Kevin was sad to be leaving Scotland, where he had met some lovely
booksellers and some lovely biscuits - but he was looking forward to
meeting some English booksellers next, and trying their biscuits.
A quick fly over Hadrian’s Wall brought him to Stockton-on-Tees, where he landed outside DRAKE The Bookshop.
There
were some café tables on the pavement outside the shop, but although
they were very nice café tables, they hadn’t been designed to take the
weight of a whole flying pony, especially not one as roly poly as
Kevin...
Oh no! Luckily Margot
the bookshop beagle was on hand to help him clear up the mess, and as
soon as the tables were upright again she took Kevin inside to meet
bookseller Melanie Greenwood.
Kevin: What is the best thing about being a bookseller?
Melanie:
It's definitely the excitement on a customer's face when they come in
to tell you how much they loved the book you put in their hands -
perhaps something they would never normally have chosen, and when this
is a young reader it's a double bonus as you can literally see their
reading horizons getting wider and wider! It's also a real treat to be
part of a young reader's journey, where 2-3 years ago their parents
would come in to pick out picture books for them and now here they are
picking their own first chapter books - it's such a pleasure to watch
that reading habit grow.
Kevin: What’s one way you’ve tackled a problem that your bookshop has faced during the pandemic?
Melanie: Lockdown Pharmacy Bear
was a great promo tool (and equally great for book lovers) that allowed
us to get books into people's hands. People told the bear what ailed
them and bear found the perfect book which was then delivered across the
north east. Beautifully wrapped and hand delivered, possibly the best
type of book!
Kevin: What are three books you absolutely love hand-selling to customers?
Melanie: Leonard & Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession; The Great Chocoplot by Chris Callaghan; Inside the Villains by Clotilde Perrin. [Click on links to buy the books from Drake!]
Kevin: Who is your favourite children’s book illustrator? (Other than Reeve & McIntyre…)
Melanie: John Klassen.
Kevin: What is your favourite biscuit?
Melanie: Custard Cream!
Kevin: YESSSSS! Those are the BEST biscuits! Do you have a shop pet?
Melanie: Margot the Bookshop Beagle.
Margot: Woof!
Kevin: What is the best way for people to buy books from you if they can’t visit the shop in person?
Melanie: Phone us on 01642 909 970.
I remember Merlin being shown on TV as a two-part mini-series over a bank holiday weekend. The version I found on YouTube is a single three hour movie, but I think it might work better in two chunks, as originally broadcast. It still works pretty well, though. Director Steve Barron is completely infatuated with video editing tricks and slightly primitive CGI effects that I’m sure were state-of-the-art when it was made, but he uses them quite inventively, and there are some very enjoyable performances. Since First Knight was such a washout, I guess this is the definitive ‘90s Arthurian film. Like Excalibur , the definitive ‘80s Arthurian film, it tries to tell the entirety of the Arthur story, but since it’s main focus is Merlin it covers a lot more too, and Arthur himself ends up being a bit of a side-character, with the rise and fall of Camelot packed into the second half. At first glance, Merlin seems to be aligning itself with what I’m coming to think of as the Low Arthurian tradi...
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