18/06/2026
My latest read. Yes I do read often myself 😊 I have quite an eclectic taste in books and can swing from one genre to another or spends weeks reading just one kind. This book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (well oddly, two copies) came into the shop and the title caught my eye. Once I started reading it I was hooked. It wasn’t just the writing or the story itself nor the twists and turns. You can read more of the review here https://www.instagram.com/p/DZvRYm9t9bl/?igsh=aGZ5aG05azR5aTZ0
Or buy a copy here
https://www.twiceuponatimebooks.co.za/products/the-seven-husbands-of-evelyn-hugo-by-taylor-jenkins-reid
18/06/2026
*Edited to correct operating hours* All (?) the older teen / young adult books are up 🥳🥳🥳 more floor can be seen. At this rate I should be able to be open next week.
But if you don’t mind stepping over boxes you can come over 😉
Shop hours will be the same as workshop hours:
Monday- Thursday 9 am - 3 pm
I might open an occassional
Saturday for a few hours.
Website: always open as is contact via Whatsapp 0663661334 (late messages will be responded to the next morning)
Address: 23 Old Seaview Road Chelsea
17/06/2026
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours shelving books. There are still a lot of boxes to unpack- but I can see the floor again so there is light at the end of the tunnel 🥳🥳🥳
Here are a few sneak peeks. I did a lot of young children, tweens, teens and young adult. I still have more to put out. So there will eventually be a book choice available for all ages of readers. I am thinking of opening as soon as the floor is clear of boxes- after that I can focus on prettying up the shop 😉 * I also did a shelf of young adult/ older teen but didn’t take a picture.
www.twiceuponatimebooks.co.za
13/06/2026
I love a book with a pretty cover 🥰 Books are one way of exploring the world in your mind; food is a way to explore it with your senses. A recipe book? BOTH!
Most of the books are at the shop then I found some I hadn’t sent across yet. Any guesses as to what they are? 😂
https://www.twiceuponatimebooks.co.za/products/cooking-and-food (more books to be loaded asap)
11/06/2026
This messy looking pile is just some of the readers I have. Personally, I am not a fan of graded level readers as I feel that there is no set standard. So a Level 1 from one publisher might be simpler/ more complex then from another of same grade.
What I suggest to do when choosing readers is go by the sounds (i.e. m, t, ck, igh, ou etc) your child knows, quickly page through the book to see if the sounds they know are there; if child is with you, have them read a page- it is okay if they sound it out, that means they know how to decode, fluency will come as they reread the book. If there are a few sounds they don’t yet know you can help them with it.
🚨 🚨 Now for what is special pf Twice Upon a Time Books🚨 🚨
(did that catch your eye?). The average price is R30. I have English and some Afrikaans- and progressive readers (more complex). If you bring in the readers your child has finished/ now too easy for them, and as long as they are in good condition, I will give you a R15 credit for a new book- which means the average price becomes less!
The credits can be used on other books (not booksets/collections ) and other books (they can get bigger credits) can be brought in for credit. They must just be in good condition (any language, no broken spine or scribbles or missing pages).
www.twiceuponatimebooks.co.za
11/06/2026
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10/06/2026
The shop is fit to bursting with books. The next step is to set up some more shelves and take across the few books that are still at my home. Ever closer to opening 🥳🥳🥳🥳
08/06/2026
How Twice Upon A Time actually started- originally it was just a dream to do a small part in my community to encourage kids enjoying books by helping parents share the love. It began with a book club in the homeschool community. That then grew when I saw the need for kids books that were afforadable. New books are expensive! Originally the shop was just word of mouth. Somewhere along the line adult books joined those and I lost use of a dining table and half our ‘classroom’ (I homeschool and we use the extra room for storing our schoolwork and doing lessons ). Not ideal. I started an online store and my husband suggested I use a room at the workshop for a storeroom/ shop. So now I sit with books to take across. There was a slight delay with the rains last week (I cannot pack or unpack books in car in the rain) - this week I am moving across kids books. By kids I mean ages baby to young adult. I still want to focus on books for them
in the shop as that is my passion and I feel, this is a bugbear for me, that the children’s books in libraries (mine anyway) are poor and even secondhand shops do not seem to carry much. I am still passionate about getting kids enjoying reading. I will share a picture of some of my books for older teens and young adults.
I am still loading new stock online daily.
www.twiceuponatimebooks.co.za