My love of bookstores began when I was about 10 years old. My mom and I started a little tradition of sorts when I was growing up in the 1970’s. She’d take me out to lunch at my favorite Chinese Restaurant and then we’d go to The Book Sellers, an independent bookstore tucked away in an outdoor mall called El Paseo de Saratoga in Saratoga, CA. It was such a pretty outdoor mall with several waterfalls, clothing boutiques, a movie theater, and at least 5 restaurants. This was before big corporations ruled retail and just about every bookstore was independent. I used to love to run up and down the carpeted ramps of books before settling down to my usual destination which was the shelf housing volumes of the hardcover Nancy Drew Mysteries. I’d bring over a little wooden stool and park myself for the next hour poring over all those books with the pale yellow cover trying to decide which one I wanted to read next. I remember when my oldest sister got married, my wedding gift to her was a Southern cooking hardbound cookbook that my mom helped me purchase from The Book Sellers. I was so excited to give her that cookbook.

My love of bookstores continued with The Upstart Crow, another independent bookstore in Campbell, CA’s Pruneyard Shopping Center and A Clean Well-Lighted Place in Cupertino. As newlyweds, my husband and I spent many Friday nights at these bookstores, especially The Willow Glen Tatler in Downtown Willow Glen where we experienced our very first espresso bar inside a bookstore. The concept of a coffee bar within a bookstore was just beginning to take off (it was the late 80’s) and we felt so cool and grown up spending our evenings at these bookstores sipping coffee.

Years later, I discovered Once Upon a Time Books here in Tontitown, Arkansas. I’d driven past it hundreds of times, but never stopped in. But last month I wanted to buy a graduation present for a friend whom I was told “loves Once Upon a Time Books” so I stopped in to get her a gift certificate. I can’t quite describe the sense of nostalgia that overcame me as I walked through the door, but I was delighted to find that it was everything I hoped it would be.

Upon entry customers are greeted by a stack of books several feet tall in the shape of a Christmas tree. It’s a thing of symmetrical and artistic beauty and there’s a “book throne” adjacent to it. Additionally, there’s a coffee bar, a gigantic non-fiction room, a huge children’s area that is separate from the rest of the store; an audio-visual area, a gift section, and more. My personal favorite is their Antiquarian room which is a room designated for really old books, complete with a leather sofa to relax and fully take in the ambiance.

There was so much to love about Once Upon a Time Books, namely their General Manager, Allison. She graciously agreed to an interview and shared so much history behind this beloved family business. Another thing to love is it’s cafe “OUAT Cafe” I felt a little silly asking a staff member how to prounounce OUAT. She informed me it’s simply O U A T (Once Upon a Time). Sigh, how did I not notice that acronym? The menu items are all named from literature, for example Murder on the Orient Espresso and To Kill a Macchiato.

What I love most about Once Upon A Time Books is the careful thought that clearly was involved in the store’s layout. The book placement is noticably deliberate and I know this because when I’d ask random questions like, “What is significant about the books on this table?” or “Why are these paperbacks separated in plastic wrapping over here?” the very helpful and knowledgeable staff had ready answers. Though I mentioned it in the video, even the Children’s room is deliberately arranged and as I mentioned, it makes so much sense to have the Teen section well before you reach the very young children’s area (the loud area, ha!).

Northwest Arkansas is fortunate to have a thriving business like Once Upon A Time Books, particularly today when independent bookstores have been replaced by big-box bookstores that often encompass a region rather than a single town. Not to mention, when’s the last time you spotted someone reading a physical book? There’s something nostalgic about this bookstore for me, and I think it has a lot to do with my emotional connection to it and its charming ambiance. It literally feels “once upon a time”…a different time! And I might add that it’s not every day I enter a bookstore only to find a shelf of Nancy Drew books that just so happen to be of the same vintage as the first one I purchased 40 plus years ago! That’s pretty special.

There are two locations, one in Tontitown and one in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Video Interview: Dixiecast: Episode 53

You can also find them at onceuponatimebooks.com