Episode 31: Shop Talk: The Kids' Room

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers, the dedicated Kids' Room staff talks about their love of children's books and everything the store offers to the Montclair community.

Aubrey Cece is the Kids’ Room manager, children’s book and gift buyer, and children’s author event planner. She’s a born creative with the love of everything books and art. Her favorite color is lime green and her creative touch shows all throughout the store. You’ll almost never see her without a pair of Converse on her feet and when you talk to her she’ll welcome you into a story about her family while she finds the perfect book for you and your child. She is passionate about children’s mental health and LGBTQ+ issues. 

Caroline Shurtleff is the school event coordinator and a bookseller in The Kids’ Room at Watchung Booksellers. She graduated from Baylor University with a degree in English Literature. Caroline is a poetry editor at MAYDAY online magazine. Additionally, she writes and researches the show notes for the Watchung Bookseller Podcast and is a co-host of the Watchung Bookseller Poetry series. Caroline grew up in the Dallas- Forth Worth metroplex in Texas, and now lives in New Jersey. 

Evelyn Moulton is a children’s bookseller and the social media manager at Watchung Booksellers. She is a writer with a degree in English and Creative Writing from Montclair State University. Evelyn also handles the art and design and social media for the Watchung Booksellers Podcast and co-hosted the Watchung Bookseller Poetry Series. Evelyn grew up at the beach in Cape May, New Jersey, but always gets a sunburn. Evelyn lives in New Jersey with her partner and her cat, who both read everything she writes.

Susie Sonneborn is a native Chicagoan, educator, and bookseller with a passion for literacy and the arts. She holds a master's degree in education and social policy and has almost 20 years experience as a teacher and curriculum development specialist, integrating the arts into the core curriculum. She finds particular joy helping children develop their expressive voices and tap into their creative flow through improvisation and the arts. When Susie is not coordinating school book fairs or helping customers find their "just right"  books, you can find her baking a tiny bit obsessively, enjoying nature with a big hat on, checking out cool art and performances or just hanging out with her husband and three remarkable and delightful sons. It's rumored that Marcel Marceau and Second City's Tim Kazarinsky shaped most of Susie's hopes and dreams. 

Books:
A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available here.

Register for Upcoming Events.

The Watchung Booksellers Podcast is produced by Kathryn Counsell and Marni Jessup and is recorded at Silver Stream Studio in Montclair, NJ.

The show is edited by Kathryn Counsell and Bree Testa. Special thanks to Timmy Kellenyi and Derek Mattheiss.

Original music is composed and performed by Violet Mujica.

Art & design and social media by Evelyn Moulton. Research and show notes by Caroline Shurtleff.

Thanks to all the staff at Watchung Booksellers and The Kids’ Room!

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Transcript

Kathryn: Hi. Welcome back to the Watchung Booksellers podcast, where we bring you conversations from our bookstore's rich community of book professionals who talk about what they do for their love of books.

Kathryn: If you are new to our podcast, thanks for joining us. I'm Kathryn. I'm here with my co producer, Marni. Hey, Marni. Hello. And today, we are wrapping up our long and wonderful first season with some bookselling experts, our fabulous Kids Room staff.

Marni: Yep, and we are 31 episodes into the Watchung Booksellers podcast, and we've explored so many topics about books, genres, promotion, editing, how to get published, and we are continually amazed with the talent in this community.

Marni: But as we head into the holiday season, we thought it would be a good time to pause and recharge before we kick off another season in 2025. 

Kathryn: That's right. And, , if you have not had a chance to listen to Any of the previous 30 episodes, we encourage you to go back and catch any of those episodes you might have missed.

Kathryn: , and we may even add a bonus episode or two before we start Season 2. So, keep listening and keep an eye out for us. Meanwhile, , let's talk books. Marni, what are you reading these days? 

Marni: , I'm just getting ready, , to meet with the, , New York Times Best 100 Books of the 21st Century Book Club. We are meeting on Monday, December 2nd and we'd love to have you if you're a fast reader. You have a whole week to read it. And, uh, you can sign up on our website. We'd love to have you. How about you, Kathryn? 

Kathryn: I'm actually reading a galley, , for a book that's coming out in April.

Kathryn: It's called Audition by Katie Kitamura. And, it's about a middle aged actress and a man shows up and says that he is her son, um, and somehow this relationship ensues. So 

Kathryn: it's really interesting. , quick read. And then I'm also just making a list of all the books that I want for Christmas. , , even though I work in a bookstore, I still love to get books given to me, but speaking of Christmas , , today we have experts who can help guide you through your holiday shopping, especially if you are shopping for kids or young adults. . Aubrey, Caroline, Evelyn, and Susie are our dedicated kids room staff, and they're here to talk not just about kids books, but all the things we do in the kids room to make it such a fantastic extension of Watchung Booksellers and a great addition to the Montclair community.

Marni: Yeah, so let me introduce, who they are. Aubrey Cheche, who was with us way back in Episode 4, is the Kids Room Manager, children's book writer, And gift buyer and children's author event planner.

Marni: She was born a creative with a love of everything, books and art. Her favorite color is lime green and her creative touch shows all throughout the store. You'll almost never see her without a pair of Converse on her feet. And when you talk to her, she'll welcome you into a story about her family while she finds the perfect book for you and your child.

Marni: She's passionate about children's mental health and LGBTQ plus issues. 

Kathryn: Next we have Caroline Shurtleff. Caroline is the school event coordinator and a bookseller in the kids room . She graduated from Baylor University with a degree in English Literature. Caroline is a poetry editor at Mayday Online Magazine.

