round head fabric head that was so big and heavy, at one point she was in peril of toppling over on her chine when she knelt down to high-five shy kids who had their little hands up. Here’s the thing with character events: I always forget how much kids love these. The adrenaline was palpable when I announced that George would be joining us. These kids, especially the youngest in the bunch, truly believe that George is real and their friend, so to be able to meet him was almost more than some could bear. Children were literally wriggling with joy and flapping in excitement as George made his way down the aisle to the picture book section where the kids were waiting.
This event was brought to us by the Children’s Book Council partnering with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on an “Inspire Curiosity Event with Curious George” The beauty of this event was the support we got. The costume was arranged for us and, best of all, the shipping was taken care of by HMH. Because the costumes are so large, the trunk they come in requires special freight which costs upwards of $140. So, to save that much was wonderful. These savings allowed us to get juice boxes (something I always do at events for kids because they cut down on messy spills) and little cupcakes. The event kit for the event was full of wonderful things we could copy and give to the kids, as well as enough sticker sheets (with some glow in the dark stickers!) to give to all the children.
The key to successful character events, other than promotion, is to give the person in the costume as many breaks as possible so they don’t expire from heat and a lack of air. Really, no one can last more than 20 minutes in the costume and that makes it just about the right amount of time for all the kids to hug or high-five George or get their picture taken with him and then do a craft activity independently from George. Having an escort to guide him is also very helpful. Moving in these costumes isn’t easy, but our George was great, dancing around and then standing outside the store waving at passing cars. This might have been the funniest part, as cars packed with teenagers were waving and smiling, and truckers were blowing their horns. There was something so lovely about adults just smiling and being utterly surprised and delighted.
Finally, the real joy of an author-less event is not worrying about having enough books (we had a good cache of Curious George books) or if attendance will be sparse. Of course, you always want to have a packed event, but the pressure of not having to worry about disappointing a real person does make the event more enjoyable. In the end I think really, seeing 25 kids hugging George was worth it, and even our friend, sweltering in pounds of fabric, agreed.
 

It is something that I take for granted every day – the smell of books. I live with the smell and I love it. All books, especially new books, have a wonderful smell. Customers, children in particular, often exclaim within in minutes of entering, “Oh, I love the smell of books.” There is so much loveliness in that statement.
I was reminded of the tactile joy of books when a 10-year-old girl came in earlier this week. She was with her father and younger brother and quickly went to the middle grade section. After a few minutes I went to see if she needed any help. She smiled up at me and said that she was looking for “… a good story.” I started talking about a few books. Unlike some kids who are listening to a book talk and won’t touch the book, as if it’s on fire, Emma held the book. She sniffed each one as I spoke.
Her bright eyes crinkled in a smile when I gave her Where the Mountains Meet the Moon and told her to feel the paper. She felt it (if you don’t know the book, the paper is heavier weight and there are gorgeous color plates for all the chapters) and just beamed. Here was a book lover in the making. She cared about the quality of the paper and knew the difference. Yes, she loved the stories and truly enjoyed reading. But she’s reading on a tactile and olfactory level as well and that just heightens the pleasure of holding a book in your hands.
I see customers sneak sniffs of books all the time. Just as Emma did. The smell of books varies. Generally, mass market books don’t smell as good as hardcovers or at least paperbacks with a deckled edge that make it look cut by hand. Some books smell like linen, others smell like a chest discovered in the attic, full of secrets. And each is unique to the reader. All book lovers can talk (or write) for shockingly long times about what the smell of books means to them. The reason we do this is we are comforted just holding a book. I was thinking about other daily objects that I use that give me the same feeling. Nothing even came close.
So, go treat yourself to a new book this weekend. One that smells just right.
 
