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Wild Rumpus is a one-of-a-kind independent children’s bookstore. As of 2022, they have been providing their expertise on kids books for 30 years. Besides a catalog of books geared toward children and a friendly staff, they boast a menagerie of domestic and exotic pets. There animals change over time, but cats, chinchillas and birds call the store home. According to the store’s newsletter, What’s the Rumpus?, the store’s most-recent chicken (not the one pictured below), Neil Spiel, decided to retire to a nearby hobby farm in 2021. Once a year, in the late spring, the animals get their annual vet check up. Families are usually invited to come watch. Like any good bookstore, Wild Rumpus offers author events, readings and story times. They are not quick to get these up on their website or out in press releases, so I recommend getting on their email list. During the shutdown for Covid-19, Wild Rumpus offers live story times, book recommendations and photos of their famous pets via Instagram and Facebook . You can also watch their story times on YouTube for 24 hours after they are live. A couple times a year, Wild Rumpus offers their popular trolley ride story times. Several other bookstores do this now, too, but I think this is the bookstore that started the trend. At least they were the first I saw do it. This also tends to be the most popular of the trolley story hours, so they’ve used various methods to fairly distribute tickets — from lottery systems to limits on tickets. Whichever method they use to distribute the tickets, they are gone too fast to promote. If you are interested in attending one of these programs, I, again, recommend subscribing to their newsletter so you can get the details early.
Wild Rumpus is located in the beloved Linden Hills neighborhood. If you are up for an afternoon of exploring, Anne has more details and suggestions for restaurants in her article, Family Fun Idea: 5 Spots to Stop in Linden Hills, Minneapolis. Also, speaking of trolley rides, one of the Como-Harriet Streetcar trolley stations is in Linden Hills. Even if you are not attending a story time, you may be able to ride the trolley. 
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Where the (Not-So) Wild Things Are
Meet Your Favorite Children’s Book Authors
Virtual Offerings
Wild Rumpus Trolley Story Times
Wild Rumpus Neighborhood
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