Like Sarah I also have Alison Lester as one of my favourite author/illustrators.

Her stunning art as well as her very personal, funny and warm stories are pure magic. Before Ned was even born (he was in my tummy) I went to see Alison at a signing at Readings and she signed a copy of Are We There Yet? for him.

It says, “For Ned, happy travels and best wishes, from Alison Lester”. I’m sure that he is going to love Are We There Yet? when he is old enough and I really hope that one day he and his dad and I can take a trip around Australia just like in the story.

Books Illustrated in Middle Park have beautiful limited edition prints of Alison’s art for sale that would be perfect for a child’s room or a family room.

We are back from our first real family holiday, ten glorious sunny days in Byron Bay, N.S.W. Ned had a fantastic time playing on the beach every day and even went into the surf with his dad on one particularly warm morning. Suddenly it seems our little baby is a big boy, babbling constantly and walking - ten steps is his record so far.

Of course books played a big part in our holiday as I successfully dragged Ned and his dad into every book shop we passed. And once again we have come home with many more books than we took with us, no wonder the baggage handlers placed a “Heavy! Bend Your Knees” tag on my suitcase.

More about what new treasures are now on the bookshelf later.

Although Byron Bay is lovely for a holiday and the weather spectacular I have to agree with Katie that I Heart Melbourne too.

Lou and I dragged our partners and kids to the Back to Booktown book festival at Clunes on Saturday.

Clunes is situated about 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne, so it’s not really the type of drive you do for only a couple of hours at the other end, but hey, when you’re a busy mum, you take what you can get! And if at least one leg of the car trip is free of a whinging child, you’re pretty happy.

The idea behind a booktown is to create a critical mass of bookshops in order to make a small town a destination, and it’s an idea that is catching on worldwide. The first booktown was in Hay-on-Wye in Wales, and there are now more than 20 booktowns internationally. The Back to Booktown weekend at Clunes is a great way to kick-start the generation of a new booktown.

Clunes is one of those towns that feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but from the buildings it’s not hard to imagine it bustling with life in goldrush times. There is evidence of a flush of new life in Clunes, too, which is nice, with lots of brand-spanking newly renovated shops and a couple of swish places to eat and drink. It would be a lovely place for a weekend getaway.

You really need at least a day to explore Back to Booktown properly, and there were plenty of secondhand booksellers to visit, tucked in different buildings around the town. For a bookseller’s view of the festival, check out The Book Grocer’s post – scary stuff.

Unfortunately for Lou and I, there wasn’t a dedicated kids’ section at Clunes, but we each found a treasure at the CFA sale which cost us the grand total of 40 cents! We also bumped into a WeHeartBooks reader, which was lovely!

I’m always envious of those bloggers who show off their thrifting and op-shop finds - so here’s my token effort.

The book is Mandy Moves In by Bodil Selge, originally published in Swedish. I love the idea of the tiny little girl who has installed herself in a corner of the bookshelf with all her furniture. And the production quality of the illustrations is so beautifully of the era.

Speaking of secondhand books, if you haven’t already checked it out, go over and visit the inspiring blog Vintage Kids Books my Kid Loves, there are some beauties there…

I wish I could have a copy of this…

This is one of five copies in existence of a book hand penned by J.K. Rowling called Beedle the Bard. Auctioned at Sotheby’s for £1,950,000 it is now owned by Amazon.com. There are extracts and reviews on their site. It’s an amazing looking book.

Rowling is donating all the proceeds to her charity The Children’s Voice Campaign to help institutionalised children in Europe.

