For Talking Animals Books owners Katy Lemieux and Valerie Walizadeh, keeping stories alive was the inspiration for both their two-year-old bookstore and a new summer literary crawl.
Named after the talking animals who are “purveyors of knowledge” of Narnia and beyond, the Grapevine shop had already inspired a tight-knit community of literary fans when it decided to launch a literary crawl beginning Aug. 1.
Inspired by similar events during Independent Bookstore Day in April, this adventure was a light bulb moment for Lemieux, who met fellow Austin and Houston retailers this spring when testifying against House Bill 1375, which could have held booksellers liable for displaying materials deemed harmful to children. The bill didn’t pass, but the idea of banding together her fellow booksellers stuck around.
Says Lemieux, “We just talked about our stores and our challenges, and I thought this would be so cool to have this in North Texas, and why don’t we do it in the summer when people aren’t outside?”
Participants simply pick up a Bookstore Passport from any participating shop, including Half Price Books, Deep Vellum and the Wild Detectives. With each stop, visitors get a stamp and can pick up special discounts and treats along the way.
Passports are to be completed and returned to Talking Animals by Aug. 31. Each stamp will serve as a single entry into a raffle to win one of three bookshop.org gift cards worth $50 or $100. Twenty-four locations from Oak Cliff to Denton are participating, with a larger number already clamoring to join the ranks next year.
Participating bookstores
Dallas
- Blush Bookstore
- Deep Vellum Books
- Poets Books – Deep Ellum
- Poets Books – Bishop Arts
- Pan-African Connection
- The Wild Detectives
- Interabang Books
- Whose Books
- Lucky Dog Books – East Dallas
- Lucky Dog Books – Oak Cliff
- Half Price Books – Flagship
Denton
- Recycled Books & Records
- Patchouli Joe’s
- The Plot Twist
Fort Worth
- The Dock Bookshop
- Leaves Bakery & Books
- Monkey & Dog Books
- Recluse Books
Grapevine
- Talking Animals Books
Keller
- A House With Books
Plano
- Bibliobar
McKinney
- Neighbor Books
Roanoke
- The Novel Narwhal
Rockwall
- Fable & Fire Bookshop Bistro
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