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Celebrating Independent Bookstores with Cats* on Small Business Caturday

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This Small Business Saturday lets support all Independent Bookstores with Cats* with this virtual tour with original bookstore cat portraits by Ursula Murray Husted**, author of “A Cat Story.”  It is very challenging to publish your first graphic novel for children of all ages in the midst of a pandemic. Bookstore visits and signings were changed into online visits. Ursula went to the iconic St. Paul MN Independent Children’s bookstore, Red Balloon Bookshop to draw the chalkboard illustration of famous literary cats above and give a virtual book talk. Ursula made a poster for Rain Taxi’s 20th Annual Twin Cities Book Festival. Ursula made virtual school visits to schools that had read the book.  

Ursula and her publisher Harper Collins reached out to independent bookstores with the offer to make an original painting of a bookstore cat, to be featured as part of a virtual bookstore tour. Ursula’s Instagram series features twelve of these bookstores and their cat’s portrait, as well as information about the bookstores and how to make purchases from them during this pandemic. In order to promote these bookstores, Ursula has given me permission to highlight these bookstores with her paintings from Instagram. Some of these stores are frankly struggling to stay open and keep all their employees. Please consider shopping at these bookstores and please feel free to share other worthy independent bookstores and businesses, especially those that love their furry mascots. 

*Some stores feature stuffed animals to accommodate allergies.
** Full disclosure, I am one of Ursula’s parents.

Let’s Play Books in Emmaus, PA have two furry mascots, Bernie and Garfield.  Check their website for store open times and online ordering.

Original painting by Ursula Murray Husted of Bernie and Garfield at Let

Left Bank Books in St. Louis Mo is facing double challenges. They lost their iconic bookstore kitty Spike, recently and are struggling during the pandemic to reach their shoppers.  They offer a holiday catalog, access to used books and you can book an appointment to visit the store or schedule a curbside pickup. 

Original memorial painting of Spike from Left Bank Books by Ursula Murray Husted.

This is Sir Christopher Marlowe of Tall Tale Books in Atlanta Georgia. ! Curbside pick up, shipping or limited delivery are available.   They are currently doing very limited browsing with reduced staff.

Original Painting of Sir Christopher Marlowe by Ursula Murray Husted.

This is Butter, bookstore cat of Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, PA. They have curbside pickup and limited browsing by appointment.

Butter the Bookstore cat painting by Ursula Murray Husted.

Dandy is from Briars & Brambles Books in Windham NY in the Catskills. 

Original painting of Dandy from Briars and Brambles Bookshop by Ursula Murray  Husted

This is Tiny the Usurper from Community Bookstore in Brooklyn NY. 

Tiny the Usurper original painting by Ursula Murray Husted.

This is Mr. Bingley of the Haunted Bookshop in Mobile Alabama. Closed to instore browsing, but still doing shipping and curbside pickup.

Original painting of Mr. Bingley by Ursula Murray Husted.

Wild Rumpus is a fun bookstore for children in Minneapolis MN. They have an abundance of cats and other animals at the store- too many for one painting. @Wildrumpusbooksmpls is offering a free pack of 8 Wild Rumpus postcards with a Saturday purchase of $50 or more (including one with the illustration from the cover of our buyer's guide featuring A Cat Story among other great reads!). They’re also part of a South Minneapolis coalition doing a group deal: 5 $25 gift cards for $100. You can see that deal here: https://homespunmn.myshopify.com/

WildRumpusKitties.jpg

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These are Bartleby, Mr. Eliot, and Skimbleshanks who are the cats of E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah GA. 

Original painting of Bookstore cats from E. Shaver, Savannah GA

These kitties are Ginko and Toki, the personal cats of the bookshop owner of Books with Pictures a comics store in Eugene OR. 

BooksWithPicturesEugeneOR.jpg

This is a cartoon of Jay Catsby, the stuffed toy mascot of Towne Book Center and Wine Bar in greater Philadelphia. Their website features curated lists and online visits from authors.

Original cartoon painting by Ursula Murray Husted for Town Center Bookstore and Wine Bar

Finally, Reb Balloon Bookshop features two iconic teddies who get up to hijinks in the store.

Original painting for Red Balloon Books by Ursula Murray Husted

And no bookstore diary would be complete if I didn’t include my local bookseller, Lake Country Booksellers in White Bear Lake MN.


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