The Storekeeper

Traces a day in the life of a general store and the storekeeper who runs it, following the adventures of numerous customers as they shop for what they need

PreSchool-Grade 1 The double-page title page sets the stage for a busy day at the general store. Beginning with the doughnut delivery and ending with the last mop-up, the little store, run by a grandmotherly storekeeper, bustles with buyers and visitors. Pickles, toys, cats, and babies spill out of the frames. With good humor, the owner sells, sorts, tidies, and visits throughout the day and evening. Illustrations in ink, watercolor, and gouache are full of details that expand the minimal text and lend warmth and friendliness to the activities. Based on a store near the author's Vermont home, this book about the center of small-town life will delight children as they pore over the pictures and listen to the story or read it themselves. Jane Saliers, Atlanta Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It is not even dawn, but the amiable storekeepera plump, elderly woman wearing a bright-red sweater over her blue-checked dressis up to receive a supply of doughnuts from a delivery man and to prepare for the busy day ahead in her store. The road crew stops in, as do sleepy children on the way to school. Toddlers with a grandfather spend most of the day taking apart displays; one man seems especially interested in those doughnuts; the storekeeper's cats follow a storyline all their own until they, with their mistress, say good night. While imparting some information about a storekeeper's tasks (seeing salespeople, stocking shelves), the book captures the essentially social aspects of the general store environment. This has all the appeal of Pearson's other exuberant works, but, in contrast to the breakneck rhythms of those books, the storekeeper's day unwinds slowly; the story's pace is welcoming and leisurely. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.