Today we went to Ocean Terminal and while I was there I saw a few great book stores for kids books.  In particular because of the sheer depth of their inventory, I was impressed by Book Castle.  The first time I was there was a few weeks ago and the guy there was actually annoyed with me for asking him if they had a title and grumbled when I asked if he could search in his computer for something when he had told me “just look on the shelves.”  But the lady today was really helpful.

There is no shortage of book stores in Hong Kong, but they all suffer the same plight.  They do not want you to read the books before you buy them.  Seriously.  And they keep you from reading them by wrapping them in plastic.

This is interesting to me not only because I am American and people there like to sit in book shops for hours and hours reading books and drinking coffee also purchased from the book shop coffee bar.  But I also come most recently from Sweden, where there are book stores everywhere and people love to read, and there they also take their time finding a good book.  In fact, I think this is the case in most European countries.

Have you ever tried to shop for a kids book without looking inside?  Ha!  Fortunately the lady at the store was willing to let me see the book before I bought it.  She unwrapped the plastic and there it was, a book in my hands, ready to open and see if the little guy would like it.  But of course I felt instantly guilty for making her do this, so I bought both the books that I had her open 😉