During a recent sojourn to my local junk market I spotted a rather grubby and battered looking wire card holder. I walked on by, rummaging through soggy suitcases and broken boxes, but I kept thinking about the card holder, and a foggy notion of a book case swam to mind. I went back not twice but 3 times before I learned that it was merely £5 and snapped it up. My mister looked at it a little dubiously at first but got on board when I explained the plan.
Before...
We sawed the legs off, sanded it then spray painted it a bright yellow. Its perfect for displaying Frankie-Rose's books.
I'm excited about Frankie's first birthday (which is only a couple of weeks away- eek!) as we've asked for books. I'm sort of addicted to childrens books. Any favourites? Particularly ones with kick ass girls in them? Thanks!
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I flipping love this Hannah! I've put some wall mounted wire card holders in my cart on ebay several times, but ever could justify the £20 each for them. What a find! As for books we have a boy household, so we love Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson, and currently Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs! x
ReplyDeleteHiya - have you read Don't Let the Pigeon Cross the Road? Everyone I know (adults and children alike) have laughed their way though it!
ReplyDeleteWill certainly look it up, thank you.
DeletePerfect!!!!!!!!!!!!I also love upcycling what others consider as junk and throw away. I like giving them a new life!
ReplyDeleteSo clever!!! A year already! It's unbelievable! How has she taken to sleeping in her own room ? X
ReplyDeletehmmm. with mixed success. Dave ends up sleeping in there with her for half of the night, her in the bed with him, so still cosleeping, but just not with me. At the moment this works out ok as it means we share her more at night, meaning we both get more sleep. but it could be better for sure!
DeleteBit by bit I suppose!
DeleteGreat rack! I can't believe that's a year gone by ?? Me I was always a James and the Giant peach kinda girl :)
ReplyDeleteMe too! One of my absolute faves.
DeleteI also LOVE children's books. I really love Janet & Allan Ahlberg ones (eg Burglar Bill) - oh I see you have another favourite by them, Each Peach Pear Plum already. yay! There's so many new ones out that look great too. Oh I can also recommend Dogger by Shirley Hughes, it's so lovely.x
ReplyDeleteAh, Dogger! I had forgotten about it, but i'll have to make sure its added to Frankie's book shelf. Thank you.
DeleteLove the book stand, fab idea and the yellow is great! I grew up on 'Princess Smartypants' (by Babette Cole) who was pretty kickass, and 'Frida', a children's book about the artist is currently on my wishlist to get for my girls. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is incredible, what a superb find! Love the yellow, too. I've been desperate to find something to front face some books for Ben's room - think I'm going to have to make do with miniature shelves, bah!
ReplyDeleteWe are humungous book fans in this house, and I kept every single childrens book I had, so this list has some pretty old things on it...!
Dogger, The Trouble With Jack, Alpaca books (these aren't widely available, but I found some used ones on Amazon), The Jolly Postman, Dear Zoo, 'Mog the Cat' books, 'Alfie' books, anything by Doctor Seuss (particularly Fox in Socks at the moment, gah!), 'Zigby the Zebra' books, 'Maisie the Mouse' books, Paddington, The Great Snortle Hunt, Peace at Last, anything by Oliver Jeffers, especially The Great Paper Caper, Charlie and Lola, Little Wizard, Peepo and Beatrix Potter books. Although possibly not 'The Roly Poly Pudding'. *Shudder*.
Happy reading!
great book shelf! i love kids books, "ruby" is a great book about a turn of the century chinese girl who fights to go to school. "the hungry caterpillar" is always really fun and beautiful. "george and martha" books are so sweet and all about best friends. enjoy!
ReplyDeleteDogger is my absolute favourite. Love that book.
ReplyDeleteThe Maisie books are fab. Maisie is a kitten from Edinburgh who travels the world. She is fab. I've bought lots for my youngest grandaughter whose 1st birthday is in four weeks. She lives in Melbourne and I'll be travelling over from Glasgow. Love babies and books.
