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Kepler’s Kids
From left: Author Joy Hulme talks with Sarmistha Patnaik and daughter Anushka; Elizabeth Semichy helps Lily Olson, 2, put together a puzzle; and kids watch a juggling demonstration.
Recently, author Sherman Alexie
came to Kepler’s to speak about
his new book, “The Absolutely
True Diary of a Part Time Indian,”
which is based on his experiences
growing up on a Spokane Indian
Reservation. In the next month,
author Nancy Farmer, a resident of
Menlo Park who has written popular
novels such as “The Ear, The Eye
and the Arm,” and notable author
Nick Hornby will visit the store to
talk about their newest works.
The children’s specialists devotedly
pore over dozens of books a
week so that they can develop personalized
recommendations and
decide which authors they want to
invite to the store.
“If we don’t love the author, we
don’t bring them,” Ms. Leal says.
“The threshold is very high.”
Although the youth and children’s
department staff selects the
visiting authors with much deliberation
and care, they are committed
to bringing in authors from
a multitude of genres, schools of
thought and walks of life.
“We want to maintain freedom
of thought and maintain the open
forum that Kepler’s has stood for
for 52 years — that’s not going to
change,” Ms. Leal says.
Change of setting
As part of the youth author speaker
series, Kepler’s invites authors to
talk with students at local schools
and libraries, including those that
may not have the resources to host
high-profile guests. The goal, says
Jean Forstner, who runs Kepler’s
community partners program, is
to extend the benefits of the author
visits to the community at large.
In working with schools, Kepler’s
makes an effort to choose authors
that correspond with that school’s
curriculum, Ms. Forstner says.
In November 2006, Kepler’s jumpstarted
its library initiative by bringing
the popular young adult author
Tamora Pierce to the Menlo Park
Library. According to Michelle Barrese,
the youth services manager at
the library, about 300 adolescents
crowded the main lobby on a Friday
night to listen to Ms. Pierce read her
stories, speak about being an author
and answer
questions.
“It was magical
to see Ms.
Pierce connect
with the readers
for hours,”
Ms. Barrese
says. “These
events can
introduce kids
to the library
who may not have ever come before,
and connect them with books.”
Tell me a story
Walk into Kepler’s on a typical
Sunday morning, and you will
probably notice clusters of children,
sitting attentively as someone reads
to them from the colorful pages of
a picture book. From 11:30 to 12:30
on most Sundays, children ages 3
to 7, along with their parents, are
invited to Kepler’s for the magical
hour of story time.
Although Kepler’s children staff
often run story time, they also
bring in local authors of picture
books to read to the children.
Story times are interactive and
fun, Ms. Leal says. Just a few weeks
ago, author and skateboarding
mom Barb Odanaka treated young
listeners to a story and then demonstrated
her skateboarding savvy
outside the store.
Occasionally, Kepler’s partners
with other organizations to add
a new dimension to story time.
In March for example, volunteers
from Common Ground, a Palo
Alto nonprofit organization that
serves as a gardening and educational
resource, came to Kepler’s to
help children plant seeds after they
listened to several nature stories.
Another fun story time event is
‘We thought about why the
store had been resurrected.
We’re a cultural center, not
just a bookstore. We provide
communities with support.’
VIVIAN LEAL
DIRECTOR, YOUTH AND FAMILY EVENTS
just around the corner. On Sunday,
Sept. 30, at 11:30 a.m., the Menlo
Park Police Department’s K-9 unit
and their dogs will visit Kepler’s to
share a story about a German shepherd
police dog, and then discuss
the unit’s role
in the community.
Around
25 to 30 families
bring
their children
to story time
every week,
hoping to foster
a love of
reading, Ms.
Kroner-Grafmiller says.
Stephanie Seeger of Menlo Park
makes regular visits with her
2-year-old son, Henry. She thinks
of Kepler’s as the “neighborhood
bookstore” that harkens back to
the smaller, personal stores from
her childhood. “Everybody is here
to find good books and it’s so well
organized,” she says. “It’s a nice
place to bring my son.”
Menlo Park resident Lynn Auslander
echoes Ms. Seeger’s affection
for Kepler’s. She says she brings her
children to the store as much as
she can and likes that she can let
them explore freely because of the
enclosed nature of the children’s
area. “I hope that they will come to
the store when they are older and
just hang out,” she adds.
Crafting mood and tone
The youth and children’s department
at Kepler’s bookstore is in
itself an immense effort. Although it
primarily houses a carefully selected
and scrupulously categorized range
of books, it also stands as a safe
alcove where children can curl up
and escape into faraway lands.
“We want to create a space that is
comfortable,” Ms. Antonia says.
To assess which books should
be housed and sold in the department,
she reads more than 50 pic-
ture books and about six-to-seven
chapter books a week.
“I read like a kid,” she says with a
laugh. “I read like a 12-year-old boy,
and I can get that boy on my side.”
In line with Kepler’s communityminded
efforts, she works to make
sure that the books she orders mirror
the needs of her customers.
“As part of my job, I need to
know what my community likes
and where their overall interests
lie; this community is not homogenous
by any means, so I have
to bring in a wide spectrum of
books,” she says.
She emphasizes the forethought
that goes into deciding what books
to purchase. “Everything you read
as a child influences you for the
rest of your life,” she says.
Ms. Squire says the children themselves
can be her best resources. She
makes an effort to talk to them as
they meander about the store. “They
are the ones who are reading the
books, so it’s important to talk to
them and listen to them.”
The books she purchases are
arranged and organized by genre
and age. High-school students, for
instance, have their own separate
bookshelf apart from the rest of
young adult books. “The parents
have to know that when their
12-year-old daughter comes to
Kepler’s, she won’t be given something
inappropriate,” she says.
The pages in between
Amidst the author visits and story
time events, Kepler’s provides a
range of other programs for young
readers and their families.
Families can subscribe online to
“Book Blasts,” a monthly e-newsletter
filled with information on
newly released books, including
reviews written by staff members.
Kepler’s also features book reviews
and staff recommendations on its
Web site at keplers.com.
See KEPLER’S, next page
September 19, 2007 ■ The Almanac ■ 13