Kathryn: Additionally, she writes and researches the show notes for the Watchung Booksellers podcast and is a co host of the Watchung Booksellers Poetry Series. Caroline grew up in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex in Texas and now lives in New Jersey. 

Marni: And Evelyn Moulton is a children's bookseller and the social media manager at Watchung Booksellers.

Marni: She is a writer with a degree in English and creative writing from Montclair State University. Evelyn also handles the art and design and social media for the Watchung Booksellers podcast and co hosted the Watchung Bookseller poetry series. Evelyn grew up at the beach in Cape May, New Jersey, but always gets a sunburn.

Marni: Evelyn lives in New Jersey with her partner and her cat, who both read everything she writes. 

Kathryn: One smart cat. And last but not least, we have Susie Sonneborn. Susie is a native Chicagoan, an educator, and bookseller with a passion for literacy and the arts. After several years in the field of arts management, she returned to school and earned a master's degree in education and social policy to pursue her passion for arts integrated education.

Kathryn: Suzy has almost 20 years experience as a teacher and curriculum development specialist, integrating the arts into the core curriculum. She finds joy helping children develop their expressive voices and tap into their creative flow through improvisation and the arts.

Kathryn: When Susie is not coordinating school book fairs or helping customers find their just right books, you can find her baking a tiny bit obsessively, enjoying nature with a big hat on, checking out cool art and performances, or just hanging out with her husband and three remarkable and delightful sons. It is rumored that Marcel Marceau and Second City's Tim Kazurinsky shaped most of Susie's hopes and dreams.

Marni: Enjoy the conversation and we'll be back after to fill you in on what's coming up in the store. 

Caroline: Hi, I'm Caroline. We're going to introduce ourselves first. I work at the kids room at Watchung Booksellers, and I coordinate all of the author visits to schools.

Susie: I'm Susie, and I was the last of us to come to the kids room. I came just in January of 24, I'm a former teacher. Grade four, and creative drama, and integrating the arts into the core curriculum. And so I am specializing in zero to four, basically. That's my sweet spot. Oh, and also school book fairs.

Aubrey: And I'm Aubrey. I am the kids room manager. And I also do gift ordering. 

Aubrey: And children's events. 

Aubrey: I'm Evelyn. I work at the Kids Store. I'm a children's bookseller. And I'm also the social media manager, as discussed two weeks ago on this podcast.

Caroline: It's important that we have a kid's store. What's cool about having a second location? Um, I think it's really fun that the kids have a space that everything in there was created intended for them that they can shop. on their own almost, explore like every facet of their reading journey in one place and we get to like shepherd that and that's really special to watch.

Susie: And one of the really neat things about the space is that, you know, our original store is just about three doors away and when the antique shop that had been in our space Maddy, our current owner, and her mother, Margo, who had been the owner up until this past year, they sort of saw this as a big opportunity to take our little cozy children's space that was in the back of the store and, like, expand it so it's like Eric Carle, you know, and then the caterpillar came out and spread its wings and it feels like a candy store of books.

Susie: It's the prettiest place. 

Aubrey: And it's super bright and fun and cheery and I had a lot of fun making the pictures all around and doing some of the creative work in the designs. Aubrey did so 

Susie: much to make it beautiful like it is, it is a destination. And the window displays are always 

Caroline: changing and like make the space really magical.

Aubrey: And right now I'm doing a thankful project that I hope more people will help us with. I do that every year. So look out for it. So this year we're writing what we're thankful for on leaves. And I'm going to make garlands out of it. Last year we did, um, hexagons and I made a paper quilt with them. 

Susie: Because she's a quilter among other things.

Aubrey: Well, I'm an artist, creator first, and then books came second. And now that's my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my. 

Evelyn: So I think we should also talk about another reason why we opened the kids room was not just for kids, but it opened it up for our adult event space. And it gave us a lot more room for really everything for the store, which has also been great. Really open concept in there.

Evelyn: Everything's on wheels. 

Susie: Still a lot of work in the morning, but it's amazing. We can seat a hundred. Tight, but we can't Close 

Evelyn: knit 100. 

Susie: Yes. 

Caroline: Okay. Um, and then we got to design a, like, unique programming schedule. So, we can start with Monday. Monday we have, , baby toddler story time. We had that today. Okay. It's 

Evelyn: a Monday. Hello. Which is always so fun. We usually have a lot of community volunteers, people from Montclair Speech Therapy right across the street, now also upstairs.

Evelyn: Come in, read to a bunch of babies. Bubbles. Bubbles. Songs. Clapping. Lots of fun. 

Aubrey: It's a fun day when you're in there on a Monday, yeah. At 11 o'clock. 

Susie: . And then on Sundays, often we have our author story time, right, Aubrey? 

Aubrey: So , I try to plan pretty much every Sunday, , an author or illustrator to come in, uh, and share a book with us.

Aubrey: , and 

Aubrey: Caroline and Evelyn have their small cult of middle readers. Oh, our book club. I was gonna, 

Caroline: well, we'll start with author visits first, then we can talk about the book club. Evelyn and I are often there on Sundays. Every weekend. Yes, 

Aubrey: I pass it. I do part of the work and you do the rest.

Aubrey: I hand it off. 

Caroline: It's a joint effort, um, but we get to witness all of the authors interacting with our store for the first time, which is always a hilarious endeavor. 

Evelyn: Yeah, a lot of our favorite people have come. A few months ago, Kat Min, when Shadow and Ghost came out, we were really excited for her to come visit.

Evelyn: And in the middle of her story time, something really great about being in an old building in Montclair is that when the wind blows, the power goes out. So, in the middle of reading her story, the power cut out. And, um, another local author, Jay Cooper, who illustrated Last Comics on Earth, also just happened to be in the store during story time.

