francis

This is Francis.

He's our elf on the shelf.

Have you heard of this book? It's a great Christmas tradition idea and we have sooooo much fun with it every year.

Check it out.

P.S. You can name your elf whatever you wish. We liked Francis, but may I also suggest Edwin and Gregory?

the perfect gift

One of my most favorite gifts Amelie has received are these little book plates from her Aunt Julie. Aren't they the sweetest?

I worked in children's books for a few years before we had Thomas. Needless to say, most of my paychecks went back to the store. I have a collection of hundreds of children's picture books. I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to finally have children to read them.

Julie got Amelie's book plates from a store on Etsy called Oiseaux.

Here's some more of my favorite designs available.

Julie is the queen of thoughtful, original gifts, a talent I dearly wish I possessed. I am usually left stumped and befuddled when I shop for others. Is it better to give than recieve? Not when Julie's buyin'.

the little professor

When you have a blog, I have found that it is much better to divvy out the personal information slowly. Then, readers only get portions and snippets and the entire weirdness of who I really am isn't so glaringly apparent.

Today I give you this little fact about me. I generally dislike kid's movies and TV shows but I love children's picture books. You will never, ever see my child wearing a stitch of clothing with characters on it. And I would have to be bludgeoned to death before any character would make it onto my clothing. Let's just say that when we go to Disneyland, I spend the entire day fighting to withhold fashion judgement from other adults. It's a struggle.

However, there is one TV show that I really like. Not enough to buy any paraphernalia, but I really do think it is very cute and funny.

If you haven't seen Charlie and Lola, you should check it out.

Having spent some years of my life working in children's books, I have a huge library and a pretty good idea of what makes a great picture book. Here's one of my personal favorites.

This is just one of the many many great titles out there. I miss working in the book store. The Little Professor was a wonderful place to be. We had a train in our children's section where a child could sit and read with their parents. I wish I could spend just one more afternoon helping a child find a book they love. I found so many great titles from recommendations of clients and publishers. If you have a favorite book, from your childhood, or one that you found recently, I'd love to hear about it.