Mabel's Fables

Mabel's Fables has been the midtown children's bookshop since 1988: 540 Mount Pleasant Road, two blocks south of Eglinton, a room of picture books, middle grade, YA, and baby gifts that still feels like a neighbourhood shop rather than a toy mall. Official mabelsfables.com lists Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m.–5 p.m., phone (416) 322-0438, mabel@mabelsfables.com. Street parking on Hillsdale, meters on Mount Pleasant, Green P at 650 Mount Pleasant; strollers often get left outside on Belsize. First-timers: this is the north-of-Bloor kids' destination if you are not dragging a child to the Beach. Ask for a staff pile if you have an age and a mood; they have been matching kids to books for almost forty years. Sunday opens at noon, not 11. Mount Pleasant bus or a walk from Eglinton station.