For the love of children’s bookshops (and their staff)

It’s etched in my memory. It's a core memory. The time my grandparents took me to a children’s bookshop on the Singel in Amsterdam to buy a book. I could tell the lady who worked there exactly what I liked in books and stories and she could pick out a book for me out of the hundreds of options that were there. The shop is not there anymore I believe.

Now, I take my two boys to Kiekeboek in Haarlem. With equally wonderful staff. Once, they gave a book to my oldest who was so encapsulated by it he couldn’t put it down for the night. To discover books, and own a couple of your very own, that inspire or console or whisk you away is a wonderous experience which I wish on every child. So this is my hurray to the physical bookstores, the children’s bookstores in particular, and the wonderful staff they usually have.

PS1: The book that kept my oldest up (Dutch post): De Midzomernachtbende - David Walliams. English site by the writer himself.

PS2: The books that my youngest currently loves: Land of Stories - Chris Colfer