Valkyrie Edwards is only 1 year old, but Wednesday at Grassroots Books she flipped open a paperback, pointed and said, “house.”

The little girl was perusing a parking lot full of books with her brother, Austin, 2, and her grandmother, Jane Edwards. Valkyrie and Austin were trying to decide which four books they wanted to take home for free.

“People can pick up one free book (per person) until Sunday,” said Grassroots owner Zoe Miller, adding later that kids can pick up four books for free.

The giveaway is going on until Sunday as the store, located at 660 E. Grove Street in Reno, celebrates its grand opening.

The store, which formerly only did online business, also reaches out to kids by giving books to local charitable groups.

“We receive thousands of books per year (from Grassroots),” said Ellen Jacobson, president of the Sparks Kiwanis club.

These books then go to local schools and underprivileged children enrolled in various community programs.

The grand opening celebration also included a nod from the local Children’s Cabinet.

“We know how important it is to introduce books to kids at a young age,” said Sherry Ely-Mendes, subsidy manager with the Children’s Cabinet resource and referral department. “If you do not love reading you are not going to do it. It also helps with school readiness.”

Both Ely-Mendes and Jacobson joined Miller as she cut the ceremonial ribbon Wednesday.

The store, according to Miller, is a mainstay for home schooling and non-traditional school parents who need to purchase books for their children.

“Kids books is one of the genres where people buy by the box,” Miller said.

And "by the box" book purchases from Grassroots Books could cost at little as 99 cents per book for children’s books or as much as $2.99 per book for hardcovers and audio books.

Many of the thousands of selections at the store have had their pages turned before by a previous owner. Most of the inventory comes from donations, defective publisher stock or people coming in to sell their surplus books after a good house cleaning.

Miller pulled a brand new children’s book from a box during her parking lot sale and pointed to a small line of scratches on the spine. The book was rejected by the publisher because it was not in sellable condition. However, for Miller and local families, the book was a great find.

Miller’s first foray into book sales started in her garage in 2003, selling a few used books she obtained from a nearby library sale. Since then, Miller and her husband, Randy, have expanded the venture into the click-and-mortar realm of business, doing mainly online sales.

Just this week, the Millers opened their first brick-and-mortar location on Grove Street.

“We thought we would just take the risk and open here, even in this economy,” Miller said. “A lot of the used stores don’t carry children’s books,” Miller added, explaining part of Grassroot’s business survival strategy.

And Valkyrie was glad that Grassroots did have the children’s books, even if the only word she knew was “house.”

Grassroots Books is open seven days per week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The free book promotion ends Sunday night, however Miller added that she has other free book incentives for customers.