Let's play: Climbing the Man-mountain

"I heard a confused noise about me, but in the posture I lay, could see nothing except the sky," thought poor Gulliver fastened to the ground in his strange adventure in the story Gulliver's travel by Jonathan Smith. From one of the most famous work of literature sprang a children's park in the beautiful city Valencia in Spain, called Gulliver's park. There lies Gulliver, as big as a mountain with kids, like lilliputians, sliding down his hair, climbing onto his belly and crawling inside the palm of his hand and all he can see is the sky. 


It's friday - let's play. 

The Magician next door: Ana Juan

She probably doesn't need any introduction, but if you don't know her yet, you are in for a treat. Ana Juan is an artist, an illustrator and a writer living in Madrid, Spain. She is best known for her illustration of the book Frida, which is a children's book about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Ana's illustrations in the book are obviously inspired by Frida's work, but without compromising. The book was an instant hit when it came out and won her rave reviews. Frida was named an American Library Association Notable Book and an Américas Award honor book. It was honored as a Parenting Magazine Best Book of 2002. And it was featured in the Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibition. Like Kahlo, Juan grew up with a pen in her hands. “During my childhood, I spent hours over hours drawing or making copies from old illustrations,” she recalled. A treasured edition of The One Thousand and One Nights was especially influential. “The stories were full of magic, and the beautiful old illustrations caught me, and I read them again and again until I needed my first pair of glasses.”

Ana Juan is a storyteller, and has chosen the pencil and the brush to tell stories. Usually she illustrates stories written by others, but in the book Night eater she was also the writer. The book which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator awards, tells the story of the Night eater. With a gleam in his eyes, he gobbles up "every kind of night: cloudy nights as light and sweet as cotton candy and deep black nights that tasted like bitter chocolate.

Besides doing illustrations for childrens books, she's done covers for the New Yorker, illustration for various magazines, bookcovers and more. 

Ana Juan is without a doubt a magican - we are lucky to have her in the neighborhood. Check out her amazing website here.

Kids room: Happy colors

Helena Schaeder Söderberg lives in Vallentuna in Stockholm where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Her home is beautiful, to say the least and she was kind enough to let us have a sneak peek at here daughters bedrooms. Beautiful colors pop up from everywhere, while the floors and the furniture are white. Note that Helena makes a lot of the things you see on the pictures by hand, like the birds, pillows and bedthrow, the dolls and more. 

"I'm inspired by many things, but most of all I get my inspiration from interior design magazines, blogs, Flick contacts and from friends," says Helena. You can see the rest of her home here on her Flickr page. Helena took all these photos herself. 


Thank you Helena. 

Wallpaper and wallstickers add colors to the white walls and furnitures. And since the floors are white too they aren't competing for attentions which allows the colors to flow without being overwhelming.

Shopping: The embroidered cat and other toys

While window-web-shopping I found this wonderful french store called Pivone et Tapioca. I could easily buy up the whole store, and it took my forever to choose which items to post here - I wanted to post at least 20. I love the embroidered cat and the little bunnies coming out of the carrot, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to dive into this wonderful toystore you can do so right here.

Books: An illustrated world

My friendly neighbor Deborah at Kickan & Conkers just introduced me to this wonderful place near by which is an illustrated world of wonders. It's a russian site dedicated to illustrated children's books. I warn you though, if you go there, prepare yourself - you will be strolling the avenue of endless posts of all these amazing children's books from all over the world for hours. But I promise you this - you'll be happy you did. If you are having a hard time understanding the russian I recommend using Google translate.

Thank you Deborah.

Pocket creature: Little Grey Bunny Foo Foo

Before I introduce you to this weeks magician tomorrow I wanted you to meet Little Grey Bunny Foo Foo who is on a respite from bopping field mice on the head. I though it would be a appropriate to pull a bunny out of my sleeve before the magician enters the stage.

Little Grey Bunny Foo Foo can be yours for $8 - just click here.

Inspiration: Elena Kalis

On the subject of Alice: Elena Kalis is a Russian photographer living in the Bahamas. She's been doing some underwater projects with her kids, and one of them is called Alice in Waterland, where Alice follows the rabbit underwater. These photos are very pretty and oh so magical. You can see more of Elena's work here.

