Outstanding and quick service. I recently ordered four books from several different stores online. The Vampire Lestat from Grinning Cat Books was the third order, but the first to arrive. The care they took in packaging ensured the book arrived in perfect condition. The book itself was exactly as described and very reasonably priced compared to other copies I viewed online. I will definitely return to Grinning Cat Books for future purchases.
My son's favorite book is Eric Carles' The Very Hungry Caterpiller. For his upcoming 33 birthday I was looking for a signed copy. Grinning Cat Books delivered! Not only is the signed Eric Carle copy amazing, but the packaging was precise, the package arrived quickly. i would 100% shop here again for my next rare book desire! Thanks Grinning Cat Books!
Angie, I'm so very glad you found such an epic birthday gift for your son! You have a good eye, as this edition is truly unique and will make a beautiful display piece as well. Thank you for choosing us to be a part of his wonderful surprise. I hope your son has a fantastic birthday and enjoys your gift for years to come. Warm regards.
Paul with Grinning Cat Books ensured my order was protected with many layers of bubble wrap and even shipped first class to expedite its arrival! It was a rare find accurately described on the website. I will definitely continue to shop at Grinning Cat Books whenever my rare book itch starts up! Many thanks to Paul and Grinning Cat Books for a first-class shopping experience!
Could not be happier with the service provided! Very prompt and super professional! Very friendly book seller! Would love to buy from again in the future! Thank you!
It was a pleasure working with you too, Alex! You're quite welcome and thank you again for shopping with us. There are so many rare and scarce editions of Dickens out in the wild, but you found a truly great one here! You have a good eye.
Please don't hesitate to reach out when you're looking for your next collecting purchase or gift. That's what we're here for. Warmest regards - Your friendly rare bookseller!
Don’t often leave reviews but wanted to share my experience here. I love science fiction and was looking for a cool edition of Dune. While searching through rare booksellers I came across Grinning Cat Books and was pleasantly surprised. The site is beautiful, modern, and easy to navigate. The mobile app is terrific too. Far nicer than other sites. I enjoyed going through their collection. They offer tons of photos, have a cool loyalty program, and their FAQ tips are great. Reviews are 5-star and I can see why.
One thing I appreciated was the options they offer. For Dune, they have an amazing Book Club Edition, but at $1,850 it was more than I wanted to spend. But they also offered a deluxe illustrated edition. Most rare sites I saw offered only one copy of the book. I used their live chat and the owner Paul hopped on quickly. Nice guy. Knows his stuff. Was very helpful. He told me about another copy of Dune they had in inventory but not yet for sale. He sent me a bunch of photos and priced it fairly. It’s clear they value customers and aren’t just trying to make a quick buck. The copy I ended up buying arrived quickly. Shipping was free. The book was very nicely packaged and in mint condition. Paul wrote me a personal note and surprised me by including an awesome mahogany display stand for free! Class act. Thanks again, Paul! I’ll be back for sure.
David, thank you for the kind words! It was good fun working with you and I'm very happy we were able to help you find what you were looking for. You picked up a great edition of Herbert's classic, and we'll be sure to keep you informed of similar items as they come in.
Your experience and comments are a point of pride and validation for us as our mission is to make collecting a fun and accessible experience for everyone. This is the very reason we take the time to carefully curate collections that offer wonderful choices for a range of buyers, budgets, and occasions. A positive customer experience and feedback like yours lets us know we're doing something right. Much appreciated.
Thanks again for shopping with us! We appreciate your business and trust and hope to serve you again soon.
Terrific bookseller. Acquired a beautiful out-of-print collection of the Lord of the Rings. Can read it now without straining my eyes so much from the small print in those old paperbacks! Thanks to Grinning Cat for finding this set, (and my wife for buying it for me). They arrived in pristine condition and perfectly wrapped and with a very nice personal note from the owner, Paul. Top-notch service. I look forward to more purchases in the future!
