Support your local retailers

One fun way to help the economy is to shop locally. A hand-wrapped holiday gift from a local boutique (sent via US Mail to support your local letter carrier) is much more meaningful than something bought online from a huge corporation. It's also good for your community.

American Independent Business Alliance

Here are some great picture books about shops and shopping:

Rylant, Cynthia. The Bookshop Dog. New York: Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, 1996. Print.

Wells, Rosemary. Bunny Money. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997. Print.

Dodds, Dayle A, and Jill McElmurry. The Kettles Get New Clothes. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.


Lewin, Ted. Market!New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996. Print.

Lobel, Anita, and Arnold Lobel. On Market Street. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1981. Print.

Shaw, Nancy, and Margot Apple. Sheep in a Shop. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. Print.

ps. For more information on why it's important to shop locally, visit The American Independent Business Alliance, The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and Sustainable Table.