Ned and I spent a lot less today at Alice’s Second Hand Bookshop in Rathdowne Street. It is such a beautiful little shop and probably one of the best second hand bookshops in Melbourne. They only have a little section of Children’s books but it is all in great condition and they have shelf upon shelf on any other subject you can imagine. We bought a copy of The Whistle Stop Party by Nan Hunt (illustrated by Craig Smith) for $5.50 - what a bargain. No longer in print I can remember reading these books to my little brother in the 80’s. There are three in the series; Whistle Up the Chimney, An Eye Full of Soot and Ear Full of Steam and The Whistle Stop Party; all really worth looking out for in Op Shops or Second hand book shops. All three are so much fun especially for train lovers with jaunty rhymes and great train noises throughout - Clicketty Clack Clicketty Clack.

The Kid’s Republic Bookstore in Beijing spotted on Coolhunter. Unbelievably gorgeous, I’d love to visit here but I probably wouldn’t want to leave.

A highlight of my mum and sister’s recent visit to Europe was a chance encounter with an amazing bookshop in Porto, Portugal, called Lello. I was gobsmacked by their photos…

I would love to visit this shop, can’t get over the beautiful art deco decorations, the red staircase, the rails for the book cart… Sigh!

Also came across this great blog, the Bookstore Guide - ‘an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe’. What a fantastic concept for a blog! Perfect for any booklovers travelling to European cities, you can search by city - big and small. (Although can’t say many of these bookshops look pram-friendly!) Their post describes the place and history of Lello in some detail.

Photos by my mum and sister, (c) 2008

This was one of Ned’s Christmas presents; a Very Hungry Caterpillar hand puppet that we bought from Borders. Many people comment on it because it is so well made, cuddly and looks exactly like the real thing. It’s not often that you can find plush that actually looks like the character and it’s so much fun using the puppet to tell the story. I thought it was quite cheap at $29.95. Borders also had a Beautiful Butterfly hand puppet and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Game, they are availabe on Amazon too. Amazon also has this bedding which is way too cute…

One of my favourite bookshops is not far from where we live. It’s one of those shops that I always wonder why I don’t make it there as often as I’d like, but when I walk out the shop door with an armful of books and a credit card that is a little worse for wear, I’m kind of glad that it’s a once-in-a-while visit…

Mockingbird Bookshop must be one of the smallest bookshops in Melbourne, and owner Evelyn must necessarily be selective in her choice of stock. But what an impeccable selection she has. The shop really is a tardis – somehow within just a few square metres, she fits a good selection of adult books, children’s books, a table and chairs, a couch. A pint-sized bookshelf next to the couch houses the board books at child-friendly height and vintage posters and eclectic hanging decorations help give the shop a lovely mood.

For me, it’s the children’s books that are the stand-out: there is a beautiful array of children’s classics, hardback picture books and even a few first editions and signed copies. While it’s obvious you won’t find everything (no Spot books the day I went!), you will find books that you can’t find in most bigger bookshops. I had been trying to track down a copy of Bruno Munari’s Zoo, and I wasn’t disappointed. There it was in gorgeous hardback and Evelyn offered to cover it with clear plastic for me to protect its pristine and creamy matt dust jacket. That’s something else remarkable – most of the stock is in great condition. No sticky fingers or dropped books evident here!

Evelyn is an American by birth, originally from Mississippi, and her selection (not to mention the name of her shop!) evidences this background. She has a special display of Caldecott and Newbury Medal winners, many of them in hardback. She imports numerous special volumes from the US. The day I was there, she had Jumanji and The Story about Ping among others in imported editions. At close to double the price of the paperback edition and a dying breed, these are volumes for collectors but I value the durability of the sewn binding and old-fashioned dust jackets and creamy pages. I like to think that I’ll be able to pass these books down through the generations. And if I needed any further justification, I figure it’s a good time to invest while the Aussie dollar is strong against the US currency!

Evelyn also gives ample spotlight to local authors – classics such as May Gibbs, as well as Children’s Book Council winners and emerging local authors, who participate in Mockingbird events.

