About us
Why Portrait Bookshop?
What else are we doing?
Book clubs
Monthly adult book club - held at the bookshop on the 3rd Saturday of the Month. Every month is based on a theme and will feature diverse fictional characters. The book is normally available on audible if you would prefer to listen rather than read the physical book. Our meet-up is informal and you can participate if you want to or just come to listen to what others have to say, there is no pressure to "perform'.
The children's book clubs will start next month and will all feature age appropriate inclusive books to challenge and encourage empathy and acceptance for our community and wider communities.
In-house book clubs will also start next month and can be in-person or virtually. The aim for these are to get your members of staff together for a look at the books recommended for that month. Each month is themed and there is an accompanying newsletter for guidance. We can then discuss the key themes and the ways in which these books could be integrated into classrooms/ offices etc. Collaboration is key and all members are encouraged to recommend books relating to the theme that they love too.
Author/ Illustrator Events
Our first illustrator event was held at the bookshop on 23rd Saturday at 2pm and we had a great turn out. This was a free event with wonderful illustrator Garry Parsons who was in attendance to draw some illustrations from his new book "The Who's Whonicorn of Unicorns" written by Kes Gray. Garry has been a great advocate of our little bookshop's vision from the outset and we are incredibly grateful to him for giving us his time to kick off our events in style.
Our wonderful Drag Queen, Mama G hosts story-time sessions, focusing on Pride books. The last even was on Saturday 13th November at 2pm. Again Mama G has supported us from the outset and we are so pleased to be able to have her at our bookshop for regular story time sessions. Tickets for the sessions cost £5 per family (we have to fund her beautiful dresses somehow).
To book your space please email us at portraitbookshop@gmail.com. To ensure our events are inclusive for all we also have limited free tickets. If you would like one of these for your child to attend or if you would like to gift a ticket to someone please just email us and we can arrange this.
Library and Classroom Revamps
Community links
We are based inside the Raw Bar Cafe in Herne Bay which is fully vegan and paving the way for eco refills and a more sustainable way of living. The team are also big advocates for inclusion and we are more than at home working alongside them. Owner Jenny, operates an Autism friendly hour every Saturday 9-10am where the lights are dimmed, music is off and the space is generally calmer. We also run the same Autism hour every Saturday in the bookshop.
We have also partnered up with the Umbrella Cafe in Whitstable to offer free books for their customers to access. The Umbrella Cafe is a CIC and works with lot's of children's charities including SNAAP. It also runs a volunteer led community food pantry and operates on a pay what you can afford basis.
We had the pleasure of attending our first Pride event in the summer at London's Stanley Arts Theatre, hosted by the wonderful Mama G. Going forward we will be attending more Pride events and showcasing our extensive collection of LGBTQ+ books for all ages. We actively promote and support ALL children and parents on their journey and are happy to help with book recommendations. Again, just pop in for a chat or email us and we can help.
We know how important access to books are and that not all children and parents can afford to purchase the books from us. If you are in a position to gift a book for a child then please let us know. We also have strong links with our local library and can help get the books to the children that need them through these links as well.
