Walking into Toronto’s Mabel’s Fables like walking into a fairy tale

Mabel’s Fables is a specialty children’s bookstore has been on the same Toronto corner for almost three decades.

And after all these years, it remains a tradition for many families in the area.

“It’s right in the community, so it’s a great bookstore that has all kinds of kids books,” loyal customer Michael Healy said.

“There’s classes upstairs. We had Spanish class today. They have toys and it’s a child friendly kind of place, so it’s different then some of the bigger chains.”

Out of love and passion for children’s books, Eleanor LeFave and her sister Susan founded this quaint store 28 years ago.

“There was a little book from England called Pookie, and I remember loving that and I think I remember begging my parents to read it over and over and over again,” Eleanor said.

“Then years later, after we opened the store, we were able to get Pookie.”

“Everything (Eleanor) does in the store is geared to making sure that the best books get into the littlest hands,” manager Erin Grittani said.

It has a selection of 10,000 titles in stock and the capability to order in many thousands more as customers, including schools, request particular titles.

“Because we’re small we don’t have room for anything that isn’t excellent,” Eleanor said.

“It’s just a really magical place that brings adults back to their childhood,” Grittani said.

“That just lights a fire in kids that walk in and they see all these incredible things.”