Evelyn: So, um, yeah. And they did shadow puppets together for the kids. And then Katmin signed all of her books in the dark and ran home in the rain. But it was so fun. And everybody thought 

Susie: it was like on purpose. Yeah, well it worked 

Aubrey: out perfectly with the book. 

Caroline: And then, um, last year, we have to tell this story before I feel like I did that.

Caroline: Um, we have to tell this story because last year we were so excited around Halloween time, we were gonna have, um, the author of Addie and the Acrobats. Shawna Kagan, and which 

Evelyn: is the Destiny's Child of picture books. 

Caroline: Oh, absolutely, because it's about three acrobats and one of them gets more famous than the others.

Caroline: She Beyonce's and it's about friendship and Keeping people that were in your life close. And so we were really excited about the book. And on that day, the author showed up and she had just broken her leg. So her dad drove her to the event. And she's in cast, but absolutely ready to read. And there's like loose, Um, underpinnings of disaster , behind the scenes of like the bathroom kind of started earlier that day and we're just like trying to keep a tight smile um but after the event it all went well she had cute coloring sheets we got our custom stickers it 

Evelyn: was my day off and I drove all the way down to meet Shauna Kagan and I missed the story time but I was here for this 

Caroline: Um, Evelyn, say what happened.

Evelyn: To put it lightly, 

Caroline: I was talking to her while we were looking out the door and we hear screams from the back of the store and water starts pooling out. And I, she, I was supposed to say goodbye to her and I just dropped the books I'm showing her and run to the bathroom. And my favorite part actually was our, one of our high schoolers was wearing like a set of like wide leg pants.

Caroline: And Margo, um, after we told her this story, was like, Well, bad day for a wide leg. Because all the water was 

Evelyn: everywhere. And Shauna was trapped in the store with her broken leg. She couldn't escape the water, either. As it was seeping in through the walls. 

Caroline: Thankfully, it was just water. So, that's the only thing that actually made contact with the store.

Caroline: Um, but yeah, lots of fun. Don't shake your head, Susan. You weren't there. I managed 

Aubrey: to keep most of the cursing under wraps. Yeah, absolutely. Aubrey 

Evelyn: was diligently throwing down towels and being very store appropriate. 

Caroline: I unfortunately, in crisis, have to laugh. Like, I'm laughing and not super helpful, but.

Evelyn: Yeah, it was also my day off, so I just watched the water go. 

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. Um, other than that, we love hosting our monthly, 

Evelyn: monthly book club, 

Caroline: book club, which is coming up this week as well. This month we're reading Rooftoppers by Kathryn Rundell. 

Evelyn: It's really fun. We've been doing it for over a year now.

Evelyn: And it's a middle reader book club, so 8 to 11. It's a great group of kids. We read a different book every month. And we, we always joke that we write kind of insane questions to ask of nine year olds, but 

Caroline: College freshmen type questions. Yeah, 

Evelyn: but they're always really insightful and sometimes they Throw them back at us, and they're like, well, this is an obvious answer.

Evelyn: I don't even know why you asked that. 

Caroline: Oh, we get schooled by them. 

Evelyn: I also love 

Aubrey: sitting and listening to them and seeing what they come up with. 

Susie: It's so true, and I love the relationship that you've built. Like, these are kids who come and visit you all the time. And I just look at the way they, they want to connect with you and, and really feel like you guys are not only Friends, but kind of mentors and people they really look up to and it's so sweet because you really do have a following that you've developed, but because of our space, like we've been always thinking about like what else should we do, but we do like, it's so crazy to me.

Susie: I never imagined. You don't have like, like, Um, Liz Egan, ages ago, like, the first podcast was like, Oh, I would love to be a bookseller and it seems so fun. And then what you are just, it is boggling how much work goes into it behind the scenes. Let's talk about how much work you're doing for Book Fair. 

Aubrey: Well, we are not a bookstore that we are sitting and reading behind the counter.

Aubrey: That is not something you often see. 

Susie: But like Aubrey could be doing so many like cool classes. It's really fun. Like we have started now. You know, we're only in our second year and so we're really like nascent still, which is an exciting time to be together doing things and we all care so much. But um, there's a lot of potential for like different minicamps.

Susie: I started to explore that a little bit. I want Aubrey to, like, yarn bomb our neighborhood with all these incredible, like, squares and stuff that we haven't finished, yarn, you know, wrapping our column in the story yet. It's so cute. People comment all the time. But then I see us taking over the neighborhood, you know.

Susie: There's all sorts of fun 

Aubrey: things. Yeah, and Susie teaching improv and mime to all the children. 

Susie: We are always integrating things and bringing it closer to the hub. Do you want to talk about 

Evelyn: your improv class and your history in miming? 

Susie: Um, can you all see me doing it right now? Perfect medium for mine. I broke the line so I could be speaking today.

Susie: Um, yes, I have a background in improv in mind, but, but, not really. Anyway, we, well, for that one we used an adorable book by Remy Charlip. It's decades old, but awesome, find it from us, buy it from us, called Fortunately, Unfortunately, and it's a great catalyst for improvisation. So we called that minicamp, you know, Fortunately, Unfortunately, and then we did all sorts of stuff.

Susie: But, you know, it's so much fun, like, like one of my favorite books, Ahoy!, is really an improvisation. Work of art, where this kid is wagging the dad all around, like really driving the story forward through imaginative play. And that's the whole thing, like at our store, we each have all these cool things we love.