Make believe: Little Red Riding Hood

It's the one tale all kids know - the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I rembember dreaming of having a cape like hers, although I never wanted to be in her shoes. It's a tale full af adventure and danger and is perfect for the stage, specially at a family gathering during the holidays.

From left:
La Petie Luce - a red cape from Petit Hood.
Cupcakes from Romp.
Fair Isle Sweater Clock from Anthropologie.
Garvalin shoes from Happy Green Kids.
Necklace from Mini Style.
The Big Bad Wolf from Gund at Baby Proofing Plus.
Below: A papercut from Elista at Etsy.

Design: Arne Jacobsens dollhouse

I bet Arne Jacobsen never imagined his own house would be reproduced as a dollhouse one day. Not that Arne lacked any imagination, without it he wouldn't be the biggest icon of Scandinavian design. And today the danish company Minimii produced an exact mini version of Arne Jacobsens famous villa in Charlottenlund as a dollhouse for children. And of course the produce mini version of some of Arne's famous furnitures, like the Egg chair and the Swan chair.

Let's play: Playgrounds revisited

playgrounds revisited, originally uploaded by hkvam.

This time, in the spirit of the upcoming season I chose a fairy-tale like playground in the woods in Iceland. It's filled with toys, slides, swings, hidden bridges and more. It's way up in the northern part of the country and the snow, the trees, the springs and the bunnies jumping around makes it a wonderful and a magical playground.

Kids room: A mini kitchen

Ten days ago when I posted images from a nursery in Germany at Catherine Hug's apartment in Berlin, Catherine told me that she was making a mini kitchen for her daughter Annabelle who was turning two this month. I was already intrigued by the birds she had made for her earlier so I was excited about the kitchen. I was not disappointed when I saw the results, to say the least. Actually, I was blown away. It's made out of some old office furniture. See how she did it, right here.

Design: A is for awesome

I'm a sucker for alphabet inspired decor. So I was so excited when I came across these handmade wooden chest of drawers from Kent and London. It's inspired by vintage printing blocks. It's perfect for a kids room, and offers endless possibilities. For example toys and clothes can be organized by the first letters - C is for cars - T is for teddy bears - D is for dolls etc. You can read more about Kent and London here.

The Magician next door: Tummy mountain

Fairy-tales and adventures can be found in the most unusual places, you just have to know how to look for them. Etsy is a place where adventures happen daily and on one of my strolls around the neighborhood I came across the little ones at Tummy mountain. I found them with their faces smudged with cake and some of the climbing trees, while other were wishing upon a star. I stopped for a moment and had a little chat with the artist Lloyd that brings us the wonderful images of Tummy mountain.

Where is Tummy mountain?

Lloyd: You have to get out of where you are and head out past the farms. Walk down to the river and hope the tug boat captain will come by and take you across. After that it is a long, but rather pleasant stroll up into the foothills to tummy mountain.

Who are you?

Lloyd:  I am the tummy mountain chronicler. It is my duty to record all the events and adventures as accurately as I can. I take my role very seriously.

Who are the kids of Tummy mountain?

Lloyd: The kids of tummy mountain are the kids of tummy mountain. They are like the kids anywhere, they range from the Very Tiny all the way up to and including The Wee Small.

Kids room: Follow the white rabbit

These wonderful fariy-tale like nightlights are made by two sisters in England that started the company White Rabbit England to make beautiful and original nightlights for their their children. The rest of us are in luck that these lights aren't made exclusively for their kids and they are absolutely beautiful. White Rabbit England also makes babyblankets, knitted dolls and more. Take a better look here.

Books: Les petites gourmandises de Joseph

I can't resist a good cook-book for children. I had one when I was a kid called Mickey and me, which featured easy recipes with images of Disney characters. The pages with my favorite recipes were covered with foodstains. Every kid loves to cook and bake, especially if it requires no help from parents. I came across this french cook-book for kids, called Les petites gourmandises de Joseph by a schoolteacher and a mother of two . The book contains 11 wonderful recipes, like chocolate sausage and strawberry pancakes and more. What makes the book special are the magical illustrations. Each recipe is presented by a small kitchen fairy, and crochet food done by Julie Adore, there is even a small crochet stove. Julie is an artist that makes plush toys and all sort of wonderful crochet things. You can check out her blog right here. And you can take a better look at the recipe book here.

