Several weeks ago, a new kid-friendly bookstore opened on the shores of Green Lake. About a block over from Rosita's Mexican Grill's [0] fine handmade tortillas, Mockingbird Books [0] dishes up little lit hits -- and marshmallow launchers.
Wha? You read that right. The 1,700-square-foot Mockingbird Books doesn't restrict the shelves to classic tomes; but staff carefully stocks comics, Klutz books and games (like the marshmallow-shooting contraption that Mockingbird can't keep in stock), board books and even a few titles for mom and dad. Of course, they also carry your favorite Rowling or Rylant.
And oh yes, the most-necessary train table, with four bins of tracks and trains ready to go. There's a coffee window with joe-to-go available from 7 a.m., plus sandwiches, snacks and salads. It's like a little tiny corner of Seattle sublime.
Soon, Mockingbird will host author readings, movie nights and more. For now, the incredibly knowledgable manager Geeta Teredesai presents a storytime, Monday through Saturday at 11 a.m.
After All For Kids Books & Music [0] closes in early August (note: AFK has a 15% off sale going on right now), Mockingbird will fill a void in the kid-lit community. After all, in 2007 Minneapolis surged past Seattle [1] as the most literate city in America. If Mockingbird can get enough kids hooked on reading, we'll reclaim our title at the annual reading smackdown. Mwa-ha-ha, Minneapolis!
Contact Lora at littlekidsbigcity@nwsource.com; See previous entries at http://littlekidsbigcity.com.
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