ReplyDeleteMaggie Graham
And her name is Maisie Jane <3
ReplyDeleteThat is like, way cool:)
ReplyDeleteI loved Babette Cole's Princess Smartypants when I was little - was given it as a prize at primary school and still have it! She's definitely a kick-ass girl! Emma
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Princess-Smartypants-Babette-Cole/dp/0140555269/ref=la_B001H6O066_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361963616&sr=1-3
SO MANY GOOD RECOMMENDATIONS! Thank you everyone.
ReplyDeleteBeegu by Alexis Deacon is ace, we bought it for our kids, and all our friends kids!
ReplyDelete(also 'A Bit Lost' and 'Oh No, George' by Chris Haughton are lovely)
x
I really love this idea - it looks great! I am a big fan of My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes but then I like rhymes and cats and boxes.
ReplyDeleteI love the book shelf - your upcycling always makes me want to crack out the spraypaint and the baby room looks lovely. I love the word print on the shelf too! My niece is a tiny bit older than Frankie and she loves Slinky Malinky (mainly because she likes cats), the tiger who came for tea, flap books. We also like wibbly pig and Mog. I love Dogger and Brian Wildsmith illustrations.
ReplyDeleteIf you're visiting the Islington area there is a bookshop on Chadwell Street (just of St John Street near Angel) that sells children's books for £1. Yes, £1. They're new as well and I've found some lovely things for my niece including a Spot the dog colouring book with 100 stickers.
ReplyDeleteCurrent favourites in our household are 'Where is the cake', 'There are Cats in this book' and 'Stick Man'. 'Paperbag Princess' - a more positive spin on the princess theme and my daughter is just getting into Pippi Longstocking which I never read so we are getting to enjoy that together. I love the Ahlbergs too, Funny Bones is very popular here.
ReplyDeleteOh I could go on and on... so many great children's books.
I wrote quite a long comment yesterday but it is missing. Perhaps it is because there was no captcha thing on the screen although there is your comment suggesting it ought to be there.
ReplyDeleteI am listing off my books, I did write a little about them yesterday: The Paperbag Princess (super kick ass, prince rescuing, own life living princess as main character), Possum Magic, Wilred Gordon McDonald Partridge- anything by Mem Fox, Beatrice Alamanga books, Hazel Green series (when Frankie Rose is a big girl), The Eleventh Hour (bigger kids), Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, Rudie Nudie (we have a special rudie nudie song in out house as a result of this book), Peggy, My cat likes to hide in boxes, Corduroy. On and on...
There is a website called A Mighty Girl you might want to look at. It is American (I think) but it is all about literature for girls. I can't link to it as it is temporarily out of action for Aussies. Someone has been up to no good!
It's Julie Donaldson's books in our house, especially Gruffalo. Mog and The Tiger Who Came to Tea are very popular too as are Dr Seuss (Fox in Socks and One Fish Two Fish) and Richard Scarry. I love to look at the books in Tate galleries, they are always lovely, Clara Button and Alice Melvin's books are brill. Oh and I want my hat back is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteThe best children's book in the world (and I used to manage a children's department of chain bookstore so have possibly read more than my fair share!)is 'The sign on Rosie's door' - by Maurice Sendak of 'Where the wild things are' fame. Great stories about a very kick ass girl and gorgeous vintagey illustrations. the only down side is I think it went out of print a few years back so second hand the only option now (without spending lots of money). But if you see it - grab it!! You will love it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea, and such a bargain! I wish I was better at spotting odd stuff and thinking of some clever way to upcycle/jazz it up.
ReplyDeleteThis is a recent favourite of my 2 year old from our local library http://www.amazon.com/That-Rabbit-Belongs-Emily-Brown/dp/1423106458 and I like it as it has a cool little girl who explores jungles outer space and a silly princess who is materialistic and stupid. A nice antidote to all the princesses. This one (alas another library book we don't own) http://www.amazon.com/Bit-Lost-Chris-Haughton/dp/1406344257/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362495066&sr=1-2&keywords=a+bit+lost is just a beautifully illustrated story about a little owl looking for his mummy with a happy ending. And I love your card/book holder. x
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