Susie: And somebody will walk up to another co worker and just hand them a book. And wait, and watch. And because they're picture books, we can read it that quickly. And, or, you know, that day. And, like, Caroline always knows how to make me cry. And then when I start to sob, she's like, mm hmm. 

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. I were crying constantly at the kids room desk.

Caroline: What 

Evelyn: was that book we read the other day? The three of us read it. Three of us read it and all of us were behind the desk crying. It's the Tiger Tale? The Tiger, oh gosh. What is it called? It's a 

Susie: Levine Querido book. I forgot the tiger. 

Caroline: It's the dandelion on the cover. Oh, you guys. I still remember the day that I read Maybe Tomorrow and just was like, that's not okay what she did 

Evelyn: to me.

Evelyn: The Legend 

Susie: of Tiger and Tailflower. Yes. Yes. I tell people when I hand sell it, I'm like, that's really Or when I see somebody just grab it even themselves, I'm like, warning, it's gonna make you cry, but your child will be fine.

Caroline: That's amazing. Do you want to talk about book fairs? 

Susie: Yes, book fairs. So we have, um, gone deeper and deeper. We're wading in. Um, so there's like a really, really big, like, um, company that does normally book fairs. A lot of schools in the country's book fairs. And so for us as like this tiny independent bookseller to be venturing in it's really exciting and super labor intensive, but fantastic because you know one of the things about Watchung Books that anybody who listens to this podcast normally knows is that we are founded upon the principle of everyone feeling represented.

Susie: within our store and everyone feeling seen and we get really excited because people will come in with the most specific requests. They have a problem, they want, they want to share A story that's going to help, you know, somebody feel better or feel recognized or understood. Or to help them navigate a difficult time.

Susie: And we can find it. Or even like, to represent them culturally or socially or in the changes that are going on in their identity. You know, and it's a really exciting thing and we can bring that to our book fairs as well. And so I love the diversity of what we bring. And the joyfulness. Because it doesn't have to be a lecture, it doesn't have to be from on high, there's so much rich literature out there and because we're not a big box store, our passion is finding it and sharing it with other people and we get to do that.

Susie: We get to be like a 

Caroline: living archive of like what will spark someone's imagination and that's what's really special to watch every day. Yeah. Aubrey's really good at finding a very specific book on 

You know, 

Caroline: if a child is encountering, like, mean kids at school, or, , moving away, or something, she's always like, Finding the exact right title, looking it up.

Caroline: Mental 

Susie: health, like everybody has their, their expertise. And especially like as the last person to join our team, like in the beginning, I was like, whoa. And I just didn't hesitate to reach out to you guys. So I love being a shop girl. I was really excited to, to, you know, be like interacting with customers.

Susie: But as far as being able to help them find the just right book, I wasn't always. Myself knowing enough about our inventory yet, and I would ask you guys, I would say, Hey, this customer's looking for, and it was so much fun to watch your wheels turning and you guys, you would all nail it. And I feel like that's like our superpower as a team.

Susie: It's so much fun. Well, that's something, 

Aubrey: yeah, that's something that I still do when When either any of you are helping a customer, I listen to your suggestions, why you're possibly pulling the different books, and then I have that new knowledge. Now I'm able to, you know, a book that I don't know anything about, I now know a little bit more because of you, and I'm able to then give it to the right person that needs it.

Aubrey: I 

Caroline: love the different phases we go through in hand selling too because like a really early favorite of mine was Simon the Better Bone by Corey Tabor. Mm-Hmm. . 

Evelyn: Oh, Susie would love it. 

Caroline: And because it was like, dog, here's dog book . And it's upside down and it's cool and the dog thinks it's, see, it's playing with itself, looking in the lake at its own shadow and it's really cute.

Caroline: But at first I was like, anyone would like this? Here's dog. Like, and then later on, like when I'm looking at the picture bookshelf, I can see the different phases of like, I used to be obsessed with that. I used to be obsessed with that. Still am still love those books. You can pull from those phases. 

Evelyn: Also, because of this, now our picture book shelf is just a year's worth of this is the book that I loved.

Evelyn: And it's like fantastic books that we were obsessed with for a month at a time. 

Susie: Do you ever get like bottlenecked? I sometimes, somebody will say, they'll give me like, instead of a really like hyper, you know, challenging great query, they'll just say, What do you suggest? And usually like that should be like so easy.

Susie: Yay. I get to hand sell all my most passionate, you know, loves on these shelves. And other times my head almost explodes and I'm like, Oh my God, I get almost on the high side. 

Aubrey: Yeah. 100%. I sometimes, even I get overwhelmed with the amount of books that are on the shelf and some, and I forget. When you're looking at the spines, you're like, wait, what is that book about?

Aubrey: Wait a minute, what, what am I looking for? Who am I? What am I doing? 

Susie: And the other fun thing is because our, our shelves, they're like, sometimes they wax and they wane. And we're constantly like trying to get things not too tight. And we're shifting them in their little like, Kind of cubby type shelves.

Susie: They're huge shelves, but then they're partitioned. And so we'll often, I'll see one of you like reaching your fingers tingling upper left corner like I know Beatrice Alemania is up 

Caroline: here somewhere, but I can't remember I'm always looking for a book and I'm like, emotionally, I think it's on this shelf. I want to ask, what's everyone's ideal customer?

Caroline: Like, someone coming in asking for, what's your favorite thing to hand sell? Do you want to sell a middle reader? Do you want to sell a board book? What are you trying to sell? I 

Evelyn: don't know. I think it, I think I go back and forth between picture book and middle reader. Doing the middle reader book club helps because I do just, Hand sell our book club books because they're great picks.

