Bookstores
One of my favourite things to do when I travel is to explore children´s bookstores. There are so many beautiful and interesting stores to visit in the world! Tracking down these stores will often also take you outside the touristy tracks, reveal new neighboorhoods and give you a taste of the local everyday life in the city.
I only recommend stores that I have personally visited and truly enjoyed. Italy is therefore over-represented, both because it is my favourite place to travel, and because Italians really take children´s literature seriously - even the smaller cities will have multiple wonderful shops packed with picturebooks. But besides our recommandations for bookstores in Rome, Palermo, Catania, Messina and Bologna, you also find great bookstores in Bulgaria, Germany, Norway and Greece.
And whenever you have the chance - please select a small, independent bookstore to make your silent book purchases. All of these stores have hardworking owners that find themselves in constant competition with huge online stores and bookstore chains. The giants might be a little bit cheaper, but they can not compete with the customer service and knowledge you will find in the stores below.
If you know about a wonderful bookstore that is not listed, please send me a hint, maybe I will get a chance to explore it someday!
Messina, Sicily: Exquisite selection of, and expertise in, silent books and picturebooks from all over the world
Palermo, Sicily: A bookstore filled with rare and spectacular silent books, picture books and visual arts
Rome, Italy: A little piece of heaven for all booklovers, with a beautifully curated selection of childen's books
Rome, Italy: Tic e le cose fantastiche is a haven for all that are interested in art and visual communication.
Catania, Italy: Small, colorful and very cute, with an interesting selection of silent and picturebooks.
Munich, Germany: A tiny, but supercute bookstore with lots of great titles!
Bologna, Italy: Lovely bookstore with a huge selection of silent books, multilingual books and sooo much more.
Athens, Greece: Looking for multilingual or bilingual books? This is the store for you!
Rome, Italy: A fun, whimsical and colorful store run by two literary scholars. Bring your children!
Palermo, Sicily: A bookstore, art shop and publishing house all in one, a feast for your eyes!
Catania, Sicily: A bookstore that is open till 02:00 am? Yes, please! Part of a wonderful community.
Sofia, Bulgaria: A bookstore or a fairytale? Such a lovely surprise in the middle of the city center!
