Lindy Loves DOG LOVES BOOKS

DOG LOVES BOOKS, (Random House Children’s Books, $19.99, ages 4-8) written and illustrated by Louise Yates, is reviewed today by Lindy Michaels of BookStar on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City.

I love books. Dog Loves Books. Just like dog, I remember the first day I opened my beloved OF BOOKS AND SUCH, L.A.’s first children’s bookshop. And just like dog, I bathed, dressed in my favorite hippie outfit (hey, it was 1972!) and waited with baited breath for my first customer to open the red door and enter my land of enchantment.

But for dog, no one entered his life’s dream. Okay, that’s not quite true. A woman did come in, but asked for a tea with milk and two sugars. Then a man entered asking for directions. Slightly depressed and bored, dog reached for a book and started to read… as it happened, a book about dinosaurs.

Then a quite magical thing happened. When he read, he forgot that he was alone, that he was even in his book store. And when one adventure ended, dog simply reached for another book off the shelf and wonder of wonders, a new adventure would quickly begin.

All that reading, more than he had ever done before, made him an expert in literature, so when customers did finally start flocking into his shop, dog knew just the right book to recommend. I love Dog Loves Books with its wonderful pastel illustrations. And children will, too. There is no doubt it will inspire them to discover new places, learn new things, meet new people and animals, all that are tucked into the pages of books, just waiting to be discovered.

The very versatile Lindy Michaels aims to inspire young minds through children’s literature. Lindy owned L.A.’s first children’s bookshop, OF BOOKS AND SUCH (1972-1987) where she did storytelling, taught drama to children, had art and poetry contests and the like. According to Lindy, “It was truly a ‘land of enchantment.” She also spent years lecturing on realism in children’s literature at colleges in the state. For close to five years Lindy has worked for Studio City Barnes and Noble (BookStar) in the children’s section and does storytelling every Saturday at 10:30 a.m.