Mockingbird is truely a part of the Mont Albert Village (doesn’t that in itself have such a lovely ring?!). The bookshop shares premises with a gift shop, Entice by Design, accessed down a couple of steps. While browsing in the bookshop you can have a coffee, provided by the Country Fare Cafe round the corner. It all helps give the experience of visiting seem more like you are part of a community and less like you are buying into the competitive world of retail. They have an ad in their window for the Foodie’s Guide highlighting the fact that it features another Village favourite, Zimt Patisserie. (Their Egg and Bacon pastries are to-die-for with melt in your mouth butter pastry!)

I’m looking forward to the time when Rowan is old enough to sit still for story time on a Saturday morning, and I can make a coffee at Mockingbird, a pastry at Zimt and an armful of beautiful books a more regular date in my calendar…

My wonderful book loving friend Katie and I saw a fantastic thing in Borders on Friday; a pop up (Plop Up) version of The Story Of The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business by Werner Holzworth. This is one of the most irreverent picture books EVER and hilarious. Stories about poo are always funny aren’t they? Certainly all children think it’s pretty funny - it’s probably not to everyone’s taste, however I love it! Little Mole wakes up one morning to PLOP, poo falling on his head but he’s sure it’s not his, so who did it? This begins Mole’s journey of discovery in droppings of all sorts. The pop up version graphically illustrates the animals Mole visits doing their business, it adds so much more to the story and I’m sure kids will endlessly enjoy pulling the tabs to make it happen. At $24.95 in hardcover this is a bargain for the hours of laughs it will bring.

Last week I discovered a beautiful new bookstore in Coventry Street South Melbourne, it’s called naturally, Coventry Bookstore. I was with my beautiful friend Jenny and Ned (8 months) on our regular coffee jaunt, looking for a change of scenery we decided on trying Cafe Sweethearts. Our minds were made up by the review we both had read on the fantastic Breakfast Blog, what a fantastic idea to blog new brekkie places. If you love a good coffee and breakfast as much as I do you will LOVE this blog. Cafe Sweethearts was nice, good coffee and the staff were very accommodating of Ned and his Land Rover of a pram (great to walk with a three wheeler but not practical in shops or cafes).

Anyway back to the bookshop, it’s beautiful and just what I would want my shop to look like – when I will tatts. The collection is largely based around design, art and other beautiful things, the interior of the shop is gorgeous and light, designed by the people behind the Macro Wholefoods and Mimco stores, it is just such a joy to browse in. I was served by a man who I assume is the owner, he was so lovely and cheerful (no Bernard from Black Books here) which is a good reason to go back, how often do you get such great attention in retail these days?

The children’s section is amazing! Set in the back of the shop in its own little room you are immediately drawn to the bright fire engine red feature wall that is decorated with funky snowflake like graphics. The day I visited, Ned was fascinated by the colours and particularly by the Charlie and Lola umbrellas hanging from the roof. I really need to get one of those they are absolutely precious. They have the best board book section I have ever seen with ALL the Sandra Boynton books in stock, gee I love her and just about any other board book you could want. I picked up a great photographic word book for Ned called My Little Word Book, it is distributed by Pan Macmillan and has become one of Ned’s fav’s. He sits up in his pram and reads it when we go out . It is a great size and the photos are really clear and good quality. It was only $12.95 and a great investment for years of reading!!

Along with the books they also have a gorgeous selection of book related merchandise, I mentioned the Charlie and Lola umbrellas but they also have an amazing selection of cards, wrapping and toys, including the cutest little bobble head Noddy’s.

They also had a printed list of the Children’s Book Council of Australia award winners out on the display table and also a smattering of the books both winners and shortlisted. This isn’t something you see in the chains and I have often not even been able to be told the winners by staff at other shops. I truely believe that if you are after a beautiful children’s book you will find one here. A Gem!

While we were in Coventry Street we also popped into Nest, a divine home wares shop. They stock some lovely things; I bought Ned a pillow case screen printed by a Melbourne artist with Albi the elephant. It looks beautiful in Ned’s nursery as all his furniture is white, I think it is very special.