Toys: Shop local at the Monkey Joint

I helped my child pen her first letter to Santa Claus this year – left the letter in my P.O. Box where it was scooped up by Santa Scatolini who is scheduled to make a return phone call next week.

But in the interim, Santa Lunch needs to get busy with his shopping, and seeing as Reno’s so far away and I could better spend that time skiing and it’s always best to shop local, I canvassed a few of my favorite local stores – The Booky Joint (Minaret Mall) and Minky Monkey Toys (Old Mammoth Rd. next to the MLPD)to see what the hot gift items are for this season.
At the Booky Joint, Dave Leonard just received a huge shipment (58 boxes) of Melissa and Doug toys earlier this week. And he’s still got the Thomas knockoff wooden railway set I bought for Belle last year.
He’s also got the usual assortment of stables and castles and a cool painting easel. For you tourists, Leonard has all sorts of dice and board games great for evenings by the fire.
For you book lovers, Greg Mortenson’s sequel to “Three Cups of Tea,” entitled “Stones Into Schools” is the hot seller. “Three Cups of Tea” has been in the independent booksellers top ten since Leonard reopened the Booky Joint 3.5 years ago.
He’s sold no copies of Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” but three copies of the response, “Going Rouge.”
There’s a new Jeannette Walls (author of “The Glass Castle”) book.
And the coffeetable book of choice this year is “Walk The Sky” with photographs by John Dittli and essays by Mark Schlenz. They’ll be signing “Walk The Sky” this Saturday from 4-6 p.m.
At Minky Monkey, Owner Kim Harris pretty much sold me items at will.
The first item was something called Zolo, which has been featured at the Metroplitan Museum of Art in New York. It’s some sort of building game, but what really sold me was that the dinosaurs glow in the dark. Then she sold me a Flitter Fairie, a toy actually designed by a local, Camille Miller. The fairies are “magical to little girls” says Harris. They sold out on QVC and nationwide but are still available locally because, well, Camille lives here. Cool.
Legos are a classic and always sell a ton. Playmobil. Another top seller, but I thought the fact that they were selling four year olds wedding chapel action sets a bit disturbing. Mosaics by numbers. Belle loves ‘em. Check. Magna-tiles? Can’t go wrong, says Harris.