Clare was raised in South Africa and moved to the U.S. in the early 90s with her family. Her parents instilled a passion for reading at an early age, and her mother maintained that mission throughout Clare's life. They hoped that bringing their children to America would open up new opportunities for the future.

After retiring to a small village in Ireland in 1998, Clare’s mother continued with her mission to keep children reading by giving book gift certificates to her nieces and nephews every Christmas. In 2014, her health began to fail, and Clare travelled to Ireland to care for her in her last weeks of life.

Upon arrival, Clare's mom was very concerned about the last few certificates remaining that she had been unable to complete due to her brain tumor. Clare completed her mother’s final gift certificate delivery and remained in Ireland with her until her passing on the morning of March 4.

When Clare returned to New Hampshire, it was evident that the book store she was working for was going to close down after 40 years of business in the community. Devastated by the fact that there would be no more access to books within 60 miles of her home, she went to sleep and had a dream. Her mother came to her in the night and when she awoke, the idea was born- she would endeavor to open a new book and toy shop in the community and name it after the Little Village Book Shop her mother patronized over the years.

On Friday, June 13, 2014- after a huge efforts from both the community and friends- Little Village Toy & Book Shop opened their doors in the hopes of offering a warm and caring place for families to enjoy for years to come.

Stacey grew up an avid reader, her favorite book being the poetry collection, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. "It's my go-to recommendation for gift giving," she says. As for which book character she likens herself to in real life, Stacey recalls reading Corduroy to her then three-year-old son. "As we finished," notes Stacey, "he hugged me and said, 'I'll be your Corduroy.' I would freeze time and be Lisa forever to hold onto that moment."

While reading, Stacey enjoys the quiet comforts of home, especially if the chores could magically do themselves. She loves when her cat, Coco, joins her, as she's a wonderful snuggler and patiently puts up with the enthusiastic love of Stacey's daughter.

If Stacey were a book genre, she'd fall in the memoir category- very similar to the wit and wisdom of Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, and Jenny Lawson. She notes, "It always feels good to laugh and know that other women have encountered the problems of growing up and succeeding despite them.

In a perfect world, Stacey also makes time for cooking, yoga, and exploring museums. In reality, however, she spends most of her free time sharing her love of reading with her children.

Katherine is well versed in a range of book genres, having grown up visiting her local bookstore as a child. When she was young, she adored Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer, and the Harry Potter series as she matured. Having revealed that, if Katherine were a book genre, she'd be young adult fantasy.

In her own fantasy world, Katherine would spend her reading time in London with a cup of coffee. She'd daydream of what her life would be like if she were Kelady of Mindelan from Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series, or Katsa from Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm books.

Along with reading, Katherine enjoys movies, playing games, and a walk or hike.

Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I enjoy storytelling in its many forms including books, film, television, and the occasional video game.

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?
A: After leaving the book world early on in the pandemic it felt like the time might be right to return.

Q: What is your favorite toy? Craft? Knick knack? Book? Author? Game? Genre? Puzzle?
A: Picking a favorite book is a hard one, but there are plenty of authors I enjoy including Stephen King, Helen Fisher, Walter Isaacson, Haruki Murakami, Sally Rooney, Helen Hoang, EJ Koh, and Carlo Rovelli.

Q: What makes you a qualified Little Village Toy & Book Shop employee? A: I’ve spent the better part of the last decade as a bookseller in a number of stores.

Q: What is your favorite thing about the bookstore?
A: The variety of product that we carry, the knowledgeable booksellers and how welcoming they’ve been in my first few weeks. And Luna (of course)

Q: What advice or sentiment would you give the young readers of today?
A: Keep reading.

Q: Favorite season? Spring, summer, fall, winter?
A: Fall and winter are the best for reading and movie watching.

Q: Where are you from?
A: Born and Raised in Littleton :)

Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I enjoy cooking, photo editing, and playing video games. 

Q: How big is your family?
A: I have a pretty big family, I’m the youngest of 4 kids and have a niece and nephew, I’m currently engaged.

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?
A: When I was younger I read a lot and used to come to the book store constantly.

Q: What is your favorite toy? Craft? Knick knack? Book? Author?Game? Genre? Puzzle?
A: I love all of Stephen King’s books, trivia games and scrabble.

Q: What is your favorite thing about the bookstore?
A: I love that there is something for everyone here. 

Q: Favorite season? Spring, summer, fall, winter?
A: Definitely Fall. 

Justine grew up in Ashland, NH and relocated here to Littleton a few years ago and loves it.  She’s an avid reader (don’t get her started on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland!).  She loves to craft, especially with chalk.  If you’ve ever seen chalk games outside the shop, you know Justine has been creating.

Family is everything to Justine, the human and the feline variety!  If you ask Justine, her son’s love of toys and her love of reading brought her to apply at Little Village Toy & Book Shop LLC.  It just felt like a natural fit.  Justine loves classic retellings, her favorites are Peter Pan, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and anything by Christina Henry.

Working at Little Village has made her feel connected to the community.  She loves working with people, especially children.  

Justine’s advice is “Keep reading ! Never stop reading!”

Andi has spent their entire life in Northern Vermont and New Hampshire and grew up trying to spend as much time in libraries and bookstores within that area as possible. While he will read virtually any genre, Andi has a special place in her heart for Queer Genre Fiction. When not reading, Andi spends their time playing Dungeons & Dragons, baking, listening to Gothic Rock, and taking care of his numerous houseplants. After working as a librarian, Andi turned to bookselling as a new way to inspire lifelong learners.

Q: What are your Hobbies?

A: Reading, playing with my cats and playing video games.

Q:  How big is your family?

A: I have 2 fur-babies and a partner.

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?

A: My love for books.

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: The Green Mile by Stephen King.

Q:  If you could be a genre, which would you be and why?

A: Horror, my life is like a horror movie, everything is scary lol.

Q: What advice or sentiment would you give the young readers of today?

A: Think of reading like an escape versus something you need to do.

Q: What are your Hobbies?

A: Knitting, running, reading and anything that gets me outside.

Q:  How big is your family?

A: I am the proud parent of one rescue bunny and a rambunctious Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?

A: I’ve always loved reading and sharing my favorite book titles with family and friends.  When an opening popped up at Little Village, I thought I should put my skills to good use and turn that passion into a job!

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: I love Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series! It’s my go-to every spring for rainy day reading.   I also love Han Kang’s “Human Acts” and Sylvia Moreno’s “Mexican Gothic.”

Q:  If you could be a genre, which would you be and why?

A: I would be cozy fantasy because who doesn’t like dragons, witches and heartfelt stories.

Q: What advice or sentiment would you give the young readers of today?

A: Read widely!  Read anything and everything that interests you.  Life is too short to read something you don’t like.

Q: What are your Hobbies?

A: Reading and traveling.

Q:  Who is your favorite Author?

A: John Steinbeck

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?

A: Being part of a local, woman owned business.

Q: What is your favorite Season?

A: Fall…in the South it’s when things cool off!

Q: What are your Hobbies?

A: Art of every kind, reading and plants.

Q:  How big is your family?

A:  Married with 3 grown children and 1 Grandbaby.

Q: What inspired you to become a team member of the bookstore team?

A:  I heard it is a great place to work after moving to town.

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: Stephen King and local lore.

Q:  What is your favorite thing about the book store?

A:  The great team of people.

Q:  What advice or sentiment would you give the young readers of today?

A: Never stop Learning.

Q: What is your favorite Season?

A: Fall….Halloween.