She loves kids and she loves books.  So it kinda makes sense that Diane Capriola would love kids’ books too.  Co-owning and running Little Shop of Stories is her dream come true!  But please don’t ever refer to her as “that girl from ‘You’ve Got Mail.’”  She’d much prefer feisty little bookstore babe.  Diane originates from Long Island, but don’t hold that against her.  When not reading books for free in local bookstores, she spent her childhood summers stealing magazines from the local library.  Don’t tell her mom. Fave book as a kid: Little House series ‘cause in another life she was definitely a little girl on the prairie.   Yes, we know that’s hard to believe since she’s such a diva now. Fave kid’s book as a big kid: Skippyjon Jones or Kitten’s First Full Moon or Bark, George or Julius, Baby of the World…

was raised by feral pigs.

Krista Gilliam is our wonderful manager and Little Shop's superb Tuesday storytime person. She gets excited by just about everything (though perhaps nothing more than Christmas lights), and her mood is contageous. So look out! She never leaves home without a book, water bottle and sweater and she’s currently trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) not to become a crazy obsessed dog person. Her puppy, Bear, is making that difficult. Favorite children’s books as a kid: Chester’s Way, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Nancy Drew, A Little Princess. Favorite children’s books these days: The Sea Serpent and Me, The Golden Compass, Love That Dog, My Most Excellent Year, Ladybug Girl and the Harry Potter series (still).

Terra McVoy has been reading and writing since she learned how to in kindergarten. Raised in Tallahassee, FL with two younger sisters, she moved around a lot after college, working all kinds of writing and editing jobs (including three years as an editorial assistant at Scholastic in New York) before settling in Atlanta and becoming Little Shop of Stories’ Bookseller Extraordinaire—the most perfect job for her, ever. Her favorite books as a kid included Kabumpo in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books, and Ronia the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. As a grownup she is a big fan of Clara and Asha by Eric Rohmann, Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka, Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom series, and Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. (But really she has way more favorites and good recommendations under her belt than that.)

Bookseller and store blogger Justin Colussy-Estes has never been able to escape books. He’s worked for bookstores and libraries and publishers. He thinks Little Shop of Stories is one of the best bookstores he’s ever encountered, something he thinks is even more true now that he works here.  Favorite books as a kid: The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald and The House with the Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs, because even as a kid I loved mysteries and con men.

Atticus spends most of his days (and nights) sitting in the front window. Born on the other side of the pond, he is permanently accompanied by Miss Read-A-Little. Among Atticus' favorite books are Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka and Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel. Atticus is also a fan of Hopalong Cassidy books.

Bookseller Al Kaufman is a frustrated writer and pretty good reader. His favorite books as a kid were The Monster at the End of this Book (to which he can still do a great Grover imitation) and Where the Wild Things Are (which he still has memorized). His favorite kid’s book now is Roddy Doyle’s The Giggler Treatment (which just makes him laugh).

Matt Lathrop hails from the small town of Ames, Iowa. Where the winters are cold and the girls are purty (don’t try to make a connection on that one). Matt attended Iowa State the old “cardinal and gold” (looks like “red and yellow”) and graduated with a degree in Education. Aside from being a great bookseller and birthday-party-setter-upper, he is also currently a third grade teacher at Benteen Elementary School.
Matt’s favorite picture books as a kid: The Lorax and The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. Matt’s favorite picture books as an “adult”: Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss and Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae.

Cal Shallenberger is currently a senior in high school at Druid Hills. He enjoys reading, writing, and rock climbing, and is on the school newspaper this year where he serves as a reporter and as sports editor. His favorite children’s books include Yertle the Turtle and Piggie Pie.

Marcy Cornell learned to read by watching too much Sesame Street as a very small child, and blames Big Bird and his friends for her lifelong book fixation (not to mention her liking for monsters, a general antipathy to taking out the trash, and the fact that her first word was "cookie"). She's been addicted to books of all varieties since then, but particularly enjoys fantasy and adventure, and any book where the princess rescues herself. Marcy has WAY too many hobbies, but loves them all too much to give any of them up. She's happy to finally have a good excuse for hanging around Little Shop all the time, and is gleefully plotting window displays.

Sydney is an enthusiastic girl with a quirky sense of humor. She has had many odd jobs in the past, including working at a carnival, but has found her family at Little Shop of Stories and is happy to be home. You will always find her with her cameras, but you'll never catch her eating chocolate. (Please, don't call her 'weird'. She knows she has a problem.) She loves to bake but has recently discovered an attraction to power tools. Her favorite children's book as a child was A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. Her current favorites are any books by Adam Rex. (Slight obsession? Possibly.)

Srappy the Dog is our newest guest blogger. She reviews politically canine-correct books when she's in the mood. Her favorite books include Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London.