Above: Crochet pancakes by Julie Adore for the book.
Below: Pages from Les petites gourmandises de Joseph.

Design: A story of childhood

Christina the creator of Haciendo el Indio, spend her childhood climbing trees, looking for snails and making stories. When she grew up she studied illustration and design, and when her kids re-aquainted her with childhood she invented a new story: Haciendo el Indio.  She's created rag dolls, illustrations, wall decors, jewlery, toys and textiles for kids, out of simple and naive drawings and design that come to live in a child's imagination. She her work and shop here.

Inspiration: Papier Mache magazine

The second edition of this cute online australian children's magazine is out. It's full of beautiful photos, artwoork, clothing, books and more.  Read it here. It's a magazine both for kids and their parents.

Books: Best illustrated children's books of 2009

Every year in the USA, the Book Review puts toghether a panel of judges to pick the 10 best illustrated children's books, out of thousands that are published that year. Tough job! This year, the children's author Adam Gnopik was on the panel, as was Jillian Tamaki a Teacher at the School of Visual Arts and Lisa Von Drasek a children's librarian.

For the past couple of years or so the New York Times online has posted a slideshow with images from the books that were selected. The books that were selected this year are: A Penguin Story - written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis, The Odd Egg - written and illustrated by Emily Gravett, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 written and illustrated by Brian Floca, Only a Witch can Fly by Alison McGee and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo, The Lion and the Mouse - illustrated by Jerrey Pikney, The Snow Day - written and illustrated by Komako Sakai, Tales From Outer Suburbia - written and illustrated by Shaun Tan, YUMMI: Eight Favorite Fairy-tales - written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins, White Noise by David A. Carter, All the World by Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee.

It's Friday let's play: Rainbow nest

 

This Friday I'm bringing you yet another magical playground from Asia. This beautiful rainbow nest is in the Children's Valley at Takino Suzuran National Hillside Park in Japan. The children's valley is a magical place built into a hillside with mysterious underground tunnels, a tower, a waddling pool and winter slopes and more. I love the rainbow nest which is made out of a net in seven colors and is designed by Takano landscape planning. The children can climb there, swing, kick, hang out and run around.

The Magician next door: Hattie Newman

On Thursdays I will introduce a new magician, someone who can really make magic with their art, design or words. This time around I'll introduce Hattie Newman, which I have mentioned here before. She just launched a new website, where you can see all her wonderful work, which is equally appealing to grown-ups and kids. I just had to share this, I'm such a fan of her wonderful work. I especially love her paper birds. Not only can you look at her work and enjoy huge photos of everything she's done, but her website has a shop too, where you can buy limited edition of her work.

Hattie Newman is an illustrator and a set designer living and working in London. "Combining my two and three dimensional imaginations, I enjoy making work inspired by allt things charming and strange." - Hattie Newman.

Design: A wastefree lunch for kids

The Goodbyn lunchbox is not just another lunchbox. It is designed by people that studied how kids eat lunch and it's designed to store waste free lunch. That means that you don't need sandwich bags or any containers for the lunch, the Goodbyn lunchbox is enough, hence it's good for the environment. It's production is also as environmentally friendly as possible. Read more here.

Design for kids: Seriously dreamy

Silly, seriously, jolly, graphic, dreams! These are the things that inspire Camilla and Camilla two danish designers that sat down one sunny afternoon on a beach near Copenhagen, and promised each other to create their very own version of a child's reality. And the company Lukyboysunday was born. Soon after some wonderful products for kids came to life, like silly dolls, and knitted houses. Take a dive into their silly, seriously, jolly, graphich dreamy collection right here.

Kids room: ABC poster

This farm poster is a blast from the past, It's designed by Graziela Preiser who was huge in the 1970s. Now almost 40 years later a mother and daughter have re-launced two of Preiser's iconic designs. The Farms poster and the ABC poster. They carry a retro-look from the seventies, but like every true design, they just get better with age. 

These are perfect for the kids room. You can get these posters signed by Preiser at BODIE and FOU.