4/15/2023 0 Comments Wild rumpus bookstoreMore small animals-a ferret, cockatiel, doves, chinchillas-dwell inside enclosures set against the back and side walls, as well as along the exterior of the “Haunted Shed,” a small shed in the back area housing the store’s inventory of children’s mysteries and thrillers and a couple of caged rats. A tarantula lives in an enclosure near the cash register. Three cats and a chicken roam about freely. “The idea is that books open up the world,” says Collette Morgan, the store’s cofounder and head buyer.Ī menagerie of more than a dozen animals plus fish in an aquarium live in the store. Plants creep up the brick back wall and along the large windows. After one passes the sales counter in the solar-powered space, however, the plaster on the 18-foot ceiling splits open to reveal a mural that resembles a body of water (or, some say, the sky), complete with a birchbark canoe. As one enters the 2,000-square-foot retail space-either through the standard-sized door or a child-sized purple door-there are shelves of books and table displays, much like any other bookstore. It’s not surprising that visitors would compare Wild Rumpus to a storybook come to life: its layout was inspired by Anne Mazer’s Salamander Room, a tale about a boy whose bedroom gradually transforms into the outdoors. Kate DiCamillo describes a visit to Wild Rumpus as “like walking into a story” and entering “a world of animals and books and possibilities.” Soman Chainani calls Wild Rumpus his favorite bookstore, declaring, “It’s an entire universe: once you go in, you feel like you are walking through a portal into Narnia.” Authors are even more effusive in praising Wild Rumpus. PW’s 2015 Rep of the Year, Jenny Sheridan of HarperCollins, nominated Wild Rumpus, describing it as a “unique, charming, and magical place that specializes in children’s books” and is “one of the best in the nation,” a destination in its community and a favorite stop for authors on tour. It is also the first bookstore of the year to have a municipal pet store license, undergo animal control inspections, and have an employee dedicated to animal care. It is the first children’s bookstore to win the award since PW launched the program almost a quarter-century ago. Wild Rumpus, which is marking its 25th anniversary in September, has yet another cause for celebration: the Minneapolis bookstore is PW’s Bookstore of the Year.
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