Mockingbird Books hits all the right notes: Green Lake's new bookstore for kids
By Lora Shinn
NWsource families columnist
Lora Shinn
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RSS for Little Kids, Big CitySeveral weeks ago, a new kid-friendly bookstore opened on the shores of Green Lake. About a block over from Rosita's Mexican Grill's fine handmade tortillas, Mockingbird Books 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 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 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.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
Comments
Post a commentWonderful bookstore for kids and their adults! Helpful, friendly and knowledgeable staff. There is a place for kids to play and color while parents get a coffee! How great is that? Highly recommended!
I'm so grateful to have a kids bookstore in walking distance, particularly one as wonderful as this. We've been weekly since we discovered it, and I've appreciated the staff everytime. My son loves the story time and the playarea. I'm sure we'll be back often for gifts and for ourselves.
Don't forget Alphabet Soup in Wallingford (45th & Stone). It's a great kids bookstore with new, used, and vintage selections. There's even a small grown ups section!
We are so lucky to have so many great options for children! Our favorite is Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, whose kids' section is virtually a separate store inside a much larger general-interest bookstore (inside a much larger Commons and restaurant area!) We started going to the storytimes on Fridays at 10, then went to meet authors (Graeme Base, Jamie Lee Curtis, Eoin Colfer and more). It's a family-friendly environment that we all enjoy.
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