THE SIGN AND THE OWNER: In the unlikely event that Bobbie Fishman should ever decide to turn her Hopewell book shop into a pub, she says she would paint out one letter, making it The Bear and the Book. “The sign was painted by my neighbor, Jody Olcott, whose store, Ebb, shares my building. It was framed by Tom and Terence Johnson, whose metal works are also in town. I feel very grateful to all of them. I love that sign.”

The first time I drove through Hopewell looking for the sign of The Bear and the Books, I couldn’t get a clear view because of the bough of the Calley pear tree leaning overhead. An artist sketching Bobbie Fishman’s newly opened bookshop could easily reposition the bough or even do away with it, but if this hypothetical artist had had a happy bookish childhood he or she would want the scene to remain just so, everything cohering, the tree like a protective presence for the sign and shop, like a picture in — what else but a storybook.

After all, bookshops are about stories, especially ones for children, and special shops have special stories. In this case, the tale can be traced back to a Princeton retail legend with the name of a beloved literary character impersonated for a time by Logan Fox. As coincidence would have it, Mr. Micawber’s eldest son, who went by the name of Roland Roberge, once ran a used bookstore on the very street occupied by the one just opened by the proud Micawber’s youngest daughter, which only goes to show that “something will turn up” if you’re patient enough to keep the faith.

Parents and kids who got to know Bobbie Fishman when she oversaw the children’s section at Micawber Books from 1999 until it closed in 2007 and went on to do the same at Labyrinth until 2012 will find another old friend seated in a little red-cushioned chair, this being the Bear that generations of visiting children dragged around and cuddled and covered with sloppy kisses and put to bed in a basket, according to Bobbie, who spent the better part of a summer cleaning and grooming the star of the store. Like all good bears, it’s there to be loved and if that means more and more hugs and kisses from a brave new world of children, so be it.

Born and raised in Hightstown, Bobbie spent much of her childhood in downtown Princeton, where her earliest encounter with someone in the business was with a Miss Hoadley, the children’s book person at the University Store. “She was soft-spoken, wore her white hair in a bun, and she knew what she was doing; the books were in her blood. She sent me home with wonderful things and I thought ‘I’d like to be this lady when I grow up.’”

On the subject of other inspirational people in the field, Bobbie mentions Princeton Public Library children’s librarian Dudley Carlson, to whom she bears a certain resemblance, if only by projecting the eager, genial manner of someone who understands “that children are better listeners than adults.” This is also a parent whose son’s ninth birthday wish was “to be read to all day every day,”

The most important influence in Bobbie’s evolution from Sarah Lawrence English major, nursery school teacher (Crossroads), and freelance copy editor to bookstore owner was Micawber’s Logan Fox. “I was just a customer at first, always buying children’s books, when my kids were growing up. It became a friendship of sorts. Logan asked me to work with him when Micawber moved into the bigger space. I began by working a few hours a day a couple of times a week. Once I started working full time I couldn’t leave. It was like being let out of a box. At first I was terrified of the part of the job I came to love the most — dealing with the public. I started talking and never stopped, my conversation with the world, which usually began, ‘What’s your child reading?’ “

When she began ordering books for Micawber, her boss told her, “Don’t buy it unless you think you can’t live without it.” It wasn’t long before the new employee had proven herself to be the all but infallible commander of her domain. As Logan admits, “She was extraordinary. She had an eye for selecting just the right book. Her commitment and honesty were priceless. When she got behind something, people bought it, people trusted her. You’d come in and say, ‘I need four gifts,’ and mention the ages of the children, and she’d know exactly what to recommend. She’d even keep lists for specific customers of what each kid had been given, so when the parents or grandparents came back next Christmas or birthday, she was ready, she’d kept track.”

Needless to say, this is a practice that will be continued at The Bear and the Books.

Recalling her days in Princeton, Bobbie says, “I loved being part of Nassau Street, part of this organism, learning about how a town works, what people need.” She’s already had lots of support in Hopewell, from the elementary school, in particular, for which she’s very grateful.

Asked about hosting readings like the one at Labyrinth several years ago by her Hopewell neighbor, poet C.K. Williams, she admits being hesitant to host any at the Bear and the Books. “I had a colleague introduce him. I’m very shy. When Rebecca Stead gave a reading at Labyrinth — she’d won the Newberry Award that year — I had to introduce her and I was so moved by what I wanted to say about her I was in tears, and I thought, ‘I can’t do this any more.’”

The mixture of devotion and expertise bodes well for the Bear and the Books, as does a look around the beautifully arranged store. “I read all the picture books before I put them out,” says Bobbie. “I know or have read most of the others, including much of the Young Adult stock. The ones I don’t put out are the ones that merchandise childhood by people who are laboring to write what they think will sell in the market. Finding books that are ‘real’ isn’t easy.”

About working for Logan Fox, Bobbie says, “I’ve worked in many places, and getting a large group of employees to be comfortable, efficient, and happy to come to work is an enormous achievement. We were all very happy to be there.”

Bobbie’s husband, Tom Van Essen, a researcher at ETS, is the author of a highly regarded new novel, The Center of the World (Other Press), which was the second book listed on Kirkus’s list of most overlooked books of the year; it was also recently announced on the Kirkus list of Best Fiction Books of 2013, as well as being one of 13 in the Kirkus list of best debut fiction. The couple have two children; the oldest, Sam, is in law school at St. John’s; their daughter Lucy is studying classics at Oxford. Judging from Sam’s ninth birthday wish, these two children were treated to a lot of reading out loud, even if not “all day every day.”

The Bear and the Books at 45 West Broad Street in Hopewell is open Wednesday through Sunday. The phone number is (609) 466-1166 or visit thebearandthebooks.com.