Around Town: The Oldest Independent Children’s Book Shop

In the heart of Brookline Village is a gem for kids who love to read. The Children’s Book Shop at 237 Washington Street is a 35-year-old haven for children’s book to young adult stories.

“It is so much fun and very rewarding to work with children,” owner Terri Schmitz said. “My first love was children’s books.”

Twenty-seven years ago, Schmitz was working as a librarian at Harvard’s Widener Library when she saw an advertisement for a children’s bookstore for sale in Brookline. From that day on, Schmitz has overseen the oldest independent children’s bookstore in the Greater Boston Area.

The Children’s Book Shop offers over 28,000 hand-selected books, old and new, for infants all the way up to young adult titles. Schmitz said one of the greatest joys is watching her clientele grow up. “We tend to lose the kids once they reach high school and are old enough to find books at the (Brookline) Booksmith,” Schmitz said. “But the joy is watching them come, read, and grow.”

The staff read to children every Friday, and host a yearly poetry contest for kids in Kindergarten to eighth grade. The winners of this contest get to have their work put on display in the front of the store window. If you have time on your hands, you owe it to yourself to read the poems in the storefront or read them here.