Paint-a-Story Mondays… or, The Messier the Better
Fun at Cynthia Compton's Store
Cynthia is the mom of 4 kids, the walker of 5 dogs, and the owner of 4 Kids Books & Toys in Zionsville, Indiana. The 2600 sq. ft. children's store was founded in 2003, and hosts daily story times and events, birthday parties, book clubs and a large summer reading program. She is a current board member of the American Specialty Toy Retailers Assn, a past president of the Great Lakes Bookseller Association, and her store was honored with the Pannell Award in 2013.
Like most children’s stores, we rely on regular story times and authorless events to keep our regulars stopping in. Here at 4 Kids, we host an unchanging weekly schedule, as follows:
Mondays: Paint-a-Story, Tuesdays: Stories & Snacks, Thursdays: Silly Songs & Stories, Fridays: Gymboree Art Class
Wednesdays are reserved for private play groups in our party/event room, “special events” and large order deliveries (because I still *believe* that I can direct when pallets will arrive… see me later about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and my plan to Whole 30 just any day now…)
The most popular of our events is the Monday morning Paint-a-Story session, and I’m posting today just as this event is finishing up. So yes, I do see that there is blue paint in my hair and gluey fingerprints on my skirt, and yes, I meant for my manicure to be green. Thanks for noticing. We didn’t start out planning for this to be such an art-travaganza, but it owns that moniker proudly. Each week, about 30–35 kids attend with their moms, grandmothers (lots more of these lately, that’s another post, I think) and nannies. There’s another dozen or so “pumpkin seaters,” or babies in carriers and strollers, and the occasional dad.
Read more from Cynthia's Publishers Weekly blog article, April 19th, 2017, at ShelfTalker "in which children's booksellers ponder all things literary, artistic, and mercantile."