An asterisk (*) at the end of the listing indicates that it's a good place to bring children (my children, anyway, what do I know?)

Rocketship
208 Smith Street, Brooklyn, 718-797-1348
I have a hunch that when Inky and Milo look back on their childhoods, Rocketship will loom large. As much as I love graphic novels and alternative comics, the people who sell them tend to take a less than charitable view of small children. At Rocketship, Inky and Milo are welcome to sprawl on their bellies, devouring the latest Spiderman and Archie, as their miscreant mother prowls the stacks for the latest Superf*ckers. Mary unlocked the door for us at 5pm on Christmas Eve, even though she had her coat on and was bound for a family event! Art Spiegelman wandered among the masses at a signing! We've been permitted to use the bathroom on numerous occasions. Long live Rocketship! Give them your money and my love!
*

Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books
34 Carmine St, 212-229-0079
The name's probably got the musty ghosts of socialist bibliophilic New York rattling their bags of old newspapers in disgust at the stock, but not me, especially right before Xmas when the Strand's crazy crowded, and I'm scared to be hemorrhaging money. Remaindered copies of Simpsons Comics anthologies, coffee table Kama Sutras, last season's gimmick-y cookbooks, and the seemingly innumerable tomes designed to extract more lettuce from the ardent R. Crumb fan? Who's your discount Santa? One door east is Drougas books, which is more of the same, only w/ kids' titles.
*

Bluestockings
172 Allen St, 212-777-6028
After a good run as a cooperative women's bookstore, Bluestockings is back with an emphasis on activism and lots of meetings, classes and readings to prove it! I just hope they continue to stock tampon cases by Vinnie, the Undisputed King of Tampon Cases!
*

St. Mark's Comics
11 St Marks Pl, 212-598-9439
Fan boy superhero stuff, alternative underground comix and tons of appealing keychains, lunchboxes, bendable figures, trading cards, stickers and geegaws that you probably shouldn't spend your money on, but what the hell, you're on vacation, right? Pass yourself off as a resident of the East Village by loudly announcing, "Ugh, I never walk down St. Marks Place if I can help it!"

The New Museum of Contemporary Art's Bookstore
56 West 22nd Street (at 11th Ave) 212-219-1222
I've found the exhibitions here to be hit or miss, but the bookstore always scores high, especially if you want to be the hit of the baby shower with some Keith Haring board books. Big squishy chairs — take a load off.

Printed Matter
535 W. 22nd St, 212-925-0325
I probably went to their old location about 20 times, took visitors, spent hours perusing their jaw-droppingly inspiring selection of handmade artists books and you know what? I don't think I ever bought a thing.

Gotham Book Mart
41 W 47th St, 212-719-4448
If you like your used bookstores dusty, tottering and full of cultural references, wander past the Hassidic diamond merchants stores and browse the stacks. Stock up on Edward Gorey whose spirit lives on here and don't forget to see what's on in the upstairs gallery.

Housing Works Used Books
126 Crosby, 212-334-3324
Greg says they ruined it by standardizing their café tables, but I think there's still plenty to love: big bathrooms, chocolate dipped macaroons, and a well organized selection of donations, including kids' books, cookbooks, review copies galore, coffee table books, CDs and records. All proceeds support an agency that provides homes for people with HIV and AIDS in need of housing.
*

Bookcourt
163 Court St, Brooklyn, 718-875-3677
All hail my local independent bookseller for permitting Inky and other well behaved bibliophiles to crouch in the children's room, leafing through the wide selection while their parents browse up front. I'm so happy when they cheerfully wrap my gift purchases in Goodnight Moon paper, that I frequently find myself treating the non-birthday-girl to a $1 Dover book of tattoos or paper dolls.
*

Community Bookstore
143 7th Avenue, 783-3075
A fixture in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the owner won my heart by using her window to post a wide array of educational information downloaded from alternative news sources in the wake of September 11, 2001.

I love a good bookstore, but nothing beats a reading series in a venue with a liquor license. Shut your eyes and let someone read out loud to you. Have a drink while you're at it and you'll drift off like a little baby. (Try to hold on 'til you get home, though. The authorial ego is a thing easily bruised.)

KGB Bar
85 E. 4th St. (btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave), 212-505-3360
A dimly lit East Village bastion of orally delivered fiction, non-fiction and poetry! I'm going to lose my scat, though, if they don't replace the junky little desk lamp that has us non-20/20 readers hunching over the lectern like someone's blind granny.

Happy Ending
302 Broome St btwn Forsyth and Eldridge, 212-334-9676
Once that kind of massage parlor, now a sexy bar with a Wednesday night reading series. What a Cinderella story!

Barbes
376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave, Brooklyn, 718.965.9177
The Thursday night reading series morphs into a traveling cinema on Monday nights and a damn nifty venue in which to hear the likes of The Moonlighters as well as bands who don't play Hawaiian vintage swing but are deserving of your aural attention nonetheless.

Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, 718-302-3770
Every other Thursday, two schlump-ass writers try to find an outfit that will make them look like they're a natural part of Williamsburg's hipster scene. (Fortunately, at Pete's "hipster" is a term all encompassing enough to celebrate such Midwest 1972 staples as Scrabble and Bingo with their own nights.)