Mark, so happy you're enjoying the special LOTR set! It's truly a stunner and really love the large size and the amazing art too. And yes, your wife is amazing and it was a pleasure working with her to find just the right item! Please don't hesitate to let us know how we can be of service in the future. Warm regards.
Good service and prompt shipping. Thanks!
Thank you for shopping with us. We're always excited to serve our institutional customers. It was great working with you. Best of luck on the amazing exhibit and program you're curating! Please don't hesitate to let me know if we can be of any further service.
My wife's favorite book is 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl. She has been wanting an original copy for many years. I had found a few shops that had copies but they wanted too much money for the shape they were in. I happened to see an ad for Grinning Cat on Facebook one day and decided to check it out. I did a search on the site and found a copy at a good price. I snatched it up. It arrived much quicker than I expected, and on inspection, it was in excellent condition.
I gave it to my wife for Christmas, still wrapped in the original paper it was sent in. I just wrote a little note on the front. She opened it with the back cover showing, a small gasp when she saw the illustration on it; she recognized it right away. She ran her hand over it, then slowly turned the book over with a look of anticipation on her face. She was speechless momentarily, then whispered, teary-eyed, that it was just like the copy she repeatedly checked out of the library in elementary school.
Thank you, Grinning Cat, for helping me provide this beautiful gift for my wife. She is a recently retired 4th grade teacher that adores children's literature and hopes to publish her own in the near future. This book is her holy grail. Maybe one day someone will search for one of her books at your shop.
KW
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Kelly. Your wife sounds like an amazing woman and we're happy we were able to help you find the perfect gift. We come from a family of teachers ourselves and can appreciate what she gave in service to others during her first career. And, we'll proudly carry her children's books when she's published, so count us in for some signed copies! Best of luck to her.
I had a great experience with Grinning Cat Books! I needed a set of Jane Austen novels for my newborn granddaughter that I will give to her when she is 12 years old and Grinning Cat’s offering was perfect! My purchase was shipped very promptly and arrived nicely wrapped to protect the books. Paul even included a handwritten thank you note!! The books themselves were in pristine condition and looked even better than the photos in the listing. Thanks so much Paul!
How wonderful to hear. Thank you very much for sharing your story--it struck a heartfelt chord with us. Congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter! What an amazingly thoughtful and timeless gift for her. We're truly honored to play a role in her future coming-of-age present, and please let us know how it is received 12 years form now! :-) Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can serve you again between now and then. Our best wishes for you and your family. -Paul
I just had an amazing shopping experience with Grinning Cat Books. I was looking for a special gift for my wife and the knowledgeable and friendly team at Grinning Cat books totally delivered. My wife is a florist and they helped me find a vintage botany book that was beautifully illustrated. My wife loved it!! Total home run and five star experience! Couldn't recommend Grinning Cat Books higher.
Many thanks for the glowing review, Hans, and for letting us know how things turned out! Very happy that your wife loved her book and prints so much. Home runs for our customers and gift receivers are what we aim for. Thanks again for letting us serve you and look forward to seeing you again in the new year. All the best!
What a wonderful experience to browse the Grinning Cat catalog and buy this excellent little gem for our 12-yr old, who loves actual books, history, engineering, and the scent of the older page! Finding something good took time because we wanted it to: would have been too easy to pick with so many great books, but we found this to be a research and shopping experience worth savoring. Also chatted some with the owner, Paul, who is good people and was incredibly helpful. Very nicely designed site and fun shopping journey. Great educational FAQs too! Shipping was fast with top notch packing.
And in a warm touch, Paul wrote a personal letter to our son about the book, the history covered, and congratulated him for being the youngest collector so far! Included a mahogany display stand as a special gift for him too. The look on our kid’s face when his first collector book arrived . . . priceless. And, he was truly moved by the letter. Thank you GCB. We will visit and purchase again!