Evelyn: But actually I think that early chapter is always really fun because it's just when kids start reading on their own. So it's really driven by them finding out what they like for the first time and they're always the pickiest customers. Because you give them a book that you think is gonna be perfect and they'll be like, I don't like it.

Evelyn: I don't like the look of Mercy Watson put her back on the shelf 

Caroline: to see in her eyes. They're tough. 

Evelyn: They're tough. But then when you, when you finally find the right book for them, they get so excited and then they're done talking to you. 'cause they wanna read it so they leave and then 

Caroline: you've really 

Evelyn: started something.

Evelyn: Yeah. 

Caroline: And it's such a weird category. It's like little shrew is in that category. Mm-Hmm. the mm-Hmm , the French one A day with Moose. 

Susie: Those are my two favorites. Explain the early chapter business. What is that? 

Evelyn: What do you mean? 

Susie: Like, if somebody's like, I don't know. Oh, I 

Evelyn: guess we should clarify, like, the levels of the store.

Evelyn: Yeah. Describe the layout. 

Susie: It's so cool. 

Evelyn: Um, so the store is, it's kind of in, uh, age order. So from the, if you walk in, from the left hand corner all the way around back to the register, it just goes in age order. So it starts at board books, which is for children. Negative one to two. And then it goes into picture books, which is until five.

Evelyn: Early chapter, or first readers, early readers, so many different names, is like five to seven. Then it goes around to middle reader, eight to ten. YA, we only go up to thirteen at our store, and then the rest of it is there. But we have the Hunger Games, so. 

Susie: Fun fact, we have to like make these decisions about what YA young adult thing, you know, um, um, um, um, um.

Susie: material we keep in our store. And I kind of feel like we want this to be a safe place for everyone. We want everything to be represented. We don't like censor reality, but you know, like kind of like Explicit sexual acts, for example. We're like, you know, let's give up to 54.

Susie: We were looking at the Judy Blume Forever book the other day. We're looking at 54, because we're 44, Fairfield. And our mothership is, or how many of the adult books do we have? It's 54. Which 

Evelyn: is why they have all those books. You 

Caroline: just emphasize every syllable. Aubrey, what's your favorite section to sell from? 

Aubrey: It might be picture books because I think that's the easiest for me to sell. Because I can read so many of them and I have more of them in my brain at a time. But I do try and read a lot of middle reader, especially LGBTQ, because I love being able to help kids coming in when they're specifically looking for something like that.

Aubrey: Um, so I read, I do read a lot of middle reader, and YA,, for that reason. 

Susie: And I like, I like the, the youngest readers. I like, because I switched careers from teaching fourth grade, and, and teaching all this enrichment for, you know, maybe fourth to eighth graders. Um, when I came here, it was partly because I really wanted to be a shop girl.

Susie: And, um, I still Meg Ryan. I was waiting for you to make that joke. And I also 

Caroline: wanted 

Susie: Susie kind of looks like 

Caroline: Meg 

Susie: Ryan. Oh, 

Caroline: wait. 

Susie: And so I really like to support emerging readers like that's my passion and so I love helping people with our spinner which is like, you know, the first readers that a lot of people listening even know those words.

Susie: really like slender small paperbacks and they're leveled they're like one two three four but why and what does it all mean and so I've been kind of doing a deep dive of understanding why these readers that are so hard to decode to actually read. Read as an early reader would be called the level one and stuff like that.

Susie: So it's been really fun to kind of wear different hats. So I really love helping emerging readers and their families and to keep them kind of, keep it light. But I also really love, I wasn't joking about like zero to four, I love helping people find like, you know, at two, you know, they really want to be like, Interacting with those books, look at all these cool interactive shelves, you know, and this and that, and the deep dives of looking inside and learning more and more and more.

Susie: It's fun. 

Aubrey: I think concept actually, I'm going to add concept to my, and, and when I, when I'm buying, I, Probably over by a little bit in concept because I, I, I know I try, I literally try to think of any situation that somebody's coming in for and our grief section has exploded. Our 

Evelyn: school. Yes, so concept 

Aubrey: is, um, they're still picture books and or board books, but they're focusing in on, a specific topic such as grief, emotions, um, School, moving, even potty training, you know, those are all different concepts.

Aubrey: So 

Susie: things that go numbers, colors, but you know, gender, race. I mean, there's a lot of sustenance and it's board book. I don't know. 

Aubrey: Yeah, 

Susie: you know, and some of them are fiction and some are nonfiction and you know, a lot of them are like really a great read and maybe it more of the other like a metaphor and other ones are straight on but I I buy a little bit but I like just like maybe something that i'm passionate about and it's very nice that we're all allowed to place orders for our inventory But is it you two I is it Evelyn and Aubrey are you guys The three of us split frontlist together.

Caroline: What do you guys each specialize in? We specialize by publisher.

Caroline: But you stole my answer because I was also going to say board book. I love walking over to the interactive shelf and just like, moving a page side to side. Being like, it's sold! Oh my 

god. 

Caroline: My favorite book to sell is no longer in print, um, but it was called Bear and Mouse, so we all have a swan song to Bear and Mouse.

Caroline: We have a I'm coming for 

Evelyn: you. A call to action that they need to put it back in print. This 

Caroline: is the real reason I'm here. Shout out the author. We 

Evelyn: sold one copy a week for a full year of Bear and Mouse, Rise and Shine. And 

Caroline: then she died. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. prayer. Um, but it was amazing. It was about a bear and a mouse and, um, you could do a slide pull popping up the toast.

