posted on 22 Jul 2019

The Missing Bookshop by Katie Clapham, illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman

One of the great things about any independent bookshop is that it can, with a little effort and imagination, become a crucial part of the community it serves. In Katie Clapham’s endearing story, young Milly never misses story time at Minty’s Bookshop and even though it’s décor, fixtures and fittings show their age, “it still looked sort of marvellous because it was filled with shelves and shelves of wonderful books.”

Milly just loves having the perfect story chosen for her and she can hear tales from all around the globe – the bookshop is a gateway to the world of imagination. Sadly though, Mrs Minty who runs the shop is also getting a bit old and creaky and one day, disaster strikes! The shop is closed ‘due to unforeseen circumstances.'.  When a van is spotted outside loading furniture from the shop and a ‘For Sale’ notice goes up, Milly is distraught. She had always said that Minty’s could never be replaced and must never close down – but here was the reality and it looked done and dusted.

But Milly wasn’t prepared to give up that easily and each day on her way home from school she put up a new hand drawn poster on the shop telling everyone how much she loved this special place and how badly she wanted it back again.

And then one day, her mom gives her some good news – the shop is reopening and it was going to be a bookshop again. When Milly races to the opening of the new shop, she’s in for a surprise….but I’m not going to tell you what that is because it would spoil the book for you.

This is a lovely little hardback – about the size of a normal paperback – but it’s been superbly illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman with every page having drawings that are richly coloured and bring Milly, her mom and Mrs Minty to life for you.

I like to think that there are still children who get as upset as Milly does at the thought of a beloved bookshop closing and those that get equally excited at the thought of a new one opening. There’s something that now feels rather old fashioned about stories like this that feature children who don’t have their every waking moment dominated by screens or electronic devices. But, as atypical as Milly’s behaviour might seem in a world where children’s entertainment is always hyperactive, books like this can create a sort of slow-paced bubble of time in which a very different set of values seems to dominate – peaceful, thoughtful, imaginative and kind.

 

Terry Potter

July 2019

(Click on any image below to view them in a slide show format)