Hi Aris -- we are SO very thrilled to hear this. It was wonderful working with you. Your son is truly a bibliophile in the making and as you know we champion curious learners of all ages whenever we can. Thank you for letting us a be a part of his journey. We appreciate your business and trust and look forward to seeing you again in the new year!
What a great way to support small business and rare books! Their collection is truly wonderful and I enjoyed browsing. The site is easy to navigate and they had a perfect signed copy of Bramanti’s wood cuts of the Life of Christ. Beautifully preserved and gorgeous binding and sleeve. Paul and Alison are lovely people doing a tremendous service curating these amazing treasures! Also, the care taken in shipping such a rare find was also very appreciated.
I am certainly going to return for more presents!
Thank you for the kind words, Bill. We're thrilled that you enjoyed our site and found the perfect gift! Bramanti's engravings are truly beautiful indeed. Please visit us again soon and don't hesitate to let us know if we can be of any service. We appreciate your business and trust in us.
Warm regards, Paul
My husband and I have been looking for a rare book on Winnie the Pooh for our daughter and didn’t know where to look. My friend told my about an amazing online rare book store, GrinningCatBooks.com. I decided to take a look and initially didn't find what I was looking for. I decided to try the chat box to ask for help. The owner, Paul, immediately called me and found the perfect book for our daughter. He even emailed me lots of photos to help us decide. Our daughter absolutely loves it. My husband and I are so pleased with Paul and Grinning Cat Books!
This makes us incredibly happy on so many levels, Jill. Just goes to show that you can't go wrong with Pooh! We love working with customers to help them discover and collect for their libraries and special gifts like the one for your daughter. Thanks for choosing Grinning Cat Books and we hope to see you again! All the best, Paul
Was looking for a special gift for my teenage son who is a high school baseball player and huge fan of the sport. Found a wonderful book signed by one of the all-time greats, the Yankee Clipper himself! It arrived on time and was very nicely wrapped. My son loves it and displays it proudly in his room. His friends think it's awesome. It's also neat to know that it will become more valuable with time. Thank you Grinning Cat Books!
We're so glad your son loves his book! Please visit us again soon and don't hesitate to give us a call if you decide to get something for yourself or are looking for another wonderful gift. All the best.
I am obsessed with books, especially Early Childhood books. I recently decided to start collecting rare books from my favorite authors such as Maurice Sendak and Eric Carle, to name a couple. The problem was I had no knowledge of how to begin this collection. I did what any normal person would do and searched the web. My mind was reeling from information overload! That is until one website caught my eye . . . Grinning Cat Books! As I am also a lover of cats and Alice in Wonderland, I decided to give it a perusal.
The site is beautiful and well organized and had everything I was looking for! They have an absolutely wonderful Children’s Literature collection. I decided to activate the chat section and was chatting with the owner, Paul Levine. He was extremely knowledgeable about rare books (and even gave me advice on starting my collection!). I spoke with him by phone after that. He had a great many resources to offer and was very patient with me and my hundreds of questions!
I decided on an early illustrated book by Maurice Sendak. The book came promptly and was carefully and beautifully wrapped!! I have read it twice already and now proudly display it in our home.
I cannot thank Paul and Grinning Cats Books enough for the knowledge, patience and kindness extended to me as a first-time rare book collector. It was such a pleasant and fun experience.
I have already recommended the site to friends, and I will be getting all my rare books from Grinning Cat Rare Books from this day forward. Who knows, I may even venture into other genres!
Mrs. Amy Silverstein
Early Childhood Educator for 33 years
Book lover forever :)
Thank you for this wonderful review, Amy. People like you are the reason we're in this business. I enjoyed our conversation and I'm thrilled we were able to find something you enjoy so much! And we certainly appreciate your spreading the word about GCB. Please don't hesitate to call me if you want to talk more about growing your rare book collection, Children's Lit or otherwise!
Warmest regards,
Paul