Is there an independent bookstore near and dear to your heart? A place you visit as often as you can? Perhaps for storytime or a book discussion group or to get knowledgeable advice about what to read next?

Or perhaps you don’t live close enough to a bookstore but you like to dream about what happens in a bookstore you visit in person twice a year, whenever you get to town, but the rest of the year you order by mail?

This book belongs in every bookstore fan’s home, whether you have young children or none at all. 

The text is lovely as a read-aloud, with many words that are satisfying to say: “Ding, ding, ding.” “Ring, ring, ka-ching!” “Good night store clock. Tick-tick-tock!”

Paying homage to other goodnight books, we wish goodnight to many familiar parts of a bookstore, see behind the scenes, and have the satisfaction of turning out the lights.

The illustrations are exquisite. From two-page spreads to small vignettes (spot illustrations), we can study each page closely, finding book covers that make us smile and an animal we want to pick up and cuddle. “The illustrations were done in gouache, oil paint, crayon, black tea, and collage on kitakata paper.” Want to know more? I was fascinated by this video showing E.B. Goodale assembling the page below: