in the jungle

this little book caught my eye in the thrift store some while ago due to its happy cover. its written and illustrated by 7-years old Ileana Holmboe in 1944. she won a competition for children by the Danish publisher Rosendahl & Jørgensen and had her contribution published. her colourful, naïve drawings make us smile, and i love that the book is printed with her fantastic 1944-7-years-old-handwriting. the story is a jungle adventure, and the tiger is just as cruel as the drawing shows but everything has a happy ending.

Ileana Holmboe: "Urskov-Æventyr", Rosendahl & Jørgensen, 1944.

Rop van Mierlo - Wild Animals

Molly had this wonderful book as a Christmas present. It's perfect for her age, and I love the simple act of a few drips of paint on wet paper that lies behind these soft and tactile animals. I am impressed on how fast Molly's language is developing at the moment. She puts words together in simple sentences and she has developed quite a temper. I love this age where she is more a kid than a baby but still enjoys cuddling and lying close in bed.

finelittleday has Rop van Mierlo's beautiful book

East of the Sun & West of the Moon

Ever since I was a little girl I have adored Kamma Svensson's fantastic illustrations of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's Norwegian folktale "East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon". The book is old, it used to belong to my mum, and I guess she kept it for the same reasons as I. Kamma Svensson's illustrations are filled with the same mystic, folklorism and dense ambivalence as the tale itself - very beautiful and a little scary all at the same time. Look at the colours and patterns - she's so good.

More Kamma Svensson.
P. Chr. Asbjørnsen, "Østen for Sol og Vesten for Måne", Gyldendal 1959, with illustrations by Kamma Svensson.

just a piece of paper

This little book is a thrift store find from the other day with simple and fine inspiration for paper cuts - maybe for dark December afternoons. The author, Elizabeth Brozowska, has done quite many children's books with cute illustrations - but this one is the only I have stumbled across with paper cuts. The book is structured around a narrative, a story about a grandmom who makes Polish paper cuts for her 3 grandchildren, and the kids get inspired to make some themselves. We don't need the story to get inspired but it's a sympathetic way to present little DIY projects.

Originally "Just A Piece of Paper" ["Leg med saks og papir"] by Elisabeth Brozowska, 1969.

Lena Corwin's Made By Hand

Made By Hand by Lena Corwin - I would love this book!

Eva Lindström

Today, just a short note with a big recommendation: Go and see Eva Lindström's beautiful-beautiful animated film "Dyrevennerne" ["Animal Friends"] that plays in Cinemateket at the moment - with or without kids!

Frida Viola and I went to see it today - and it was wonderful, poetic, aesthetic, dreamlike and whimsical.
"Dyrevennerne" is a collection of three short narratives for small kids - all with animals as main characters. Swedish author and illustrator Eva Lindström's illustrations and colours are delicate, soft, offbeat and hard not to love, and the soundtrack in the animations just completes the universe. We both liked it very much, and some of Lindström's books are now on our wishlist.

You can see "Dyrevennerne" in Cinemateket next Saturday, via the children's film festival Buster - free of admission!
See a teaser here.

Charley Harper

A really nice book find from this summer's treasure hunting is "Biologiens Eventyr" ["The Giant Golden Book of Biology"] from 1963/1961 with wonderful illustrations by one of our favourites, Charley Harper.

Admittedly, I have no intention of reading it since I'm quite sure that both facts and methods are outdated by now, but we bought the book for the illustrations' sake. I have caught Frida Viola with the book late at night more than once, studying cells, microorganisms and strange species while she should be sleeping.

Charley Harper's Ladybug Giant Floor puzzle is also nice.

peepshow

This one was Frida Viola's thrift store find during our summer vacation. She came with it clenched into her chest and told me she had to own it. And of course I understood her. I clearly remember my own fascination with peepshow books as a kid and this one is really cute and charming with its theater like frame and bright colours. It's old but not too worn out and I think we'll hang it from the ceiling in the kid's room to save it from (Molly's) curious fingers.

"Goldilocks and The Three Bears", illustrated by Patricia Turner, A Peepshow Book.

notes & tea

I have been stocking up with new beautiful notebooks from Cinnober. I am addicted to good old-fashioned notebooks since I haven't found the perfect digital note pad system yet. We still use Avocado (that I guess, I mentioned before...?) to share our calendars and family related lists but when it comes to organize my far too many ideas, lists and to-do's then pen & paper is the only thing that works for me.

Recently I discovered a Roman Chamomile plant in a garden we visited. I didn't know it before but it has beautiful pompom like and very aromatic flowers. I couldn't resist picking some flowers and have been drying them for tea. The tea is sweet with a hint of apple but it shouldn't infuse too long, otherwise it turns slightly bitter.

geometry

Here is another little book we found at the flea market during our vacation. This one is in Danish, "Tryl med figurer" ["Magic with shapes"], with illustrations by Richard Fowler from 1975. Originally it had transparent coloured flip pages to reveal or hide some of the shapes/figures - but these are missing now, after many years of use, I guess. I like the illustrations nevertheless with their faded colours, overlapping effects and simple geometrical patterns.

Jockum Nordström: Sailor och Pekka

One thing I really enjoy when we are on vacation is using plenty of time searching for new books for the kids (and myself, of course). I browse through the bookshelves at flea markets and thrift stores and in local book shops. This summer I found several really nice ones - one pile is left in the house, another is brought with us home. I picked out some of them to show you and recommend throughout the nearest time.

This is one of Jockum Nordström's wonderful Sailor and Pekka books. I have been dying to get my hands on these books for so long - and was really happy (- and somewhat surprised) to find a couple of them in the local book shop nearby our Swedish house. It was no disapointment. The illustrations really are something special, and Frida Viola loves the cartoon like parts. I love the colours, the collages and the wonderful expressions of the characters. The first three photos depict Sailor's hallucinatory dreams while having a fever.

Jockum Nordström: "Sailor blir Sjuk", rabén&sjögren.
Sailor & Pekka at fine little day shop.