An Ode to the Perfect Bookstore: Treehorn Books, Santa Rosa, CA
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For the past three years, we’ve traveled to Santa Rosa, CA for spring break. It’s not exactly Sonoma wine country luxury rolling hills, it’s not urban San Francisco, and it’s not even very warm in March. But when I travel, I look for the best brewery, bakery, and bookstore, and this small area boasts the excellent Russian River Brewing, a New Zealand bakery (the only place you can get a proper cream doughnut in the continental USA) and then there is Treehorn Books.
Treehorn Books opened in 1979 and is my platonic ideal of a bookstore. The Kids Section is stacks and shelves of picture books, MG and YA, a little haphazard-looking, but organized perfectly. The books are all used but of excellent quality. Hardcovers have plastic slipcovers and the prices penciled on the inside flyleaf are always far more reasonable than they could be. Even the name and logo are perfect, taken from Gorey’s illustration of Treehorn reading in the dry little classic “The Shrinking of Treehorn” by Florence Parry Heid. Here’s some of what I picked up on my last visit:
Probably the kookiest and most thrilling of them is Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt (1968) by William Pene du Bois, he of The 21 Balloons and William’s Doll. This is a crazy little tale based on the life of real-life 60’s model Peggy Moffitt and features clothing designed by Rudi Gernreich. The outfits! The book design! It’s in perfect shape, first edition, hardcover with dustjacket - and it cost me $7. I can’t find a cheaper copy online than $150.
I don’t go crazy for signed copies of books, often skipping the signing line at readings, satisfied just seeing the author or illustrator I love. But when I saw E.L Koningsburg’s handwriting on the flyleaf of this copy of (George) (1972), I had to have it. Would it have been much more thrilling if it was “The Mixed Up Files…” or “Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth” (a top ten book of all time for me)? Of course. But this was still a Must Buy.
Any James Marshall I don’t have - and even ones I already have - is also a must-buy.
Sing Out, Irene (1975) gets bonus points for name-checking my Grandma in the title.
Was the kids publishing industry more risk-averse once upon a time? How else to explain an Alice Walker kids picture book called To Hell With Dying (1988), with full text pages about aging and dying? There are more bonus points for names here, with the main character Mr. Sweet and I sharing a last name.
The Sugaring Off Party (1995) by Jonathan London (signed again!) is lovely but the real star here for me are the paintings by Gilles Pelletier. I’ve never been to a real cabane au sucre but he makes me feel like I have, and the Canadiana of it all called to me.
Yesterday’s Snowman (1979) by Gail Mack and illustrated by Erik Blegvad is that 70’s style of book I love, not a whole lot of plot, child narration and working Mom seen through kids’ eyes. I love the Julie Flalatko review of this book, where she compares it to a Charlotte Zolotow’s The White Marble and praises the dailiness of it:
It’s a kind of story poem that could totally backfire, that could be the world’s biggest snorefest, but instead it’s like it’s a story written directly from their brains. And I most certainly appreciate a book that doesn’t talk down to kids, but understands that they understand complex thought processes and abstract concepts and stories that don’t necessarily have a clear plot or a conflict but are really just something interesting that happened once.
Exactly. How I like my books, my movies, and my life.
Treehorn Books has very little internet presence, let alone a web shop, so trust me, make the trip to Santa Rosa for a real book lover’s experience.