Caroline: Then the next page was like putting on their coat. Um, they end up at the park. It's really emotional story for me. I don't know if I can talk about it anymore, but, um, 

Susie: and that's so nice that there's so many books that are a hug. Mm-Hmm. , right? Yeah. Yeah. So many hugs in that, in those pages. 

Evelyn: What is everybody's favorite book to hand sell right now?

Evelyn: Somebody want to go first? 

Aubrey: Um, well, everyone will probably know mine, Aubrey's, is A Hundred Dragons Named Broccoli. Everyone has already probably bought that book. So I need to find a new one. Um, but it's It's, it was just, when it came out, it was just so fun. It was bright and colorful, and it had numbers, and it's kind of counting, but not really counting.

Aubrey: It was just silly, and so it just felt really fun, and it was just, you know, easy to give to people. And, um, but I also have a soft spot for Oliver Jeffers books. Everyone knows that, too. 

Caroline: Yes. The Great Beeper Keeper. I 

Aubrey: We had it on audio book with my kids and it was read in a British accent. So my tip is to read it in a British accent and it's even better.

Evelyn: Every time I try to hand sell Oliver Jeffers in the back of my head, I go, Aubrey had the great paper keeper on audio book. my current favorite book is actually the same illustrator as a hundred mighty dragons, pig town party, which is fantastic. And I love it. And it is the funniest book I was laughing out loud by myself in picture books.

Evelyn: It was amazing. I'm 

Caroline: always laughing if I'm not crying.

Caroline: I think mine is when I surprise myself at the picture bookshelf. Like, when I'm surprised I can sell, like, Paul and Antoinette by Karis Goethe. And I'm like talking about how it's about domestic labor disputes and that works. Um, and That paired 

Evelyn: with The Red Hen. 

Caroline: The Red Hen or telling stories wrong or something where I, it's a very grandiose idea that they can get sold on quickly.

Caroline: We just had Bea Johnson in the store for story time. What Can a Mess Make was really, really sweet. I love that 

Aubrey: story so much. Um, 

Caroline: yeah, I like, I like something that I've kind of forgotten that I've loved to hand sell again. We, I also did an author visit with X Fang, who wrote Dim Sum Palace, and We Are Definitely Human.

Caroline: Snap, snap, snap. We were really, really, really into We Are Definitely Human. And it's the, probably the easiest hand sell in the world. It's so much fun. What if aliens came to earth and disguised themselves as European? And you're done. Like, it's souls, it's fluorescent. You have to 

Susie: see it to see the humor.

Susie: It is so funny. Very fluorescent, and it's so funny. And Talal, what, what, what Susan, her ex fang, told you? 

Caroline: What it's Yeah, she was telling me how, like, basically, which I didn't understand at first, but, like, the language I recognized immediately, um, as, like, really Southern. She's using y'all a lot in the book, and she's like, actually, it's a book about Southern hospitality, and, like, the concept of, like, caring for your neighbors and kindness.

Caroline: Um, 

Susie: so yeah, I thought that was really fun. I love that. And we had fun facts because Caroline takes care of all of the school author visits. You know, she coordinates everything, you know, from A to Z for that. And so, Aubrey says to me, Hey, did you know that the X thing, we are definitely human, is out of print?

Susie: Or not out of print, like it's run out. It's being reprinted. And we just were like, uh, Caroline, you might want to And so you were like scrambling to get enough. You know, like just for the visit. So, if anyone out there is looking for it, Caroline got every single last copy. I had to freeze the Penguin Warehouse.

Susie: I was in there. And we 

Caroline: said, we were like, 

Susie: we'll 

Caroline: take 

Susie: all 

Caroline: of them. No matter how many. We got 

Susie: them all. 

Caroline: And then we hoarded them all for our staff, um, signings. And then we took them all. And nobody got any. No. Not really. No, everybody got none. Everyone's 

Susie: happy. And we're happy for her. It's exciting to, like, help.

Susie: You know, shine a spotlight on different authors. And so one of the things though, I think we're all trying to constantly change what we're hand selling because I don't know about you, but when I started here, I was amazed that every Tuesday there are new releases. There are so much literature constantly being published and released.

Susie: And I am. Rarely wondering how it got published. It's like, there's a lot of great stuff constantly coming out there. And then people are a little miffed if you don't have their favorite thing from 50 years ago, and you're trying to mathematically explain to them, like, how, you know.

Susie: Yeah, I 

Aubrey: know, we already have that. Thousands of books in the store, so how can we carry everything? But we try, we try to have everything. Something for everybody. Yeah, within a week. 

Evelyn: That was one of my favorite things about the original move last year, when we emptied out the back of 54 and came And we filled every shelf with all of the books that were back there somehow.

Evelyn: And that first week people came in, they were like, where did all these books come from? How do you have so many books already? 

Susie: It's amazing. It's like moving from a studio apartment into like an old Victorian. And, and, and I 

Evelyn: didn't know I owned this much 

Caroline: stuff. And then we filled it with lots of new wonderful gifts.

Caroline: Well, 

Aubrey: we've also added extra shelves since we've opened too, so we had more room to put all of these things. Our favorite activity when just you and I are 

Evelyn: on shift is to get shelving. 

Aubrey: Building 

Caroline: furniture! Yeah, and if I come back and have to do an Ikea task, I'm quitting. Um, but the other favorite day is when the Jellycat catalog hits the inbox.

Susie: That's huge for us. I think better than that is when the delivery arrives. 

Evelyn: We have two boxes waiting for us at the store by the way. 

Susie: Sharp 

Caroline: objects do not 

Susie: puncture.

