By: Anna Eileen White | Photos By: Ashlee Glen
Voices ebb and flow with enthusiasm as newcomers wonder whether they’ve tumbled down the rabbit hole. Roasty aromas entice visitors past Jack and the bean sprout, between tomes, and toward the cafe.
This multi-generational wonderland began as two separate stores; Givens Books, founded by George and Sylvia Dickens in 1976, and Little Dickens, founded by their son Danny and his former wife in 1999.
The spots have been havens of play and learning for decades.
“Play and learning are just integral to being human,” said Danny Givens, owner of the now-merged stores. “I think most of us humans are born innately curious, but that can flicker out if you don’t have the right teachers.”
Danny speaks from experience.
His “insatiably curious” teacher-father and “game-for-anything” mother spent years as voluntary nomads with Danny and his siblings. They chased regional novelties; deserts and archeological digs. They chased simplicity; campfires and evening poetry readings. Danny even recalls chasing road runners across the desert on his minibike, unhindered by thoughts of safety. Above all, they chased adventure. By the time Danny was 13, he’d visited 45 states.
Unknown to him and his siblings, their explorations served more than one purpose. “I didn’t know that at the same time, my father was scoping out places to open up a bookstore, which was his childhood dream.”
When their wanderings brought them through Lynchburg in 1969 they found it had no official bookstore. “My father loved the feel of Lynchburg,” recalled Danny. Four years later, in 1973, the family loaded everything they owned into a moving van, including George’s personal 8,000-book library.
“If the washer and dryer didn’t fit, they stayed, but the books went,” Danny said amusedly. “Books always took priority.”
Once settled, a run-down gas station on Boonsboro Road caught their attention.
It was their next adventure. Danny, 16 at the time, helped his father renovate. Dubbed Booneshire Books, they opened the used bookstore in August 1976.
Danny’s little sister Sarah was 3 at the time and played with Barbie dolls behind the counter as books flew off the shelves over her head. “It took off,” said Danny. “There was a strong need for a bookstore.”
Boonshire Books expanded multiple times in its original location, eventually outgrowing the space and moving to a custom-built structure, where they rebranded as Givens Books. “It may not have been possible in another town,” Danny reflected. Lynchburg was small enough that residents cared about supporting local businesses, and large enough to supply sufficient clientele. It was also welcoming.
“It does say a lot about Lynchburg’s ability to accept outsiders,” Danny shared, recounting the time that a customer joked through a thick southern drawl, “Yeah, you’re Yankees all right, but we’ve accepted you.”
In 1989, Danny built Little Dickens next to Givens Books. Inspired by a toy store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and made necessary when Danny’s teacher salary was halved, Little Dickens was more than a business venture. He calls it serendipity. When Jefferson Forest High School introduced German to their language program, Danny, an English and Spanish teacher, lost hours, forcing him to find another means of support. Ever a child at heart, Danny recalled the quaint Chapel Hill toy store and wanted to recreate the allure in his own style.
“In retrospect, isn’t that funny?
That little act of German being introduced acts like that can change the course of your entire life,” Danny marveled. “Little happenstance events turn into really momentous things.”
Danny outfitted Little Dickens as both a teacher supply and toy store. “This was my dream when I built it; I wanted to make it memorable, so that when you came in, you felt attached to the store, to the atmosphere, to the ambience, whatever you want to call it,” he shared. “So it just made touching toys and books much more appealing than ordering them online.”
From the start, Danny knew online shopping could drive shops like his out of business. His solution? Embrace mentalities the big retailers didn’t. “I could bore myself to tears reading books on how to be successful,” he explained.
“I’ll read poetry or psychology, but it won’t be anything on finances.” Leading with emotional intelligence, he shaped the store around curiosity, evaluating new toys based on how well they facilitated play.
In 1999, when George retired, Danny bought the bookstore. With English designer Paul Kitchens at the helm, they built the tent-striped showplace, now known and loved as Givens Books Little Dickens, on Lakeside Drive. “I was so lucky to find him,” said Danny of Kitchens. “He came up with this whimsical design and helped to make it magical inside.”
Inside, gargoyles on the surrounding walls oversee visitors’ ramblings far below. It’s “a place away from the busyness and hecticness of life,”
says Danny. Weathered gold-leaf, stuffed animals, and art supplies beckon.
While Danny envisioned competing with online retailers, he didn’t envision competing with a pandemic. Quarantine and social distancing during COVID-19 changed shopping habits, and many local businesses didn’t survive. “It was frightening at first,” said Danny.
They relied on purchases through the newly updated website. Months dragged on and they saw online sales grow.
“We were touched by that—the town has been really wonderful,” said Danny.
“I think localism has grown even stronger over the last 10 years, and we felt that during COVID.”
Now, doors wide open once again, visitors lean over their tables in shadowed corners, sharing ideas.
“I love that this is a place where there are no limits to conversation,” said Danny. “It’s safe to talk about anything.”
Danny’s family is having conversations too. Will two generations of Givens Books Little Dickens become three? Beyond the traditions of books and toys, Danny’s children don’t want to lose the hide-and-seek grounds of their childhood, a tradition they hope to carry on with their own children. While Danny doesn’t plan on disappearing any time soon, he will pass the torch to one of his daughters, allowing the store’s legacy to live on, while keeping it in the family.
“If Lynchburg wants more magic and more toys and more books, we’ll try to deliver,” he promised.
Often asked how he became “successful,” Danny eschews the word. “There are so many good people who went before me that made this possible,” he said. From his sister Sarah, who still plays an active role, to his parents, Danny won’t take credit for what he builds upon. “They had vision, guts, adventure and energy,” he said of parents George and Sylvia Givens, “and [they] took amazing risks to make the dream a reality.”
