Prairie Fox Books to Debut This Month

In Ottawa, Illinois, Book Mouse, a general interest bookstore, has been purchased by Gabriella Crivilare and her mother, Mary Olson, who plan to reopen the store as Prairie Fox Books on October 21.

Crivilare will serve as the manager, buyer, and bookseller for the bookstore, which will be a family operation: Crivilare’s father, Gregg Olson, is helping with renovations, and her younger brother will be tasked with reading and reporting back on middle grade and young adult books.

Former owner Eileen Fesco, who bought Book Mouse from former Waldenbooks staffers Theresa Jones and Doris Iverson in 2006, closed the store on August 9 to make way for the new owners. While the store’s degus — Chilean rodents — were given new homes, the bookstore cat, Sonny, will remain on staff. “People were very interested in knowing what we were doing with the bookstore cat. I do miss him, but that’s his home,” said Fesco. “I think he would be sad to be away from all the customers and kids and treats.”

Fesco had approached Mary Olson two years ago to see if she would be interested in buying Book Mouse and possibly incorporating it into her current independent business, Rock Paper Scissors, which sells educational toys, games, and school supplies. Because Crivilare was still in college and her mother was busy with the toy store, the family passed on the opportunity.

Owner Gabriella Crivilare with the store's raven scarecrow.

With Crivilare now enrolled in a low-residency MFA program at Virginia’s Hollins University, this summer she and Olson bought the store from Fesco, who had decided she would close the store with or without a buyer at the end of the summer. “This time things actually seemed possible, so we went for it and decided that the community would be better off with a separate, independent bookstore” rather than incorporating it into Rock Paper Scissors, said Crivilare.

Fesco, who sold the store’s inventory prior to transferring the remainder of the business to Crivilare and Olson, said, “They’re going to do a super job.” Prairie Fox Books, she added, will be opening its doors to an avid readership that has supported an indie bookstore in Ottawa for more than two decades.

The newly painted 900-square-foot store will sell new fiction and nonfiction for middle grade readers through adult as well as book-related gifts, such as Out of Print clothing, mugs, book lights, and tea. There will be fewer children’s books at Prairie Fox, but Rock Paper Scissors will pick up the slack with its book room dedicated to picture books through middle grade.

Anderson’s Bookshops, located in Downers Grove, Naperville, and La Grange, Illinois, has been a model for Crivilare and Olson.

“With Prairie Fox Books, we’d like to create a space where members of the community feel they can gather to talk and learn about literature, not just purchase books,” said Crivilare. To that end, Prairie Fox Books will continue hosting local authors for events and has invited a poetry group to continue using the store for meetings.

Crivilare also plans to work with Rock Paper Scissors, which Olson co-owns with her friend Sue Vandervort, to plan events, coordinate book purchases, and support local merchants, readers, and writers.

“Personally, I hope that in the future we can offer writing workshops or do special events during NaNoWriMo, as well as release parties and other events,” said Crivilare. “The atmosphere that we’d like to cultivate will be cozy, like a library or living room, and we want to do that by offering tea and coffee and creating a reading space for customers.”

Crivilare and Olson will be at the Heartland Fall Forum in Minneapolis this week to meet fellow booksellers and take part in the educational sessions on offer. “We’re really looking forward to learning more about the mechanics of the industry,” said Crivilare.

Downtown Ottawa, which is near the confluence of the Fox and Illinois rivers, is undergoing a revitalization to attract more visitors, added Crivilare. “It’s recently added four new restaurants, one of which includes an independent craft brewery, and several new shops or boutiques in the last few years.”

When considering what to name their new store, Crivilare and Olson cycled through a list of animals, coming up with names like the Hungry Goat or the Midnight Fox, paying homage to the Fox River, and finally landing on Prairie Fox Books, after the Prairie Fire athletic team at Knox College, Crivilare’s alma mater.

As for Fesco, she misses the book business but is enjoying her retirement. “I love working with people who love books. I love selling books to people who love books. There’s nothing better than to be able to put a book in someone’s hand and they come back and say, I loved your recommendation, what else do you recommend?” she said.

Regarding the new store, Fesco added, “I’m going to be one of their best customers. I can’t wait until they reopen. I already have a list of books.”