Located on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, The Red Balloon Bookshop is a perfect stop for everyone in the family. We count this children’s bookstore as one of our favorite independent bookstores to visit with kids. Story times are currently held in store (or on the patio) each Wednesday at 10:30am. Look for local author visits, book clubs and other reading-related events throughout the year. Current shopkeeper, Holly Weinkauf has owned the store since 2011 but the shop has been selling books at the current location since 1984 when it was originally opened by Carol Erdahl and Michele Cromer-Poire. One of our favorite things about the Red Balloon Bookshop is the opportunities to meet both local and national author and illustrators, to learn more about their craft and to get our children’s books signed. Some events, like author story times, are geared to the littlest book-lovers, but many are YA events geared toward teens. Check our calendar or the Red Balloon’s event page for upcoming author events. Story hours are offered weekly on Wednesday and Thursdays at 10:30am. These events are particularly geared toward children ages 3 and under with picture books and rhymes for pre-literacy skills, but families with children of all ages are welcome. The first time I ever entered this store, I was 10 years old (give or take). It was so magical then. And it is still just as magical today. Okay, so I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for books. I like to be surrounded by books. I like piles of books and stacks of books. Books on shelves. Books on beds. Books in bags. Books scattered around my house (just not on the floor where they can and will be stepped on). It tickles my fancy to see my kids enamored by books as much as I am. And The Red Balloon Bookshop does everything right to make books magical. Now that I’ve used the word magical three times in my description of The Red Balloon Bookshop, let me describe it for you. It’s located in big gray house right off of Grand Ave in St. Paul. As you walk into the store, you find yourself in book wonderland. Picture the library scene in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. While the books don’t climb exactly that high on the walls, you get the same sense of breathtaking “Wow!” It’s spacious lay-out makes it very user friendly. Almost every corner is visible from anywhere in the store, and because it is open, I was able to hear my children when I wasn’t able to see them. Can I say that I love that they call themselves a bookshop and not a bookstore. The word shop is just so sublime for this gem. In the past, the Red Balloon has hosted birthday parties in their basement party space. Parties are not currently offered, but we hope to see them back again. In the meantime, you can find more party venues in our annual Birthday Party Guide. Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. When you shop for books and gifts through this link, Family Fun Twin Cities receives a small commission on books ordered and you can choose Red Balloon Bookshop as your local bookstore and they’ll receive the full profit off your order. Learn more here.Related Pages and Posts:
Author & Illustrator Events
Weekly Storytimes
Visiting the Red Balloon Bookstore
As we explored this homey bookshop, my eye caught the sign that said, “Bargain Books in the basement.” Of course. The four of us, traipsed down the stairs to explore what goodies they had hiding down there. In a sectioned off area away from the book processing space, The Red Balloon Bookshop had crammed Educational books, Bargain books, Grown-up Bargain books, and Foreign Language books.
Red Balloon Bookshop Highlights
Disadvantages to the Red Balloon Bookshop
Family Book Clubs at the Red Balloon Bookshop
Birthday Parties at the Red Balloon Bookshop
Support Red Balloon with Bookshop.Org
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