FOR THE KIDS: STORYTELLING : Rich Memories : Bookstore helps parents rediscover the childhood story favorites that never grow old.

Remember climbing into a soft lap and snuggling down as the words “Once upon a time . . .” opened a magical world. The story may have been “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “The Story of Ferdinand,” “The Little Engine That Could,” “Sailor Dog,” or “Paddle to the Sea.”

Those childhood tales that bring back a wash of memories are the very ones parents look for to share with their own youngsters. And that’s where Jody Fickes, owner of Adventures for Kids bookstore in Ventura, steps in.

She has them all. If not, she’ll order them. “Kids establish a connection with their childhood books. Adults come in looking for books they loved as children,” she said. “How many other things do you go back and look for with that kind of emotional attachment?”

After almost 12 years of selling children’s books in her store and 17 years before that as a children’s librarian, Fickes’ own emotional attachment to children’s literature runs deep.

It shows in the books she chooses to stock. “We want books that will be here tomorrow, “ she said. “We’re not into the fad things.”

Among the store’s 24,500 titles are popular works such as the Baby Sitters Club, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys because “you have to start where the children are.” But Fickes refuses to carry books about licensed characters such as the Smurfs or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“There’s no socially redeeming value to those things,” Fickes said. “I have certain standards. I’d rather lose a sale than sell something I’m not proud to sell.”

Among the books she most enjoys selling are children’s picture books, which fill five seven-foot high bookcases of her bright, airy shop. “Right now the best artists in the country are illustrating children’s books.”

It is from among the picture books that Fickes chooses for her weekly storytime. Sitting with the children on low wooden benches, she holds the book high to one side so youngsters can see the drawings as she reads.

Each book is chosen carefully. Recently she began storytime with a twist on an old, familiar tale to help the children feel at home. “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” told from the Wolf’s point of view, elicited giggles and chuckles from little ones and grown-ups alike.

Tales from Africa and China followed. After a shake and a stretch to “wiggle your woggles away,” the children settled down eagerly for “The Story of Jumping Mouse.” As the sad American Indian tale unfolded, Fickes asked the children to excuse her tears. “A good story,” she said, “can make you cry.”

“It’s fun hearing the books,” said Iris Waldron, 7, after storytime was over.

Britney Mooney, 7, liked the stories too. She enjoys visiting the store “because they have super good books. I like to read thick books with big words,” she said, pointing out “Nate the Great” as a book she had read.

Not only the children but adults appreciate Adventures for Kids. Sue Weaver of Thousand Oaks, who teaches kindergarten, visited the store for the first time recently.

“It’s hard to find a good children’s bookstore. This is almost overwhelming. It’s definitely a pleasure to be here,” she said, as she added to an already tall stack of books to buy. “I’m not sure I can afford everything.”

Kurt Berentsen of Ventura, a music director and father, has gone to Adventures for Kids for eight or nine years. “This place is wonderful. You can get what you want in 10 minutes without even looking for it yourself,” he said.

Lately she has been researching to find a book for a school counselor to use with third- and fourth-graders who tattle and gossip maliciously. She may write the book herself, thereby fulfilling her own goal of becoming a children’s book author.

While she is considering writing, Fickes is busy advocating reading, especially since this is International Literacy Year. She gives the children’s book publishing industry high grades. “It’s one of the few areas where people are really committed to producing a quality product,” she said.

She believes babyhood is none too soon to introduce children to books. New parents may begin with a copy of “The Singing Bee” to review old songs to sing while changing baby’s diaper. Soon enough they’ll be ready for Mother Goose rhymes of which Fickes carries an edition for every taste--even a “Father Gander” version.

Often parents quit reading to their children when the kids learn to read themselves. Fickes thinks that’s a mistake.

“It’s important to continue to read aloud books that are ahead of the children’s skill level, because it’s like a carrot that they have to look forward to.

“The listening experience is such a valuable part of getting reading skills,” Fickes said. “I read to my boys until they ended up having a later bedtime than I did--well into junior high school.”

Fickes believes books offer children more than just entertainment and information. “There is so much of life that is not wonderful. Books offer another way of seeing things and of coping. They help kids form a philosophy of living.”

To that end she often recommends folk tales or parables. “Children understand instinctively the underlying meaning and get comfort from them,” she said, giving as an example Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.”

In that book “the worst thing is not the monsters; it is not being in control of them,” Fickes said. The thing that’s so satisfying about the book is that the hero tames them, she said.

In a child’s own life having a parent who fails to say “no” or waffles about setting limits can be terrifying for a child, she added. A book can fortify a child for his or her own struggles.

For her own inspiration, she turns to Pulitzer Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. In his children’s story “Naftali the Storyteller and His Horse Sus,” Singer writes, “If stories weren’t told or books weren’t written, man would live like the beasts. . . .”

Fickes added to Singer’s words, “If we don’t want to be like the beasts, we need to read.”

* WHERE AND WHEN: Adventures for Kids bookstore, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 650-9688. Upcoming events during the summer and fall include:

Storytime: Tuesdays, 10:30 to 11 a.m., through July. Begins again in October.

Recycling project: Throughout August, Adventures for Kids will be accepting children’s books for donation to Project Understanding tutoring centers. Donors will receive a coupon worth 20% off bookstore purchases.

Fair booth: the bookstore will staff a booth at the Ventura County Fair in the Youth Building.

Author visits: Newberry Honor winner Madeleine L’Engle, author of “A Wrinkle in Time,” and poet Jack Prelutsky, known for “The New Kid on the Block” and other works, will visit the store in the fall.