In November 2010, suspense writer and mother Jenny Milchman wrote a blog post about what how if she ever got famous she would like to start a bookstore day for kids. “We need to show our children the pleasure, not just of a story, or even of a book, but of a bookSTORE. A place of half-hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered. Where you pluck things off shelves that are richer than jewels. Scheherazade’s lair,” she wrote. Within a month, Milchman’s idea for Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day had gone viral and 80 bookstores around the country participated last December.
This Saturday marks the second annual kids’ bookstore day and now more than 250 bookstores in 45 states, Canada, England, and Australia are participating. Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., where Milchman coordinates the Writing Matters program, is planning a special winter-themed storytime and cookie-decorating demonstration from the Little Daisy bakery. Other stores like Colgate Bookstore in Ithaca, N.Y., are discounting all children’s books, teen books, and toys in honor of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. The store is also planning door prizes, giveaways, and refreshments.
