A Guide to the Best of Southern California : FOR KIDS : A Haven for Little Bookworms

CHILDREN CAN FIND themselves--or lose themselves--at Quinby’s for the Curious Child, which carries books about inner and outer exploration, from self-awarness-focused stories to travel adventures. Not that Quinby’s is stuffy or reeks of good-for-you wholesomeness. Children are welcome to grab volumes off the shelves, station themselves wherever they please--on the floor or in the aisles--and read, unmindful to the adults stepping over and around them.

The selection ranges from sturdy infant/toddler volumes designed to survive gumming and gnawing to an excellent collection of books for the advanced junior reader. Non-fiction topics include science and nature, biography, arts and history.

Quinby’s also stocks hard-to-find foreign-language books, children’s sing-along tapes, book-and-audio-tape gift sets and classic children’s films on video. The cartoon tie-in products so prevalent in larger shops are avoided--mercifully, there’s not a Smurf or a Mutant Ninja Turtle in sight.

Quinby’s for the Curious Child, 1109 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; (213) 394-1141.