Over the past two years, Blue Bunny Books & Toys in Dedham, Mass., which was opened in 2003 by children's author and illustrator Peter Reynolds (The Dot), has expanded its scope from children's books and toys to include a full-service cafe and a wider selection of adult books. Sarah Reynolds, the store's general manager and daughter of Peter Reynolds, explained that both changes came about somewhat unexpectedly.
The cafe, called Mocha Java Espresso Bar and Cafe, was originally a separate, 17-year-old business located across the street. The shop was Blue Bunny's "go-to" place for coffee, and around two years ago, said Reynolds, they learned that Mocha Java's owners were having trouble with their lease and might be facing closure. She recalled: "My dad said, 'come on over, we'll incorporate you into our business.' And that almost 20-year-old business became a part of us."
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| photo: Andrew Hobbs | |
About a year after the Reynoldses brought in the cafe, they did a major renovation to build out the kitchen and a 15-foot cafe counter. The renovation was a "big shift" that included getting rid of a play room and reorganizing the space. Reynolds described the store as now being seamlessly mixed between the cafe and the bookstore. "It's all one big room, basically," she said. The cafe counter is along one wall, and "the tables are scattered throughout. It's a really mixed space."
"It feels like we're really striking the perfect balance," added Reynolds. "Now it's truly a bookstore-cafe."
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| photo: Andrew Hobbs | |
Inspired in part by the PBS event The Great American Read, Reynolds and her colleagues have made an effort to widen their selection of adult books. They remain a small portion of the overall inventory, but lately Blue Bunny has added a lot of classics and sourced recommendations not only from customers but also from friends in the bookselling world. Reynolds reported that they've also widened the young adult section after noticing how many adults gravitate there.
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| Store owner Peter Reynolds in the window of Blue Bunny (photo: Jennifer Flemings) |
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Middle-grade titles and picture books, meanwhile, remain the store's biggest and bestselling sections. For toys and games, Reynolds said that she and her colleagues "love anything that inspires creativity and encourages kids to create and think outside the box," and those can range from educational toys to silly and fun toys. She reported that Blue Bunny does very well with hand puppets, particularly those made by Folkmanis, and puzzles are extremely popular with all age groups. Squishy toys and Thinking Putty, she added, are particularly popular at the moment.
Blue Bunny has held author events in partnership with other local businesses and community organizations. There is a community theater nearby, built in 1927, that they've rented out for events, and they've worked with the Dedham Community House, local churches, the Motherbrook Arts & Community Center, the local public library and a variety of other businesses. Some examples of great, collaborative efforts include an Indie Bookstore Day event with musician Emily Arrow, who writes songs based on children's literature, that was held at the community theater, and an event with author and bookstore owner Jeff Kinney.
Reynolds has some more large-scale collaborative events planned for the fall, but more recently, Blue Bunny hosted the Scholastic Summer Reading Roadtrip on July 5. They got permission from the town to close the street outside their store to traffic for two hours, and Reynolds estimated that as many as 400 people showed up.
"It was an awesome opportunity to be selected," said Reynolds. "It was just a huge success." --Alex Mutter