Published in the Sept. 3 – 16, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Matthew Fitch
Recently I celebrated my 8th birthday with my mom and dad by going to the Granada Theater for Saturday morning cartoons followed by free birthday ice cream (black cherry, my favorite!) at BookSmart, one of my favorite places to go.
BookSmart is a good place for our community. People can gather there because it’s a safe, fun place and makes you feel good. But I’m sad to say that, as awesome as BookSmart is, it might not be around much longer. The store has financial issues. BookSmart supports the community. We need to now support BookSmart.
On my birthday that morning, as I was enjoying my ice cream, my mom and dad participated in BookSmart’s crowd-funding program by giving money to the store in the effort to save it. Owner “Mr. Brad” (Brad Jones) gave me a yellow T-Shirt with the words “Own It” printed on it. We took the pledge to support the store with many other people and help keep the doors open.
Why is it important that people make an effort to keep BookSmart open? BookSmart is not like other bookstores. They have a wide variety of books. Recently I read two books my mom bought at BookSmart — “Grimm’s Fairytales” and the “One and Only Ivan.” The store has a wide variety of toys and art supplies, too. I saved up money to buy a stuffed penguin to be friends with my stuffed deer that I received as a Christmas present (both came from BookSmart).
The food at BookSmart is very good. I like that the store’s cafe has the menu posted on the wall so you can see it from all around. I always get the hot dog meal which is soda, chips and a yummy hot dog half covered with mustard and half covered with ketchup.
The Treat ice cream at BookSmart has references to books such as “If You Give a Mouse Cookie Dough Ice Cream” or “Clockwork Orange Sherbert.”
BookSmart has classes that are fun for everyone. There’s BookSmart Art taught by “Miss Nancy” (Nancy Domnauer), and there’s also the ZenDoodle class. The people at BookSmart give personal service. They know me by my name and they get to know everyone. Co-owner Cinda Meister knows a lot about books, and Mr. Brad knows a lot about toys.
If you want to keep BookSmart in Morgan Hill, you should buy something or help them raise money.
Matthew Fitch is a third grader at Paradise Valley Elementary School. He wrote this with the help of publisher Marty Cheek.
