At the end of the Spring 2024 semester, MS in Publishing students took a field trip to Books of Wonder, an independent children’s bookstore in Chelsea. Students in Pace’s Children’s Book Publishing class had wrapped up the semester, having finished their final projects a week prior. But with a few days left before graduation, Professor Kreit offered the field trip as an optional final meet-up. About half of the class was able to attend and made their way to Books of Wonder, eager to see what they learned throughout the semester in a real setting.
The class browsed the store from 5:30pm to until it closed at 7pm and found that the store exemplified key ideas taught in Children’s Book Publishing; books were separated into the age groups the class discussed in depth (board books, picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult), picture books were displayed face-out, and some age groups had large dedicated sections while others were smaller. Students also got to observe how an independent bookstore chose to display and organize children’s books as opposed to a national chain bookstore like Barnes & Noble.
In addition to students viewing the store with the semester’s lessons in mind, they also got to walk around the store for their own enjoyment. Several students pointed out books they discussed in their final presentations to the rest of the class, bringing things full circle. Many students grabbed books from their favorite authors, books that had recently been published, and books they were interested in reading to reference in their theses. At the end of the night, some students brought stacks of books to the register while others simply browsed and said their goodbyes to their classmates and Professor Kreit for the summer. Personally, I picked up a paperback copy of Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (one of my favorites that I promptly re-read and annotated) and the newly released Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao.
Despite the class not being mandatory, many students attended and didn’t regret it! Wrapping up the semester in a hands-on environment while also being able to buy new books was the perfect ending for students who didn’t want to say goodbye to Children’s Books Publishing just yet.