 
 

Now I’m not saying that Spot the Difference puzzles aren’t an empty exercise taken by themselves. For example, neither you nor the world in general will be markedly better off if you were to succeed in finding all 21 differences in the puzzle below.
Nonetheless, like most puzzles that have a sneaky sort of compulsion to them, spotting differences  represents an exercise which has real benefit in bookstore event management. Whenever I try a new event at the store I always step back and look at it to see what made it different from other events, because it is in spotting the differences that real value is found.
Take Children’s Book Week for example – this very week, that is. We are participating this year for the first time, putting on a full day of programming on Saturday, and A Diary Writing Contest with a prize party tonight. I’ve become a fan of Children’s Book Week and when I asked myself what made preparing programming for this event different from previous events, the answer was easy to spot, and that was the palpable sense of support by publishers to work together to make the event a success.
I always feel that Dumas’s Musketeers had it right, the all for one and one for all motif really is gestalt. For rural stores like ours, well outside standard author tour routes, self-sufficiency is often the order of the day.  Since the Children’s Book Council, which runs Children’s Book Week, is a trade organization of publishers whose purpose is to support children’s book outreach, the commitment to provide resources for Children’s Book Week  goes beyond what I usually have to work with, providing me with more of a smorgasbord than a boxed lunch. And it really helps.
For example we are running a Diary Writing Contest and Simon & Schuster provided us with some great Dork Diaries swag to give away as prizes. A complimentary character costume rental from Random House put story hour on steroids. We also had great support from Macmillan, who provided us with Origami Envelope folding sheets to go with Megan Frazer Blakemore’s appearance. This kind of support made our own original elements come to life.
Our theme is interactivity; I wanted every element of the day’s programs, including the author appearances, to have interactive elements to them, so that the whole event stresses activity and connections. For example, to go with S.E. Grove’s appearance I designed An Age of Verity or Not Quiz.  I also looked to climb the ladder in terms of age level.
Here is what we have planned for Saturday.
10:00 – 10:30 Story time with The Poky Little Puppy
Yes he’s going to be here himself! On time!
10:30 – 11:30 Elephant and Piggie Hour: Games and Activities with Betsy Turcotte
12:00-1:00 Experience The Water Castle, Help The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill, Solve The Friendship Riddle
With special guest Megan Frazer Blakemore
1:00-3:00 The Great Disruption Comes to Farmington!
With special guest S.E. Grove, author of The Glass Sentence
Take The Age of Verity or Not Challenge – try your hand at The Map Challenge
I’d love to hear what plans your store has! 

I was so sad that I wasn’t able to attend the ABC Children’s Institute this year, especially because it featured several panels and discussions about diversity in the children’s book world. And I’m monumentally sad that I missed hearing live and in person the beautiful, powerful closing keynote that author Jewell Parker Rhodes delivered on the true meaning of diversity in our field, the change we need to be striving for wholeheartedly and with purpose. But I am thrilled that PW reproduced the speech in its entirety for all of us to read. I was moved to tears by it, as were the audience members, who also showed their appreciation with a standing ovation.
Here is the link to Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Children’s Institute keynote speech. (I will also include the spelled-out link here: http://pwne.ws/1bHkkQE. Debbie Reese alerted me to the fact that vision-impaired folks listening to articles cannot access links that aren’t spelled out. This is obvious but hadn’t ever occurred to me, so thanks, Debbie!)
Ms. Rhodes is an exceptional storyteller, which enables her to tackle a topic that can almost lose its urgency under a burden of ‘isms’ and ‘shoulds’ and make it personal, universal, funny, heartwrenching, and heartwarming.  I’m SO tempted to quote from it here, but that would cheat the experience of letting it unfold for you the way she told it.
Thank you, Jewell Parker Rhodes! Even though I wasn’t there to hear your warm, passionate words, I give you a standing ovation from my chair, too.
ShelfTalker readers, if you read the speech, please consider sharing your thoughts and/or appreciation (just a line or two is fine) in the comments here. I’d love for Ms. Rhodes to see how far the impact of her words travels!