Susie: Left 

Susie: one of the things that, oh, I think a lot of independent, um, booksellers do this, you know, and we're all like You know, we're all a family, but we have a prominent display, and it's, you know, read banned books, it says on top, and then it's about four shelves tall, and um, people, it's like a magnet for the grown ups who enter our store.

Susie: I feel like a lot of people just are drawn to it, and then they're, they can't understand, and I'm like, wait. This is banned? Like, they were looking at, you know, E. B. White, Charlotte's Web. Wait, Bridge to Terabithia is banned? And there's like, why? Why? And we're always engaging in these conversations and it's, it, in the beginning I think I was sort of like, uh, You know, because I couldn't even understand it, and it was like a rapid education.

Susie: People might not realize, like, a banned book, it could be in one school district, or one community's library. And the sad part is, it's so easy to ban a book, and apparently there are directions online on how to do it. Please don't do that. And what it means is, read them. Open up those, um, covers and see what's inside because these books are often sort of like, it's like upside down or opposite land because they, uh, embody the spirit of acceptance, something that is accused of something that's the opposite of that.

Susie: And, you know, that's what we're Charlotte's Web, it's because of talking animals, being disrespectful to God, that notion. But, you know, like, I just think that what it is, it's a wake up to say, Pay attention to your local news, and it's part of why local news matters, right? To know when there's a challenge and to push back on that.

Aubrey: Well, I love the conversations that come about between the grown ups and the children that come into the store. You know. I love hearing them explain. And then the kids reactions to the fact that these books are banned, and their, their shock and their outrage sometimes, too, you know, is, is, is, Pretty amazing.

Evelyn: I do once a week have a kid come up and ask why we banned the book though. Yes, 

Aubrey: that 

Evelyn: is true. The conversation comes around quickly but at first they get really mad at us that we would ban a book.

Caroline: What are some, you talk about local authors. 

Aubrey: We do have a lot of great local authors that, uh, we love having in store and do, uh, school visits.

Aubrey: Aaliyah Agostini, Jason Patterson. 

Caroline: Um, Evelyn and I had Laura Marks Fitzgerald read Under the Egg again. Um, she's the author of Under the Egg and she did a little presentation at our book club. At our middle reader book club. I loved that. 

Evelyn: Celebrity visit at the book club. It was huge. 

Caroline: It was awesome.

Aubrey: Aguirre, um, come for the YA. That is now on a little hiatus, but if there's any YA book club interest, I would be willing to start that back up again. 

Susie: Blueberry and pancakes, like, 

Aubrey: is that it? Yeah, yeah, Jason Patterson. 

Susie: And what's really nice is a lot of these local authors who are, I'm a little bit afraid that we mention anybody because we can't possibly mention everybody, but they support the local schools, you know, that their kids are attending, and they're so generous with their time, and obviously it's not like free, they need, this is their career, and that's a really important point.

Susie: But The way they'll come in and they do these like local author visits at, as part of book fairs is really fun. And, um, it's very cool for the kids to realize how possible that dream is. And I just gasped because I was remembering when Philippa Sue Yes. And her sister-in-Law they co authored 

Caroline: Piper Chen Sings.

Susie: And one of the best things about that author visit that was in our kids room. It was an after school event and super well attended. Philippa Sue is, 

Susie: , she's a celebrity. You guys are laughing. I wanted to say, these two people on that visit, you know, , Marist was, um, is like a child therapist, a social worker.

Susie: And she had designed the most amazing way for the kids to ask questions, because the first person's question when it was time for the Q& A was, Can I get your autograph? And they all just laughed. And then they said, Well, how about you ask usyou could ask us questions likeand she listed all of these like incredibly rich questions.

Susie: And the kids were like, Oh, yeah. And so then the kids asked all these questions, and it was such an incredible conversation. And just watching the kids in the room be like, Wow. Like thinking about the process, thinking about the possibilities. And then you had like a really cool one recently, didn't you? 

Caroline: We did author visits at schools as well with Phillipa and Maris, and they were lovely, they were sweethearts.

Caroline: They did a breathing exercise with the kids that was emblematic of the, like, nervous butterflies in the story. And it's really special that, um, part of kids authors stories Tours is going directly to schools and watching them. It's fun to be the, you know, the girl that gives them gum and see them get nervous before a group of kids.

Caroline: Um, but it's always really sweet seeing them connect with their readers. And it's a nice part of the kids room is often it's a second hand sell. So we're selling to a parent of a child, but sometimes when the kid gets to come in and, um, You know, we introduce Princess Diaries or whatever for the first time to them.

Caroline: It's really nice to see them light up, um, and see an opportunity for them to discover something else, and we get to provide that experience. Um, but it's always fun to see really random people come in the store. Last Christmas, Evelyn and I's favorite day was an actual celebrity visit. 

Evelyn: It was crazy. 

Caroline: It was amazing.

Caroline: It was one of the 

Evelyn: busiest days of December too. It was like December 

Caroline: 23rd and I'm at the wrapping station losing my mind wanting to tapes like my eyes closed 

Evelyn: And according to Caroline I was super weird at the register But of course two people came up and this is why it was Rashida Jones And Ezra Kaning of Vampire Weekend.

Evelyn: The 

Caroline: best part was when somebody comes in the store, we often ask for your phone number. Because we have a loyalty account through people's phone numbers. So she kept asking, do you have an account with us? To Rashida Jones, wanting her phone number. And also, she's like sweetly smiling at Evelyn. Yes, I'll take a bag.

Caroline: And I hadn't clicked that that was Rashida Jones yet. And Evelyn shut down emotionally. And so after I hand this, not my best work, wrapping to this woman, I'm like, that's Rashida Jones. Yeah. And we all fall to 

Evelyn: the floor. I think we bring this up just so you can apologize to Rashida Jones for wrapping her children's Christmas presents like that.

