A Whale of a Tale

Pretty much the most wonderful place in the whole wide world. Get to know Alex — better yet, introduce Alex to your kids. She is great at understanding what interests kids and makes excellent suggestions for the «next step» on their reading journeys.

Been coming to this gem for years! Highly recommend you bring your little one to this darling of a store and share and hour of them picking out a few books with them. A true memory!

This place is a little hidden gem with so much to offer. Very cute and quaint and a decent selection in books. I love reading and this is the perfect spot to pick up a great read. I will definitely be coming back for more!

We stumbled upon this store completely by accident and what a happy accident it was! Whale of a Tale is a true gem in Orange County, the book selection for children is outstanding with many hard to find books, books for all ages, and a great staff.
The staff there is really amazing. They helped me find a book based on my child’s reading level and attention span instead of his age; this alone was enough to make us want to return but really store is so awesome why wouldn’t you want to return.
They have an awesome train table and lots of great reading nooks so it is very child friendly, welcoming, and just a pleasure to be in.
If you are looking to support small businesses and need a good book for your child this is worth a trip.

We adore this store. It used to be nearer to our home, adjacent to UCI, but it’s MORE than worth the few minutes it takes us to drive to now. They have a splendid selection of books from birth up through YA and accessible classic literature. The proprietor is SO nice and SO helpful that I can’t say enough good things about her.
Here’s the key thing that they offer that you can’t find at BN: their encyclopedic knowledge of books, and the judgement that goes with it. I can go to a big bookstore and find a book my daughter likes the looks of, and she may or may not read them eventually. But I can take her to A Whale of a Tale and have her chat with the nice lady and get recommendations for things that she will love and read again and again because they match her skills and interests and sensibilities. I never would have thought that someone else could choose books for my kids better than I can, but the proprietor here seems to have that superpower.
The store itself is great: comfy and beautiful and full of words. I would want to hang out there even if I had no children.

We are regular costumer since this bookstore was located at UCI center. Our daughter was 1 at the time and wanted to give our daughter books that educating (growing up with author like H. C Andersson, Enyd Blyton, I’m very picky with books!). Our first visit, I remember we bought about 5 books and we keep coming back after that, our daughter become an avid reader, reading way higher than her age level! The owner (Alex) knows all about her books ! Her recommendation always hit the notes :)

This bookstore is positively enchanting!
I’m on this new kick of supporting indie or small, family owned businesses, and this fits the bill perfectly. Bookstores are a dying breed, and finding one in The OC is rare.
A Whale of a Tale has a fantastic selection of children’s books, and my boys can spend hours picking out titles (and emptying my bank account)…but really, I can’t complain because they’re hiding under their blankets reading and laughing until I pry their books from their little hands at midnight.
Just to put the cherry on top, the owner, Alex, supports the local community by hosting FREE author events and book signings. Not just emerging authors you’ve never heard of before, oh no, huge, HUGE authors… Henry Winkler, Weird Al, Jeff Kinney (Dairy of a Wimpy Kid), and Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians). Talk about getting my kids hyped to read books! Ok, so I’ll admit, I was slightly excited to meet The Fonz… he was every girl’s first crush, right!!!
So if you want to support your local small business and indie bookstore — this is your spot!