When Rachael Ostrom saw a “For Lease” sign at the former Micawber’s Books space in St. Anthony Park at Milton Square, she felt like the stars were aligning. Ostrom had worked in marketing at Aveda for 25 years and was ready for a change. Micawber’s had been a bookstore she took her kids (now, college-aged) to, and she’d considered it a magical place. The result of her momentous decision is Acorn Bookshop, which opened this past March.
Walking into the space, you’ll likely soon see that Acorn has its own magic. So much thought has been put into the details. In addition to a tea station, reading nooks, and a big tree mural, there’s a treehouse in the shop, which Ostrom bought online. A man had initially made it for his son, and Ostrom’s own father installed it in the shop. There are used books in the treehouse for kids to read and a free library in the front of the store among the foliage. Ostrom says pretty much every day she works, she sees her vision for the store realized. “Right now, there’s a mom and kid in the treehouse reading stories,” she points out.
75% of new titles at the shop are written by women. This is intentional. Ostrom was inspired by a piece she read in The Guardian about how men weren’t reading books by female authors. Free bookmarks by the register cite one of the article’s statistics, that only 19% of top-selling books by female authors were read by men, but 45% of top-selling books by male authors were read by women. Let’s work together to read more women authors and amplify their voices, the shop’s bookmark states. The store also sells wares from women’s small businesses, like Kobi candles.
Cozy reading nooks separate middle grade and children’s books from young adult books. (Courtesy of Acorn Bookshop)
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The space is not just a shop of her own; it's a family affair. Ostrom’s sister is a kindergarten teacher who weighs in on children’s books. Her daughter helped design the store logo. Ostrom says the store is split in half with her niece, Peyton Taylor, who is the store’s assistant manager and the buyer for the young adult and fantasy sections. Ostrom’s half includes classics and historical fiction. (Incidentally, the two both praise Fishbone Cinderella, a book that combines fantasy and historical fiction).
A designated middle grade section is rare for a bookstore that isn’t solely a children’s bookstore. But there's a robust section here, even broken down by genre. (If, like me, you didn’t know what middle grade was, it’s the bridge between children and young adults, often for kids ages 8-12).
One consistently top-selling children’s book in the store is Acorn was a Little Wild, but Ostrom is quick to point out books by local authors that are also popular, such as From the Tops of the Trees by Kao Kalia Yang and Wild Mindfulness by Laura Larson.
The shop has a summer passport offering reading ideas (see them listed online here), such as reading a translated novel, a genre you’ve never read before, or a book about nature. The August 19 summer passport party includes an end-of-summer sweepstakes. The party is just one example of how Acorn Bookshop is more than a place to buy books. As the store’s website says, “it’s a living, breathing space where stories take root, worlds expand, and community grows.”
