Children’s bookshop opens in Featherston
Ask Joanna Ludbrook why she’s called her children’s book shop The Chicken and Frog Bookstore and the answer seems obvious. “Chickens say book-book, frogs go readit-readit,” she says.
By Simon Burt. Photo by Lucia Zanmonti
The newly-opened Featherston store – Joanna’s first retail project – is housed in the former medical centre, next to the children’s playground. “The playground was coincidental,” Joanna says, “but being off the main road, it’s a safe location for young children.”
As a career school librarian, Joanna learned that books showing only their spines were hardly ever taken down. So she would create a display, and they would get read. “That’s how children choose,” she says. “It’s just marketing really. You have to promote books, they don’t fly off the shelves by themselves. I’m used to working hard to get children enjoying reading. I’m calling this shop a children’s book experience.”
The store’s layout makes use of the former medical centre rooms, each themed differently. The Te Ao Māori Room houses books in the Māori language, bi-lingual picture books and information about other civilisations. The Nature Room encourages children to get involved with the environment – it has a little tramping hut and a boat they can sit in. The Science and Technology Room, which, appropriately, was the medical centre’s ‘procedures’ room, is about space and how things work. The At Home Room is a cosy reading area where children can enjoy picture books or chapter fiction. “It’s not a library,” Joanna says, “But I’m hoping children will enjoy the experience and learn that books aren’t boring.”
Joanna has also used a couple of floor-level cupboards to create a tiny rocketship and a castle. “Children in Wairarapa have wonderful access to the outdoors, she says, “but they may not have experience with ancient buildings or space travel. Giving them some physical context, even if they’re only cardboard cut-outs, will help them understand better.”
The Chicken and Frog Bookstore stocks books for up to 12-year-olds, by both New Zealand and international authors. “I’ve trawled through thousands of catalogues and carefully selected books that I’d like to have. I call myself a curator, because when you’re building a collection that’s what you’re doing.” She has bought a variety, with the intention of adjusting the selection depending on what is popular. “I can always order on request.”
Joanna is keen to offer her experience to local schools. “It’s disappointing that New Zealand primary schools aren’t obliged to have libraries,” she says. “I know it’s not always easy for them, so I’m happy to help.” Joanna has already run a successful schools poetry competition which was judged on national poetry day. She hopes the schools will be interested when she has visiting authors and workshops.
Joanna and her husband Julian live between central Wellington and a cottage in Longbush. Visiting Featherston often, and getting involved as a volunteer for Featherston Booktown, sparked the idea for a children’s bookshop.
Dividing her time between homes will limit the Chicken and Frog’s opening hours to Friday-Sunday for now, but that is likely to be extended during school holidays and summer. An online presence is also a possibility.
