Hello and welcome to our first blog post for the Yummy Mummy Club! We are parents of a beautiful two-year old daughter and the owners of an independent children's bookstore in Victoria BC called Tall Tales Books. In this blog, we will be sharing our stories and experiences with the balancing act that is our lives as booksellers, parents, and small business owners.
One of the most common questions about our business that we get asked since opening the doors in late August 2009 is "why did you decide to open a children's bookstore?" (probably second only to the inevitable "is this store new?" no matter how long we've been open *grumble*).
As any small business owner can attest, you don't embark on this type of venture to take it easy or become wealthy. We did it because it was our dream to live and breathe children's literature. We've loved books all our lives and when our daughter was born, reading to her in her infancy was what spurred us on to make our dream a reality.
Many people have criticized us for opening our store in such a difficult economic climate and at a time where technology is competing with "good 'ol fashioned book reading". In many ways they are right. It's been an unbelievable struggle on a daily basis and is never anything but an uphill battle. But it's a battle that we think is worthwhile. Some people might call us foolish (we like to think of ourselves as brave) and to them, we would like to share this story:
A few months ago, a mother and her two children, a boy about five and a girl about three, came into the store to look around. The mother sat on the window ledge near the entrance and her two kids pulled up a couple of the child-sized stools that we have in the store. There the three of them sat huddled together as the mother read Jeremy Tankard's "Grumpy Bird". It was only a few pages in before all three of them were giggling uncontrollably at the charming story about a bird in a bad mood who wants nothing to do with his oblivious, but well-meaning friends. This giggling lasted non-stop throughout the story and even continued when it was over.
That's it, right there. That's what it's all about for us. The love of books by young and old and that undeniable magic that comes from reading together. It's what we experience every day with our daughter and what we hoped to help promote and foster in the community as well. Not a day goes by where we don't have a "grown-up" coming into the store to find a copy of a treasured book from their childhood or to relate a story about reading with their family. Show us someone who doesn't think that books make a lifelong impression, I will show you a person who wasn't read to as a child.
We hope that by sharing our experiences and stories in this blog. that we are able to entertain, inspire, and encourage you and your family as you read together and enjoy the incredible world of children's literature.
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