One of our readers, Rochelle, wrote to us a little while ago asking whether we could recommend any bookends for her baby daughter’s bedroom. I’m always on the lookout for cute bookends for children, and had lots of fun compiling this list…

I do love the Roebuck Studios bookends, which we have stocked in our store in the past, and often have as part of our display on our stand at Magnolia Square. Unfortunately, I’ve just heard that Roebuck Studios is closing on September 6 2010 – get in quick if you love these ones as much as we do.

Love these silver elephant bookends from Moroccan design company Zid Zid Kids, available in Australia from Little Living.

The Coocoon Couture bookends are ubiquitous these days, but with good reason – awfully cute and a perfectly natural look. Available in Australia from Bebe.

For older kids, I like the look of these ‘Flight to Mars’ bookends from These Creatures, spotted by Ohdeedoh at the New York International Gift Fair last week.

The jury’s still out for me as to whether leather or fabric bookends are REAL bookends, but there are certainly lots of gorgeous examples.

Leather artist Sandy Vour makes an array of bookends – I think her mice are my favourites. The Elephant is from MoMA.

There seems to be an owl theme! Fabric owl bookends from Etsy’s Aprilfoss and Li’l Magoolie pointed me in the direction of the leather owl – available in Australia from Urban Baby.

And speaking of owls, it’s taking some serious effort to resist this stunning set of bookends by Mexican designers Neko! The bookend’s vertical is magnetic and holds the owl and branch, making it look like it is suspended…

Let us know if you know of any other bookends for a child’s room!

Unpersuaded by my alternative suggestions, Rowan was determined to have a superhero theme for his 4th birthday party. I admire parents who can persuade their 4-year-olds to have a party theme of an adult’s choosing… Thus far, I’m not one of them.

At least I get a say over the cake…

Inspired by Harry and Horsie, first blogged about by Lou right here.

Of all the superheros, Harry might just have to be my favourite. Katie Van Camp and Lincoln Agnew capture the spirit of little boys becoming super heros and cleverly sidestep the fighting and guns, with a ’super duper bubble blooper’…

(Did you know Harry is a celebrity baby of sorts? I just discovered this.)

It was very wet and very cold on the day of Rowan’s party, and despite four-year-old energy levels and being cooped up in the garage for most of the party, Rowan and his friends were absorbed by a reading of Harry and Horsie.

The costumes were calling out for a photo, a la the cover of Play All Day.

But the highlight? A patch of sunshine and a good half an hour of ’superhero flying’: jumping off the slide and into the beanbag.

It’s a cold and grey day in Melbourne today, I was feeling quite melancholy until I saw this on Etsy…

I’m cured – how gorgeous! I wish I had those legs and those skirts. It is a print of an original oil painting created by the very talented Canadian artist Janet Hill. If you need a ray of sunshine just check out her stunning work in her etsy shop and be swept away by her amazing blog.

Speaking of Wombles! Do you remember them?

They were a huge part of my childhood and absolutely classic 70’s animation. I don’t think I do remember them as books as they were originally created by Elizabeth Beresford in the late 1960’s as a series of novels. The message of the Wombles about recycling and cleaning up parks and public spaces couldn’t be any more relevant today – I wish they’d replay the episodes as I’d love Ned to see them.

Do you have any Womble memorabilia at home? Some of the original books maybe? We’d love you to share some pics with us.

We had such a wonderful reaction to our photos of Magnolia Square I thought you might like to see a couple more…

The Golden Book Bedspread…

The Little Jack Horner Lamp…

Our Moomin Cookie Cutters in Katie’s beautiful vintage hat boxes …

The FAMOUS Womble, boy did he ever attract some attention!

The Womble overseeing some pretty stock…

Our sign, lit by a gorgeous borrowed ‘industrial’ lamp…

Come and see our set up at the next Magnolia Square.

In the meantime we are going to Mathilda’s Market this Sunday at the Hawthorn Town Hall, 9am – 1pm. We have more new titles to take as well as some old favs so come and visit and maybe start some Christmas shopping!

Magnolia Square was so much fun as always – could it have been the BEST EVER?! Nic and her team created such a gorgeous display – the stage was like a scene from Narnia, complete with silver birch trees, and the most breathtaking props. So many amazing retailers – having a stand next to Michel’s Fine Biscuits was way too tempting and opposite our stand was the gorgeous Ohme Ohmi – we LOVED their new vintage toy T-shirts.

We also went a bit vintage with a new look for our stand…

How stunning is this bedspread with Golden Book characters – can you spot the Saggy Baggy Elephant and the Tawny Scrawny Lion? It’s an original and belongs to a lovely friend of mine – how lucky is she?! Underneath is the most gorgeous Little Jack Horner lamp found by Lou – which also got lots of comments from our customers.

The Womble night light was from my childhood…

Lou makes some gorgeous vintage book bunting, which you can see up top, and I framed some of the Charley Harper Memory Game cards for the wall.  The furniture and some vintage hat boxes were thrifted and found in storage, a gorgeous handmade quilt, vintage suitcase, another lamp and toys were borrowed from another very lovely friend – once we got started it all came together…

Another Magnolia Square has been and gone – the good news is there’s just 11 weeks until the next one – we’re starting our countdown already!

Watch this incredible clip of Shaun Tan talking about his collaboration with Andrew Ruhemann on the film of his beautiful book The Lost Thing which recently won the Grand Prix for Best Short Film at the Melbourne Film Festival (among many other worldwide awards)…

And here is the trailer for the film, which unfortunately I missed at the Festival and will be eagerly awaiting Madman releasing on DVD…