Evelyn: I'd like to 

Caroline: formally apologize for the way that I taped. Um, Labels to that package. I'm learning, I'm growing, I'm doing better. There'll be a notes app on my socials later. Well, 

Aubrey: let's talk about some wrapping. How about some of those puzzles that I buy that you 

Caroline: guys have to wrap? Aubrey, I want to keep liking you.

Caroline: I don't want to talk about the puzzles you buy. In the shape of the United States of America, which shouldn't be a real shape. Two mice on a cupcake? 

Aubrey: I don't know. I don't have a problem wrapping them. I 

Caroline: don't know what anybody else's problem is. Okay, as we're wrapping up, do you love that pun? 

Susie: Yes. Um, 

Caroline: let's all hold hands.

Caroline: We really are. We really are. Um, I just want to say that I love working with each of you and it's really special that I like everyone I work with and I feel very held and enjoy every day because I know you guys will be there. That's really nice. 

Evelyn: This is why we cry all the time at work. That's true. 

This 

Evelyn: is how we end every shift.

Evelyn: Holy cats. Of course. Rying. 

I 

Evelyn: think the last thing What we need to do is talk about, usually we ask what everyone's reading, but I think it would be episode appropriate to talk about what kids books we might be, not reading, but maybe just really into right now. 

Caroline: Um, I'm into a new board book called Moonlight Prance, where all of the

Caroline: Where all of the forest animals Dance. That's it. It's a slide pole and you can move them, the pieces. It's awesome. It is awesome.

Caroline: I had a quick answer and you're going to laugh at me. This is boring. 

Evelyn: Um, I've been really into, it's, I think it's as a picture book in our system, but it's kind of word dense. It's called The Queen in the Cave. It freaked Aubrey out when she first read it. She thought it was really creepy. Um, it's about three sisters and they go to find the queen in the cave.

Evelyn: And the illustrations in it are just really beautiful. And I think it's, it's one of my special stories. Like, Little Shrew and A Day with Moose. I just think it's fantastic. 

Caroline: They go to find the queen in the cave. 

Evelyn: I'm not trying to give the plot away! 

Caroline: Susie, your favorite? You know, 

Susie: I'm not going to mention a holiday.

Susie: I'm going to mention for middle readers. Since middle readers are like, well, a lot of middle readers, like, there's a lot of fall off in terms of reading. So I'm going to be, like, encouraging folks who come in for their middle reader this holiday season. I'm going to ask them to pick up a spy book. And maybe it's going to be The Spy School series, which is jorky and they're so much fun.

Susie: Or maybe it's gonna be City Spies, where it's kids from all over the world and they go all over the world.

Susie: And both of those are series. Loads and loads. You 

Evelyn: should, you should also do Wismob and the Grenadine Kid. Oh my god.

Evelyn: Colin Malloy. 

Susie: You guys, wait, say that again. 

Evelyn: Wismob and the Grenadine Kid. Colin Molloy. So good. 

Aubrey: I'll go where I 

Susie: would. 

Evelyn: Somebody bought Voyage to Bunny Planet today. I could have waited until after to tell you, but I felt like this was important. You need to tell me things like this on 

Caroline: mic, thank you. It's really important. There 

Susie: is one small phenomenon, I know we're out of time, but where we don't want to part with a book.

Susie: And like, that Bunny Planet is one of those books where you feel like a little piece of you is leaving the store and you're conflicted because you're so glad to share it and at the same time you're going to miss it. And of course we can reorder it, but it's sort of like, ah. 

Evelyn: Unless it's 

Susie: Our favorite 

Caroline: board 

Susie: book.

Evelyn: Bear and Mouse, rest in peace. 

Caroline: Is there anything you guys would like to say about Bear and Mouse's passing? 

Evelyn: I'm going to miss popping the toast up and then putting the toast back in the toaster and then popping it up again. 

Aubrey: I'm sad we never got to experience the nighttime one. 

Evelyn: There was a waking up and then there was also a going to bed.

Evelyn: There was an original going to night that was out of print before we could even meet her. 

Caroline: It's sad. It is sad. It's wonderful. 

Evelyn: I think that's a really nice depressing note to add on. 

Caroline: I think that's wonderful. 

Susie: What it means is, buy lots of books now. 

Evelyn: Before they all go out of 

Caroline: print.

Caroline: Yes, absolutely. Well, it's been fun. It's so fun. It's always fun. 

Aubrey: It's always 

Caroline: fun. Fun or funny. See 

Evelyn: you guys early tomorrow. 

Kathryn: thank you Aubrey, Caroline, Evelyn, and Susie for joining the podcast today and for all the amazing work you do at The Kids Room. Listeners, you can find all the books and activities they've talked about in our show notes and at watchungbooksellers.

Kathryn: com. 

Marni: We've got a couple more events before the holidays. On Thursday, December 5th, Lisa Rosenberg is back to celebrate the launch of her second novel, Mirror Me. 

Kathryn: And on Wednesday, December 11th, the Climate Change Book Club is hosting a virtual event with . Dr. Ayanna Johnson, author of What If We Get It Right.

Kathryn: You can pick up copies of the book at Watchung Booksellers and submit questions before the event. 

Marni: You can find out details and register for all of our events in our newsletter, show notes, or at watchungbooksellers. com. 

Kathryn: We hope you have a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season and that we see you in the store very soon.

Kathryn: We'll be back in January with more episodes of the Watchung Booksellers podcast. Thanks everybody!