There are lots of warm and wonderful stories for the children of Arizona during the holidays. βA Very Hairy Christmasβ by Susan Lowell, for one.
βThe Twelve Days of Christmas in Arizonaβ by Jennifer J. Stewart.
ββTwas the Night Before Christmas in Arizonaβ by Jo Parry.
Well, we have another for the list:
The Littlest Bookshop on East Fifth Street near Rincon High School.
Owners Hypatia Luna and Jesse Adcock opened the store just before Christmas last year. It is one of the few bookshops in America dedicated solely to childrenβs books. Its popularity has been growing steadily since, and the store was filled with smiling faces at a storytime session there last weekend.
Two of them belonged to Luna and Adcock.
βWe were two people whoβd never run their own business before, whoβd never managed a bookstore before, who just wanted to love going to work every day,β Luna explained. βNow, look at us. Weβre still here!β
Attention, parents and grandparents: If you have a child on your shopping list for the coming year-end holidays, the Littlest Bookshop offers board books, picture books, chapter books and readers both in English and Spanish. Lots of βem. Inventory has grown from 1,200 books last Christmas to 4,400 books today, all of them new β¦ many of them beautiful.
The Littlest Bookshop, 5011 E. Fifth St., may be Tucsonβs first-ever store dedicated solely to childrenβs books. Longtime locals may remember browsing the shelves at Mrs. Tiggy Winkles and the Kids Center, but they were toy stores, too.
This one is wall-to-wall books for kids, with a handful of gift items that connect to books in the inventory.
It is the creation of Adcock, a Tucson native who remembers riding his bike to the old Book Mark bookstore on East Speedway, and Luna β who lived here for 10 years before moving as a teenager.
Interestingly, neither had a background in literature. She was an art history major who became a teacher. He was a business student who had moved into sales and quietly dreamed of owning his own business.
Then, in 2019, they found themselves in a popular all-childrenβs-book bookstore in Redlands, California, called βThe Frugal Frigate.β
βWe were in Southern California for a wedding,β Luna recalled, βand somebody suggested we check out The Frugal Frigate. We both love bookstores. Our daughter Inez was very young. So we went in β¦ and loved it. I said this is where I want to be all the time. This is what I want my life to be, surrounded by books. And Jesse said, βLetβs start a bookstore.ββ
When they returned to Tucson, they began researching the ins and outs of the book business. When they mentioned the idea to friends, they were encouraged to get off the fence. In early 2020, they were within days of signing a lease to open βBeanstock Booksβ at the corner of East Broadway and North Park Avenue.
βWhen the pandemic happened, everything got put on hold,β Adcock said. βWe didnβt give up on the idea, though. If there was a silver lining, it gave us another year to think things through.β
One wrinkle in the original plan: to put the store in a neighborhood rather than an area dedicated to retail. Their current location on Fifth Street is near the area where Adcock grew up. He and Luna now live less than a mile away.
Another update to the business plan: Luna and Adcock decided the inventory would go beyond picture books.
βIβve always loved picture books,β she confessed. βTo me, an art major, a picture book is beautiful; itβs a small work of art.β
As a teacher, she also appreciated how picture books could enhance learning. But the co-owners ultimately decided their audience would be far larger if they would stock books for older kids, too.
One element stayed in the plan throughout: The Littlest Bookshop would offer new books only.
βTucson already has great used bookstores,β Luna said. βIt wasnβt a market that needed to be filled. Besides, you donβt often find good, high-quality childrenβs books used. Kids are rough on their favorite books. Grandparents write in them. Parents save the best books as keepsakes.β
The Littlest Bookshop had a soft opening late last year, open three to four hours on weekend days only until Christmas Eve. It opened officially on Jan. 1. How does Luna assess the first year?
βThere definitely have been some moments when I thought, βWhat are we thinking?ββ she said. βThen, someone will come in and tell us how grateful they are, how much the store means to their kids, and itβs very affirming. I guess the shiny newness hasnβt worn off yet. Iβm still really excited about this.β
Like all business owners, especially owners of bookstores, Luna and Adcock will have their fingers tightly crossed for the next four weeks.
βThe whole retail world revolves around the fourth quarter,β Adcock said. βI donβt know this for sure, but it may be especially important for bookstores and publishers. In adult books, the big releases hit in the fourth quarter. People like to give kids books for the holidays.β
Truth be told, the Littlest Bookshop isnβt. Itβs not even the smallest in Tucson. But if youβre shopping for the littlest people in your life, this one may be just the right size for you.
Footnotes
Hoping to help holiday sales at local bookstores, the Tucson Festival of Books has begun releasing the names of authors who will attend the festival March 4-5. The list will be available soon at TucsonFestivalOfBooks.org
Former National Book Award winner Mark Doty will visit the UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St., for the annual Tom Sanders Memorial Reading on Dec. 1. The program will begin at 7 p.m. For more information, visit tucne.ws/1lxz.
The Martha Cooper Library in midtown Tucson is now closed β temporarily β as workers begin a major renovation project that will double the size of the library. If all goes well, the new and improved facility will re-open in the spring.
Demand for picture books explaining traumatic events such as school shootings has grown dramatically, according to publishers. Experts say these books can help kids process their feelings. Using picture books and puppets, Ian Ellis James, known by his stage name "Electric," works with children on gun violence prevention in New York City. "If I could just use a puppet, if I can write some books, if I can use some songs and then go out and start with a five year old, six year old... I think I can change behavior, so that's the strategy," James, an Emmy award-winning Sesame Street writer, said. As anxiety and depression rates rise among young Americans experts say demand for resources like children's books dealing with trauma are also increasing.
Looking for the next addition to your bookshelf? This interactive map features more than a dozen Tucson stores, shops and cafes open to book lovers of all ages:Β
