By Joanne Schwartz
Illustrated by Laura Beingessner
Tundra Books

A picture book that celebrates local shops and building communities.

Anna Maria takes great pleasure and pride in her grandparents’ corner grocery store. Every Saturday she spends the day helping to arrange fruits and vegetables, greet the customers, and keep things neat and tidy. Through her day we meet the neighbors and learn what an important part the corner grocery store plays in the community.

Nonno Domenico, Nonna Rosa, and Anna Maria supply more than goods as the steady stream of customers arrives. Lunches are made, news is shared, bargains are purchased, recipes are traded, and cheerful ciaos are called. By the end of a long day, Anna Maria has a true sense of just how wonderful the sights and smells within the store are and how much they mean to everyone.

Charmingly illustrated in great detail, Our Corner Grocery Store pays tribute to the small independent grocers who supply color and atmosphere to city streets. Young readers will particularly enjoy finding and naming the wide array of produce, breads, candies, and dry goods that abound in this friendly establishment.

Reviews & Awards

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award Finalist, 2010

“Although it may be about an ordinary day with people doing ordinary things, the descriptive writing and the wonderful illustrations lift this book far above the ordinary.”
– Children’s Literature

“Joanne Schwartz’s celebrates the small independent grocery stores which still dot our communities but are rapidly becoming an endangered species. She writes simply and beautifully as she treats readers to a feast for the senses.”
– Canadian Children’s Book News, Senta Ross

“Beingessner’s folksy illustrations and Schwartz’s easy text fit well together and are filled with details.”
– Starred review, School Library Journal