Welcome to Chicken and Frog’s first blog post for Phoenix FM. It’s exciting to be part of such a wonderful community and we’re looking forward to being part of the family!
I have pondered for a week about what to write and have settled on a potted history of us. So, settle down with a cuppa and get ready for a story. Chicken and Frog’s journey started back in the 1970s, when Jim (aka Mr Frog) and I (Natasha aka Mrs Chicken) were born. We both come from families with a love of reading and stories. Hours were spent listening to the stories of our grandparents and visiting the local library.
Fast forward to 1989. The setting is Epping Forest College. That’s where we met. I know…we’ve been together for a very long time! One of the dreams that we talked about on and off over the years was to open a bookshop. Life got in the way, and we chose different careers. I became a teacher and Jim was (still is really) a tech nerd. The dream wasn’t forgotten, rather tucked away in a dusty keepsake box.
Three children later and an unexpected redundancy made us re-evaluate what we wanted. And so the planning for Chicken and Frog began in earnest. In October 2012 we opened a small children’s bookshop with tuition centre on Ongar Road. I affectionately refer to it as a book cupboard. Although it was small, it served us well for over 7 years. As we grew, we realised that we needed more space to accommodate all that we do, so we started to look around and luckily for us, Audio T in Crown Street had closed. I jumped on the opportunity to be in the coolest street in Brentwood! We closed on Christmas Eve 2019 and re-opened on the 4th of January 2020 in our new home.
But our story didn’t end there. We worked our socks off to keep going during the lockdowns and came back stronger than ever. So much so that in the summer of 2021 we took on the rest of the building so that we could expand our book selection to include titles for adults. I am currently undertaking a PhD focusing on autism in picturebooks, which lead to the curation of a neurodiversity section linking the children’s and adults’ rooms. We also have two wonderful independent businesses renting our upstairs space: Amber’s Beauty Room and dressmaker Jeanette Selfridge.
Not to toot my own horn, but we offer so much more than books. In partnership with Bekki from Ridgewell and Boreham, and with support from the Brentwood Business Partnership, we host family fun days throughout the year. We also offer tuition, handwriting club, school services, book clubs, a social group for neurodiverse teens and young adults, an autism parents support group, creative writing clubs, book subscriptions…the list goes on.
I have waffled on for long enough, so I will leave you in peace. Until next time…
