When The Children’s Bookshop in Brookline Village closed for good three years ago, you could hear a collective sigh of sorrow from the parents and kids who frequented the beloved bookstore.
Fast forward to mid-November when those sighs of sorrow will turn into feelings of happiness and delight as longtime community members, Bruce and Kathy Jacobs, will open a brand-new children’s bookstore called Turtle Books on Brookline’s Washington Street.
The project pulled the Jacobs out of retirement and into a world of words for kids of all ages. GBH’s Henry Santoro welcomed bookstore owner Bruce Jacobs to GBH and to Henry in the Hub. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
Henry Santoro: How are you anticipating this opening to go?
Bruce Jacobs: Well, good question. We have an advisory board that’s been terrific in helping support us and setting up the grand opening. I’m bouncing back between nobody showing up and us sitting around just twiddling our fingers — and the opposite, which is being mobbed.
Santoro: Lines around the block.
Jacobs: Lines. Because I can tell you — we work in the store a lot, logging the books, getting the store ready. And people come in all the time and say, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.” And it’s been validating to hear that.
Santoro: Well, I’m a Brookline resident, and I am very glad that you’re here. Both my daughters, we got our books at The Children’s Bookshop a lot. And my daughters are grown up now, but there are other kids who need these books in a big, big way.
Jacobs: Absolutely. Yeah, and we’ve been working with Terri Schmitz, he was the previous owner of Children’s Bookshop.
Santoro: What is the mission statement of Turtle Bookstore?
Jacobs: Our mission statement is to build a community of readers. And I think that pretty much sums it up. We explored some more complicated mission statements and decided to keep it simple.
Santoro: You don’t need me to tell you that the opening of Turtle Books couldn’t have come at a better time. Many school systems in the area are seeing what several school officials call troubling trends in student reading rates. Your hope is to turn that around.
Jacob: Yeah, absolutely. We have three older children in their 20s and 30s, and we’ve seen a big change from their reading patterns. We acctually are guardians of a 12-year-old now, and it’s just changed.
It’s not just these individual kids, but we notice them and their friends. It’s just very different, especially with social media being so all-encompassing and taking up all their time. It makes it difficult for them to find time and the stamina to read.
Santoro: It’s the age-old thing that the attention span is so short now that because of YouTube and because of TikTok. “Everything goes by in the blink of an eye” — rather than spending time looking at the words in a book.
Jacobs: Yes. I remember, years ago, people would complain about “Sesame Street,” saying, “Oh, that’s diminishing their attention span.” But now we look back, and those are the glory days.
Santoro: Most certainly. Bruce Jacobs and his wife Kathy are the proprietors of Turtle Books in Brookline Village at 224 Washington Street. How can folks find you on social media?
Jacobs: We are on Instagram @turtlebookstore. That’s the best way to do it.
Santoro: Bruce, thank you so much for coming in, it’s much appreciated. And I wish you all the success with the store.
Jacobs: Terrific, thank you very much. I really appreciate the opportunity to come in today.
