Spellbound Children’s Bookshop is hosting a fundraising Read-a-Thon for the Asheville City Schools Foundation on Saturday, October 2nd from noon until 6:00pm.

September 25-October 2 is Banned Books Week, a time when libraries and bookstores across the country spotlight the importance of the freedom to read without censorship. It’s a time to talk about books that have been challenged in an effort to ban them from libraries, stores, or schools. It’s also a time to talk about the danger in being too quick to prevent others’ access to books.

Local celebs, including local artists, government officials, media personalities, educators, and other community leaders will celebrate our freedom to read and by reading out loud from children’s books that, according to the American Library Association, are among the most frequently challenged.

So that you can choose the best time of day to bring your own child to listen, we are starting with books for younger kids and gradually moving toward books for older kids, with the last readings of the day from books for teens. A more detailed schedule will be posted soon!

How does this raise funds for Asheville City Schools Foundation? Spellbound will be donating 25% of the day’s sales, as well as accepting donations to ACSF during the Read-a-Thon. Donations large and small (seriously–pocket change helps!) will be gratefully accepted.

It’s that time of year–the Mountain State Fair is coming! Join us for stories about going to the fair, plus free activities. Perfect for pre-readers and early readers. At the story time, get a game card with sights to find at the Mountain State Fair (which runs Sept 10-19).

Bring your completed cards back to Spellbound when the fair is over (by Saturday, September 25th) and we’ll draw two completed game cards. The kids who completed them get signed copies of Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier! Suggested for ages 3 to 7 years. Free to enter.

Alphabet letters of all sorts of shapes and sizes and styles–from blinking neon ones, to unusual old-style graphic ones to rustic hand-painted ones have been photographed and collaged together into an exuberant, eye-popping, letter-and-word-finding tour of the glories of the state fair. Bursting with with bright, bold illustrations of favorite fair elements like dill pickles and Ferris wheels and midway games, here is an alphabet-exploring adventure like no other!

ROYAL is our book club for adult Readers of Young Adult Literature. No need to join ahead of time or RSVP; anyone over 18 who has read the book is welcome to come and discuss it! Book club selections are always 20% off until the day of the meeting. Generally we meet the first Sunday of the month at 4pm, with exceptions for holiday weekends.

Please note that we’re meeting on the 2nd Sunday in September, due to Labor Day weekend!

By a unanimous vote, we decided to read the next two books in the Hunger Games trilogy for our September and October meetings. Catching Fire is not yet in paperback, but as a ROYAL Book Club selection it is 20% off.

The third and final book of the trilogy, Mockingjay, will be released on August 24th and will also be 20% off (to everyone, not just book club members). Feel free to call (828-2228) or email if you’d like to reserve a copy.

At the August meeting of the ROYAL Book Club (Readers of Young Adult Literature), we’ll be discussing The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Book club selections are 20% off at Spellbound through the date of the meeting. Anyone 18 and over is welcome to attend; no RSVP necessary. Come alone or bring a friend!

Spellbound will be closed during Bele Chere, Asheville’s annual downtown street festival. We will re-open Tuesday July 27th at 11am.

There are two great new books about ladybugs that we just love, so what better better way to show them off than a special story time all about our favorite spotted insect friend? We’ll make ladybug antennae and wings to wear while we listen to the stories and enjoy other fun, creative activities. Free. Suggested for ages 3 to 8. Limited to ten kids. Please call, email, or come by to reserve a space ahead of time.

Brand New Ladybug Girl adventure: Ladybug Girl at the Beach, by David Soman and Jacky Davis. Lulu loves the beach. Well, she’s never been there before, but she knows she will love it. And then she sees the ocean and it is big and loud and rough. That’s okay-Lulu wanted to build sand castles and fly her kite with Bingo anyway. But while they are building their sand castle, the sneaky ocean comes in and tries to steal Lulu’s favorite pail. This is a job for Ladybug Girl!

What the Ladybug Heard, by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Lydia Monks. Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len have a cunning plan: they’ll sneak past all the animals and steal the farmer’s fine prize cow. But they forget all about the tiniest, quietest creature on the farm-the ladybug. She has a plan of her own.

Julia Donaldson (author of  The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, and many other favorites) turns her literary expertise to a farm setting, and comes up with a rollicking barnyard mystery. Lydia Monks’ colorful collage illustrations go perfectly with the story for a winning combination. Readers will quack, neigh, moo, and cheer for the ladybug all the way through!

Book release party including storytime & coloring activities with illustrator Alice io Oglesby. Refreshments and book signing.

EVERYTHING TALKS: You Just Have to Know How to Listen is a colorful picture book celebrating the sounds of the world around us … everything from shells to birds, wind to rocks,volcanos and more.

At the June meeting of the ROYAL Book Club (Readers of Young Adult Literature), we’ll be discussing Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Book club selections are 20% off at Spellbound through the date of the meeting. Anyone 18 and over is welcome to attend; no RSVP necessary. Come alone or bring a friend!

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a 17-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl who claims to live on the Outside.

At the July meeting of the ROYAL Book Club (Readers of Young Adult Literature), we’ll be discussing Stardust by Neil Gaiman, a terrifc “crossover” book that appeals to teens and adults. Book club selections are 20% off at Spellbound through the date of the meeting. Anyone 18 and over is welcome to attend; no RSVP necessary. Come alone or bring a friend!

Please note that due to July 4th holiday we are meeting on the second Sunday in July instead of the first.

In the sleepy English countryside of decades past, there is a town that has stood on a jut of granite for six hundred years. And immediately to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here in the town of Wall, Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he’ll retrieve that star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran through the only gap in the wall, across the meadow, and into the most unforgettable adventure of his life.

Make a special gift for Mom. Mother’s Day is Sunday May 9th. We don’t want to spoil the surprise in case Mom reads this, but it will be fun to make and something she can really use!

RSVPs appreciated but not required–feel free to come on by! Free. All materials provided. All ages.