By Olivia DeWan, contributor
Parentheses Books, an independent bookstore in the Liberty St. Mercantile, is full of colorful paperbacks, sparkling fairy lights, and, of course, stories. On the second Saturday of every month, Parentheses hosts Second Saturday Stories, a time of reading and crafts for Harrisonburg’s kids and families.
Amanda Friss opened Parentheses in late October 2023 and said she envisioned a way to bring the community together.
“I worked in a small independent bookshop in New York City, and the experience was amazing,” Friss said. “I thought it was kind of weird that Harrisonburg didn’t have a store like that, so I thought that maybe I could make it happen.”
Friss then joined forces with a close friend to make her dream come true.
“Amanda is my good friend, and when she opened Parentheses, we were talking about different ways to get the community involved,” Leah Baker, the organizer of Second Saturday Stories, said. “We started talking about doing a story time, and between the two of us brainstorming ideas, Second Saturday Stories was born.”
Baker said Second Saturday Stories took shape shortly after the opening of Parentheses and has been held monthly ever since.
“I come up with a theme and then pull books to go along with it,” Baker said. “My Mom will later come in with a craft.”
Baker is an instructional coach at Spotswood Elementary School. Her mother, Barb Yoder, is a former educator. The two women combined their love of reading and helping children to create a fun experience with Second Saturday Stories.
“The themes are a mixture of what’s happening in the year or just a really good book that Amanda got into the shop,” Baker said. “The first one that we did was in November, so we read a story about being thankful.”
Along with each story, Yoder prepares a corresponding craft. In December, for example, Second Saturday Stories featured a book about generosity, and children created beaded bracelets or necklaces they could give as gifts. Other past crafts have included paper snowmen and an interactive chart of moon phases. Baker also incorporates short songs and rhymes to complement the stories.
“They are usually some form of paper craft, but there’s always an element of magic to it,” Baker said. “They [the kids] really love it.”
Baker said a handful of families attend every single month and look forward to the stories, especially the craft. Some children even ask about the next month’s theme so they can dress to match.
“I always imagined the space to be a community gathering place,” Friss said. “I think bookstores in particular are very much community spaces, and I hope that some people are getting a lot out of the story times.”
The next Second Saturday Story event will be on February 14th at 9:30 a.m.
“It is honestly one of my favorite things in my life right now,” Baker said. “It brings me a lot of joy.”
