Best Place To Buy Books
Bookman's
READERS' PICK: Indisputably, Tucson has many wonderful choices for buying children's books. But given the rising cost of books and many young readers' insatiable literary appetites, is it any real surprise that The Weekly's readers picked Bookman's? Parents are constantly barraged with the message that reading to and with your children is vitally important. They're told that a child's own personal library can become a valued treasure. But costs add up quickly while building a library, and even the best-intentioned parent can be left poor after buying all the books their children want. Thanks to Bookman's, parents can fulfill their sacred role as reading-mentor while preserving some semblance of financial solvency. Bookman's has a special section devoted to kid lit, which includes picture books, fiction for older readers and juvenile nonfiction. You may need to be in the right place at the right time to snare one of the more popular picture books, but for young readers the selection rivals found in many stores selling new books. Recent surveys have shown that the age group targeted by these books (roughly third to seventh grade) contains the most avid readers. And at Bookman's these readers can find what they're looking for at about half the price they'd pay if it were brand new. Bookman's has a Kids' Club for children ages 4 to 14: Members receive a card that entitles them to a 10 percent discount on all purchases, in addition to receiving a coupon for a free book on their birthdays. Other monthly in-store activities for children are also scheduled.
1930 E. Grant Road
3733 W. Ina RoadREADERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Barnes & Noble, 5480 E. Broadway.
STAFF PICK: TIE--Whiz Kids, 1737 E. Prince Road, and The Haunted Bookshop, 7211 N. Northern Ave. Don't enter either of these book stores if you're in a hurry--not because these shops are not well organized (they are) or because the salespeople are disinterested (they're not in the least) but because these stores are full of fascinating and entertaining books for kids, books that'll keep grown-ups glued to the kids' stacks for hours. Whiz Kids has a full array of beautifully illustrated and intelligently written books. Although the name of the store might suggest it's only for the eggheads among us, it stocks a delightful assortment of storybooks, nonfiction and workbooks that will inspire even the most reluctant student in your family. We enjoy the emphasis on Native Americans, Carl the Big Red Dog and Peter Rabbit and friends. The Haunted Bookshop is an enchanting place. Whether you slouch in on an August day or stroll in after a crisp fall walk through Tohono Chul Park, you'll feel as if you've been magically transported to a village bookseller in the British Isles. That is, until you begin to browse through the kids' section and see the emphasis on local authors and the Southwestern flavor. The Haunted Bookshop has a plethora of choices for children of all ages, not cheating the toddler set or the adolescent reader, as some other book stores do. They also have a fabulous section for grown-ups on how to be good parents--books on everything from naming the baby to deciding on a 17-year-old's curfew. And they house the parent books in the children's section, appropriately. Bring the children while you shop; they can crawl into the underground reading cave and begin their own love affair with reading while you peruse the pages.
