When I showed up in my Harry and The Potters glow-in-the-dark tee shirt my friends Jessica and Brad, who had gotten there earlier and saved me a seat, both had wands at the ready. (Seriously.) As I scooted into my seat next to Jessica, I realized that on my other side was none other than my very first Spellbound employee, Alexa!

If you shopped at our store in our early days in West Asheville, you probably remember Alexa; after she graduated from college she went to work as a children’s librarian at the East Asheville branch of the  public library, where she continues to delight kids and parents with story time–just like the old days!

It was totally unplanned, but what a wonderful moment of serendipity. Alexa was my right-hand woman in many ways back then, particularly in pulling off the huge midnight book release parties for Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. You may recall that Alexa was dressed as Madam Rosmerta at the Hallows party. And of course Alexa’s husband Jeremy accompanied her to the movie–Jeremy, although he didn’t work at Spellbound, was also a big presence at the Potter parties. For any of you who remember being sorted at the Half-Blood party, Jeremy helped us rig up the Sorting Hat and acted as its voice. One of the best parts of the party, and I am eternally grateful!

What made the evening at the movies extra special is that on my other side was Jessica, whom I first met when she was engaged to play the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall at the Half-Blood party. She repeated the performance at the Hallows party, and has since become one of my best friends and my faithful companion for all subsequent Potter-related activities.

So there I was, taking in the momentous last installment of the Harry Potter world on film, nestled between Professor McGonagall and Madam Rosmerta. A perfect ending. Of course, we’ve already made plans to see it again. Accio weekend!

Written in 1997 by Terri Schmitz of The Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts, this article has timeless and sage advice for parents navigating the bookstore with (or for) their kids.

When Brownie wakes up and goes outside on the second day of February, she is dismayed to see her shadow stretching across the field.

Brownie stomps her foot. “Phooey!” she says. “Six more weeks of winter!”

Brownie is impatient for Spring to get here, and she uses her impatience plus some quick thinking to distract the little fox who has targeted Brownie as his next meal.

“Don’t be silly,” she says when the fox announces he’s planning to eat her for breakfast. “You’re too late for breakfast.”

When the fox proposes eating her for lunch, she proclaims that it’s too early and that he’ll just have to wait. And so goes the rest of the day, as the fox tags along with Brownie and waits for it to be a proper mealtime. After spending so much time together, of course the two eventually become friends.

Both the text and the illustrations are that perfect combination of timeless and fresh, and kudos to the book designer–everything from the font to the choice of paper comes together perfectly to complement the words and pictures. Although the title lends itself to a Groundhog Day display, Brownie’s shadow is just mentioned at the beginning of this charming story. Part trickster tale and part odd couple friendship tale, this is a sweet and funny book that kids will enjoy coming back to all winter (and all year) long.

Everyone got name tags when they came in, then we read a couple of stories: Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas (and narrated by a very bossy ladybug!) and Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jackie Davis.

Then it was time to make our costumes. First, we drew spots on our wings and Elisha helped everyone secure them with red ribbon…

One more story, the new book by Julia Donaldson (author of the story time fave The Gruffalo) called What the Ladybug Heard. This book has it all: farmyard animals (and noises), a couple of hapless crooks, and a very smart ladybug to foil their dastardly plans!

Then we gave out the goody bags, which included stickers, paper dolls, take-home coloring sheets and other activities, PLUS… everyone got a set of ladybug antennae to complete their costumes!

Thanks to all the kids who came and were such good listeners… and the parents who brought them and helped them keep their wings on straight!

We’ve got new slate tile in the entryway…

… and also on the front of the building:

The tile work is getting finished up today, but it’s all outside–nothing that should interfere with shopping. So come on by and see it for yourself!

Next item on the list: a new awning!

Almost forgot… in case you haven’t been here in a while (and if not, shame on you!), here is a “before” shot:

I’m sure there are some people to whom this kind of situation is no big deal. But I am very shy about approaching people in any context, plus I hate confrontation, plus as the business owner I have a vested interested in achieving the optimal outcome: customer pays for damaged item but without feeling the least bit embarrassed or offended, so that he or she will not hesitate to return to shop another day. That can be a hard goal to achieve in a sticky situation like this, made even stickier by the fact that “these days” everyone is feeling a financial pinch already.

A woman came into the store with her two small sons, a toddler and a preschooler. She grabbed some books to read to the older child and settled everyone into the reading nook at the front of the store while Dad went to find an ATM and feed the meter. As I’m going about my business behind the counter I hear the mom reading a book about trains, then a book about being green, then I hear a certain tell-tale crumpling sound and look over the side counter to see the mom putting a dust jacket back on a picture book and glancing furtively (it seems) at me.

First off, I need to find out if the book was indeed damaged, preferably without coming out and asking, because that might put the customer on the defensive. I walk over that way and straighten up the fixture next to the spinner where Mom is putting away the books she was just looking at. I pick up the train book she just put away (there was only one copy of this title in stock) and, sure enough, the dust jacket is a mess. I pick it up and ask the customer gently if the book looked like this when she picked it up, knowing darn well it didn’t. Luckily, she admitted right away that it didn’t–that her baby had stepped all over it before she could stop him. I sighed and told her, “Well, the thing is, I won’t be able to sell this book now that it’s in this condition.”

 ”Well, I suppose I can buy it.”

I thanked her and followed up with a statement about how this is my business and I personally had to pay for the book and can’t afford to lose money like that. (Her offer was very reluctant, as if she was hoping that I would say “Oh no, don’t worry about it.”) For some families that might have been what is known as a teachable moment, but the child who walked on the book was too young to really grasp any of it, and I’m not sure that the mom did, anyway.

I am very grateful that this customer did own up to the accident and pay me for the damaged book, but I have to say I’m disappointed that she was apparently not about to say or do anything about it until I approached her. I also find it odd that, after the book had been paid for, she continued to look around and then, holding up a different book, asked “Do we have to take that book or can it be a different one?”

I explained (again) that the problem was that no one would want to buy a crumpled up book from me, so yes she needs to pay for the damaged one. She nodded and said. “Oh, I understand,” but something about her expression made me think that she still might not. Oh, well… at least I didn’t lose money and the customer didn’t lose face… and if nothing else was learned, I’m sure that the baby will be watched more closely in the next store they visit!

The first ten people to comment on this post or email me and mention the blog give-away get a free CD!

More to come on Tuesday’s release party… hope to see you there!

Here is Allan posing with his very large award alongside his very tall son, Simon, with accordion in hand. Now I am trying to find a way to work accordion music into the Red Pyramid party in May…

Admission to the Kane Chronicles party will be free with purchase of the book  or $5 at the door. 

Oh zephyr winds which blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!

Of course, one highlight of the Percy Jackson party was the Greek mythology bee and, although it may change by the time the Kane Chronicles is in full swing, I’m betting most kids don’t know as much about Egyptian mythology as they do about Greek. My personal exposure to Egyptian mythology as a kid was pretty much limited to watching “Isis” on television Saturday mornings. 

Story Time is, in fact, at 3:30 PM on Tuesdays. See you there. (And if anyone showed up at 3:30am and was disappointed, I offer my apologies and a cup of Sleepy Time tea.)