About

30 Crown Street, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4BA

01277 230068

Chicken and Frog Bookshop was a long time in the planning stage. We had harbored the idea of opening our own bookshop since we met, way back in 1990, when hair was big and the music was cool.

So, who are we? We are Jim and Natasha Radford; happily married since 1996, with three grown up children to keep us on our toes. I was a school teacher (for eighteen years), with an MA in Children’s Literature. I am coming to the end of my PhD journey, researching the representation and reception of autism in children’s picture books and Jim is the techy one; he is a games designer with a background in computer-related stuff that I don’t really understand, but needless to say, he’s the one people call when they can’t find the ‘any key’. We both love reading and we need somewhere to store more books (and Jim’s Lego collection), so we decided that opening an indie bookshop was the way to go.

On a more serious note, we do have a real passion for books and are committed to providing a community-centered bookshop in the heart of Brentwood. The shop stocks all kinds of wonderful books, as well as being a place to drop in for storytimes and rhythm & rhyme sessions, or book in for affordable tuition, CPD,…the list goes on and on! We provide a busy schedule of events for the community, some free and some not (we need to make a living!).

By the end of June 2025, we will have a fully stocked neurodiversity room, selling books and resources that support children and adults. Our classroom space will be a sensory room during the day, available for hire by families and practitioners alike. Watch this space!

Although we began as a children’s bookshop, we now stock a curated selection of books for adults and can order pretty much anything that’s in print. Join us for events on Crown Street, book signings, book clubs for children as well as adults, and all of our special events. See you in the shop!

Natasha

p.s. This is what we are all about: