Sugar & Stories

When your mom is a Book Mom (as my daughter refers to me), you don’t just visit the neighborhood candy shop, you read a book first.

I hadn’t yet mentioned the existence of Sugar Sugar–the Kingfield candy shop–when I suggested we read Stella Batts Needs a New Name by Courtney Sheinmel next. It is a sweet chapter book about a girl who wants to change her name after a classmate makes fun of her (no one wants to be called “Smella”).  In the book, Stella’s family owns a candy shop and some of the action takes place there.  That’s where Stella and her friends decide they will all change their names to some sort of candy.

Each night before bed, I would read a chapter aloud, and my daughter and I would imagine the sorts of candy we would find in a store like Batts Confections or talk about the candy we would like to be named after.  After we finished the story, I hinted that we might go somewhere special this weekend, and my six-year-old’s eyes widened with excitement as she imagined Batts Confections might be a real pace.

Even with all that build up Sugar Sugar got just the response I was hoping for.  And why wouldn’t it? It’s adorable, pink, and filled with sweets of all sorts.  It’s a little girl’s dream–at least, it certainly is among my little girl’s dreams.  We chose our candy–sea salt caramels for me and purple rock candy for my daughter–and walked home with smiles.  I’m sure we’ll be back soon.

Meanwhile, maybe we’ll try some of Stella Batts’ favorite recipes.