The Blue House Bookshop began life on Bootham in York, the ancient street of merchants running alongside the ruins of St Mary's Abbey and towards the Minster and the City walls.  The back of the shop displays the former Abbey boundary wall and the rest of our building was added in Tudor times, then rebuilt following the siege of York during the First English Civil War in 1644.  

In its time, the building has been a greengrocers, newsagents, tailors and an art gallery, before revealing its stories in books.  We have run creative writing courses and games design courses for 8-13 year olds, storytelling and learning chess events.  This has been a little chunk of York's colourful past, and we are now part of its creative present. 

Now as Blue House Books we have become a CIC, a community interest company. This means we are a not for profit organisation intentionally now!

We specialise in beautiful children's books but can also offer a selection of books for grown-ups, and would be happy to offer advice on a choice of books especially for you, just email karen@thebluehousebookshop.co.uk

We have a bespoke subscription service with books delivered to your door over three or six month subscriptions - visit our website for more www.thebluehousebookshop.co.uk

We supply books for more than 20 local schools, at an attractive discount, and we can help with your selections.  As a CIC we can offer larger discounts than before, now at 25% RRP for large orders. We can also run pop-up shops for parents' evenings or school fairs or similar, with discounts or commision available to schools, contact us for more details. 

I found Karen's expertise and advice invaluable when it came to finding appropriate and engaging books to appeal to our students.

All Saints School, York   

Karen can offer a range of recommendations that are tailor-made to our needs. The pricing of the stock is extremely competitive and the benefits of having an expert at your disposal is immeasurable!'

Yearsley Grove Primary School