We do birthday parties!
Celebrate your kid's birthday at Red Balloon with two hours of fun! We'll do games, crafts, a scavenger hunt, and a storytime—plus time at the end for presents and snacks!
Thursday, February 6, 6:30 pm
Steppingstone Presents: Jimmy de las Rosas preview performance!  
Saturday, February 8, 2:00 pm
Derek Anderson, THE SHARK REPORT launch party!  
Tuesday, February 11, 6:30 pm
Joanna Hathaway, STORM FROM THE EAST launch party with Rosaria Munda!
Saturday, Feb. 15, 10:30 am
It's our Speical Saturday Storytime...rescheduled!
Red Balloon Bookshop Pop-Up at
Mississippi Co-op Market!
Saturday, February 22nd | 11:00am - 1:00pm
Location: 1500 West 7th St., Saint Paul, MN 55102

We'll be at the Mississippi Co-op selling a variety of food-themed children’s books and cookbooks. We'll also read some of our favorites during a special storytime at 11:30am!

Greater Twin Cities Youth Orchestra
Sing-Along Concert
Sunday, February 23rd | 5:30pm - 6:30 pm
Location: 4200 Pioneer Drive, Woodbury, MN 55129

Calling all kids! Join us at this FREE family-friendly concert to hear stories and music, and sing along with Concert Orchestra. In partnership with Music Together in the Valley, this concert is fun for the whole family! .

PICTURE BOOK
Just Like Me
By Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Each page tells an empowering story about a different girl and experiences from pimples to making friends. It is inspiring and poetic. Readers will love this book because it encourages them to be different, weird, and love themselves.  — Stacy (RBB Staff)
PICTURE BOOK | NON-FICTION
The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver
By Gene Barretta, Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

This lovely picture book opens with a riveting scene of a distinguished African American speaking before Congress, a group of all-white men who were not always respectful. But after ten minutes he had won them over by explaining how the lowly peanut could be used in over 300 hundred ways, and replenish the soil it was planted in to boot. Carver was initially self-taught, planting a secret garden as a boy where he harvested flowers and observed the seasons. He was eventually hired by the prestigious Tuskegee Institute where he conducted research on the peanut. He was an early environmentalist, proponent of racial harmony, and adviser to world leaders. And he lived by these words: "Regard Nature, Revere Nature, Respect Nature." A beautifully illustrated and inspiring true story . — Susan (RBB Staff)
YOUNG ADULT
Spellhacker
By M. K. England

Diz and her friends have been running a profitable maz (magic) smuggling ring for years. Now, with each of them heading their separate ways for college, it's time for their last ever heist...and then maybe one more after that? In a world where access to magic—and other resources—is highly controlled, Diz and co. sell their stolen maz on the black market to survive. But when a heist goes very, very wrong, the fallout twists their futures up in the workings of the very sketchy corporation that oversees maz distribution. A delightful adventure—very fun, very queer, and very smart.  — Lily (RBB Staff)
YOUNG ADULT | NONFICTION
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh
By Candace Fleming

Candace Fleming has written another outstanding biography, this time about the American aviator hero, Charles Lindbergh. He was at the top of his game in 1927 when he flew across the Atlantic in a nonstop flight from New York to Paris. He later studied Eugenics, came to admire what he saw of Nazi Germany, invented an "artificial heart," was a leader in the America First Committee, wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning book, continued to grow his family after the kidnapping and death of his first son, and established three simultaneous other families in Europe. He was a fascinating and flawed person who was determined to live life on his own terms. Lots of topics for discussion in this book including the effect the press has on one's view of the world. Great for a personal read or a classroom discussion. — Susan (RBB Staff)
Find more great books!
Get to Know a Bookseller | Barb
Book buyer & Bookseller
at RBB since 1997

1. Which three characters would you want to have dinner with?
Jane Eyre, Paul Muad'Dib ( Dune ) , Joan from The Hired Girl .

2. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Poet/hairdresser (at the same time).

3. Do you have any pets right now?
Kirby, the feline vacuum cleaner who will suck up anything that resembles food (or smells like it).
Learn about more happenings at Red Balloon