Four-Eyed Frog Books…My Favorite Bookstore

On the North Coast of California on Highway 1, there is a tiny town called Gualala. It is near to several rural communities known for their vacation rental homes, places to get away to nature, peace, and quiet.

In that town is the greatest little bookstore you could ever hope to find. Four-Eyed Frog Books has provided us with books, puzzles, and games to pass the time on those occasional rainy days. They are always ready with some friendly conversation, too.

To give you an example, we visited Sea Ranch shortly after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out. We asked if they had done anything special for the occasion and Joel, the proprietor, told us that they’d announced a Harry Potter party on the night of the release. They were surprised when kids showed up in PJs and with sleeping bags…they hadn’t considered a sleepover! So what did they do? Some quick thinking, a few parental permission slips, a few chaperones and the result was a Harry Potter party and sleepover the kids would never forget!

Here is my interview with Joel Crockett, proprietor of the Four-Eyed Frog Bookstore:

How did you come up with your logo?

My wife Linda, way back in our courting days, told me a frog joke that became "our joke." We started trading frog gifts...pretty soon everyone was giving us frog stuff, so we finally kept what we liked and sold the rest a our great frog garage sale. When we opened the store, we did some research and found a number of independent bookstores that had critter names (rabbit, turtle, etc.). So the frog came back...and when we realized a frog couldn't read without glasses, he became a Four-Eyed Frog. Then we posted 4 illustrations of frogs on our website. Each week people voted frogs "off the pond". The frog left standing was joined by 3 new illustrations. Ultimately, the frog you see on our stationery was the winner.

Why Gualala?

Gosh...why not? Actually, Linda and I moved to The Sea Ranch in 1999 with the intention of semi-retiring. But I was still doing some consulting work which required travel. A few months later Linda's sister passed away and we adopted her 6-year old son. That, of course, changed things. Ultimately I realized that the family would be better served if I were to curtail the traveling and be home for them. Gualala hadn't had a bookstore in several years; I felt they needed and could support one. Hence, the Frog.

Is there anything organic (ie your t-shirts) or green about your shop (besides the frog :-)

We try to be proactive, but it would be a stretch to call us green. Certainly we recycle...cartons (15 or 20 a week), water bottles, etc., but that's about it.

How did the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release party go?

Awesome. When we realized that places like Amazon and Costco were selling the book well below our cost it was very discouraging. A number of independents decided not to even stock the book. We chose instead to move ahead with our plans and party. We discussed discounting the book, but realized that people were either going to buy the book from us, or not. So we stayed at full price. We ordered 300 copies and sold 287 the night of the party. About 20 kids and a few parents slept over. We fed them breakfast. Everyone had a blast! This is a great community in which to have a bookstore.

I looked over your website
(VERY impressive) and noticed your expanded inventory. With all the rain we're getting, I hope you're doing very well (I know if I were there, I'd be tempted by one of those puzzles.) We haven't been up to Sea Ranch in about two years!

I'm pretty sure I remember you and the family...but you're just gonna have to get 'em here again. Two years makes a lot of difference with kids! As for the website, the products shown represent what we looked like about 18 months ago. Things have changed almost as much as I bet the kids have. We need to do some updating there. But we still have the puzzles, a few more games, many more cards...and a bunch o' books. No apparel, but that'll change as soon as the economy gives us a little nudge.

Do you ship your books and other items? What is the shipping cost (roughly)? In case someone is interested (they may just love those t-shirts), do you ship internationally?

We do ship books and have customers as far away as Florida (plus one in Tokyo, but we ship his to his New York office). We do not charge for shipping in the continental 48 states. We do pass on shipping charges for anything going to other destinations, but only at our cost. Unfortunately we didn't reorder any apparel this year (requires about $5,000 up front and, frankly, we just didn't have it!)

Please visit my favorite bookstore, Four-Eyed Frog Books…either in person or online! It’s a great place either way!

FOUR-EYED FROG BOOKS
Cypress Village
39138 Ocean Drive
P.O. Box 1122
Gualala, CA 95445-1122
707-884-1333
fax: 707-884-1331
www.foureyedfrog.com
gualalafrog@gmail.com
www.foureyedfrog.blogspot.com