da Shop Talk: Journal

January: Navigation Where are the winds of the new year guiding you? To us, January feels like it’s all about navigating new waters: orienting in space & time, gathering our tools, and setting our direc...

During the pandemic, I’ve read many books that were welcome escapes but also quickly forgotten. A handful of stories, however, have resonated so deeply with me that they have taken root in my mind, growing ...

We are unabashed fans of picture books so it’s little surprise that an opinion piece in The New York Times was quite a point of conversation amongst our staff.  The article, entitled “Your Kids Aren’t Too Ol...

This Sunday will mark 3 years since we opened da Shop: books + curiosities.  Amazingly, the third year took place during a global health pandemic yet we still managed to keep going. We are so grateful for y...

For babies to middle grade readers, here are books from diverse voices & perspectives. Books about adventure, friendship, and books that seem to be written for a specific moment or challenge.  Plus, lin...

It's no secret that we love to read and share our favorite books with you.  With the increase of online shopping, we miss some of the in-person chats we used to have over a new release or a classic childhoo...

When bookseller Kristen told me her idea for making book maps, I reacted with an almost embarrassing amount of excitement. Books and Mind Mapping! Two things I LOVE. I immediately started listing and connecting all the books I’ve read in recent memory. The map that grew the most was this one. These are all books related in my mind to Making - creating things with the hands. Want a quick tour?

With my infant daughter asleep in my arms, I listened to Mac talk about making books for children and drawing the fictional world into his early work at the writing nonprofit 826 Valencia (where classes famously take place in a room behind their Pirate Supply Store)... A good book is a secret door, Mac explained. “Kids can get there a lot more easily than adults can, and that’s why I love writing for kids. I think kids are the best audience for serious literary fiction.”

The Chirri & Chirra picture book series is one of my faves. It’s six adorably chipper books by Japanese author/illustrator, Kaya Doi. In each book, the sisters Chirri and Chirra take their bikes on adventures - “Dring-dring!” - exploring nature or the nearby town, meeting friendly creatures, and finding delicious things to eat. And they always have a perfectly wonderful day.

We've heard it before: Be in the moment. Be present. Just be. Even the best of us who practice yoga or already embrace some form of meditation––if we are honest––still struggle to master the art of being. In a modern society of busyness, to be still and quiet is unnatural. To do nothing feels foreign. Finding an antidote to boredom is a struggle. And, in the midst of this pandemic’s forced shutdown, having more time unexpectedly on our hands can feel ironically stressful.

As we near the end of National Poetry Month, we’d like to congratulate the 2020 Poetry Out Loud State Champion, Erisan Awaya! Erisan, a junior at MidPacific Institute, competed against 10 other state finalists at Tenney Theatre on March 1, 2020 and performed a final recitation of the poem “Golden Retrievals” by Mark Doty. 

Tomie dePaola recently passed, but the nurturing tones of his stories will live on for many, many generations to come. This Caldecott Medal winner entertained many of us a children and now captures the imagination of our own children with beloved classics such as “Strega Nona” (1975) and over 270 other books written and illustrated during his prolific career.