Betsy Bird tours a 165,000-square-foot “Explor-a-Storium” featuring walk-in storybook experiences, from a real Great Green Room to a Last Stop on Market Street bus.
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Clockwise from top left: Rabbit hOle office manager Mary Clara Hutchinson in the Great Green Room rocker; portraying Perez’s unfortunate end in Pura Belpré’s Perez y Martina; the Rabbit hOle building; and the Last Stop on Market Street bus.All photos courtesy of the Rabbit hOle except where noted. Map by Getty Images/RiverNorthPhotography |
Once upon a time in Kansas City, MO, there was an incredible children’s bookstore. All children’s bookstores are, by definition, incredible—but the Reading Reptile was original in a different sense. The store’s owners, Debbie Pettid and Pete Cowdin, made the Reading Reptile…

