Hello everyone!
Today I am excited to show you something lovely a very creative lady has been cooking up.
Fabulous Kate Bruning, the mastermind behind Greedy For Colour blog, (one of my favs I have to say) has written a beautiful children's book, called 'Stanley and the Hot Air Balloon',
and self published it, the clever thing!
Kate makes amazing things out of yarn and a hook, I am sure many of you have been watching all the interesting and beautiful creatures and props Kate has been making over the last year or so on her blog, I have been very keen to see the finished product, and it is just as cute and wooly and magical as I expected!
Not only has she written a lovely story about Stanley rabbit, she has created a whole crocheted world in which he inhabits. I just love Kate's crocheted mini world, it is so full of details and little bits of fantastic crocheted ephemera, so beautiful!
I love how the fonts are different and colourful, and the dreamlike quality to Stanley's world really makes me want to create a crochet mini world as well!
There is also a section at the back full of crafty patterns to make a Stanley rabbit of your own and a hot air balloon and other cute things from the story. This is perfect, as the story really made me want to make my own Stanley and balloon. Definitely on the to do list. They would make lovely presents for little people (or big people too!).
I can imagine a whole flock(?) of balloons dangling around my house, I think it would be quite a lovely sight.
Here are a few of the pretty pages to show you what I mean! Gorgeous!
.....love those magical mushrooms and mini mice :) ....
.....a glittery, magical land, I want to go there!.....
....cute family snaps on the inner cover, love all those little baby cots.....
So, Kate has very generously sent me a copy of her book and also one to giveaway to one of you.
How good is that! :)
Kate is selling her gorgeous book through her Etsy shop over here if you'd like to have a look. I think it would be a great present for crafty kids or crafty anyone really!
(And supporting a lovely creative talent so a win/win really!)
So if you would like to enter the giveaway, just leave comment telling me what your favourite children's or crafty book is, I'd love to get some new recommendations, and I will pick a winner next Tuesday!
Good luck!
Have a fantastic day people, hope the sun is shining wherever you are!
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My all time favourite childrens book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I love the illustrations! I also collect Beatrix Potter books, again because of the beautiful illustrations. Kate's book really has such wonderful pictures too doesn't it. xx
ReplyDeleteI have three favorite children's books:
ReplyDeleteThe Velveteen Rabbit - Ilustrations are fab
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney - again fab illustrations
and There is a monster at the end of this book, this is a Sesame Street Golden book - hilarious!
Oh and I don't have any kids LOL
My eldest daughter loved the Velveteen Rabbit too. There is a hard copy version out there that is bound so beautifully.
DeleteI can't choose just one Julie, for I love all of Beatrix Potter's books, and similar story with craft books - impossible to choose, it depends on the mood and the craft I'm taken with at the time but I will mention 'Connecting Design to Stitch' by Sandra Meech as it's something I really want to get into! Gosh I am so impressed with Kate's book - it's like stepping into a magic land, and how kind of her to offer a copy as a giveaway - I must pop over and visit her! Thanks so much for the opportunity to be in the draw. xoJoy
ReplyDeleteI have 2 books that I go to when I want to do a make for a child, Kids Country by Susie Lacome and Crochet at Play by Kat Goldin. My favourite childrens book is The very Hungry Caterpillar, I have read it with my grandchildren so many times I know it off by heart.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous little book, well done to Kate for a great job! It would be a wonderful bedtime story for my 16 month old twin granddaughters who each have a little soft snuggle bunny for comfort when they are ready for bed. I would love to have a go at crocheting them a Stanley, although I am probably not at that skill level!!! "The very hungry caterpillar" is an all-time favourite of mine too, I am a preschool teacher so I have read it countless times, it would be useful to have the little crochet props for that story too so as to incorporate the tactile experiences and to develop imagination. The children could use them to act out the story, sort and count the fruit etc, mmm someone enterprising like you Julie, or Kate, could prove very popular! Thanks for sharing your talents, Kerri
ReplyDeleteI love lots of Czech books from my own childhood, but at the moment, my English husband reads Winnie the Pooh to our boy and I absolutely adore it! I loved the Czech translation as a kid and I love the lovely English original now. I might be even looking forward to the evening reading more than our boy does himself :-)
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful book! I have been watching her progress of this on her blog and am amazed at her gorgeous and talented work! My favourite children's book is Tikki Tikki Tembo! Or Dreadful David! Or Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! Or The Magic Faraway Tree! Or Where the Wild Things Are! Or....or.....or..... I could keep going!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a cute book and I am quite gutted that I don't have a little person to buy it for and make things out of. I will suggest it to a friend of mine who is a grandma just now and is about to get on a plane to visit her little granddaughter in Australia.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the intro Julie
Kind regards, Heike x
beautiful book, and self published that is amazing!!
ReplyDeleteAs a little girl my favorite story was Matilda by Roald Dahl! still love it!
Agree that it is amazing to have such a beautiful, independently published book. We have Matilda on our shelves too! Roald Dahl is a perennial favourite.
DeleteJane Bull's Stitch-by-Stitch for my daughter and I xxoo
ReplyDeleteOh well how gorgeous! I did love The Magic Faraway Tree as a child - that and this strange book called The Owl Who Loved the Sunshine (I still love the pictures in this book).
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful book! I love so many books...The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Good Night Moon, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, and so many more.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite childrens book is the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I love all of the colours in it!
ReplyDeleteI love the atmosphere and illustrations of Beatrix Potter's books! Thanks for the giveaway the books seems amazing ! Have agreat day!:::Silvia
ReplyDeleteThank you for reviewing this lovely book. I always enjoyed the My Book House Books edited long, long ago by Olive Beaupre Miller. In reading through them a child would obtain quite an education in great literature. The first volume is called "In the Nursery" and has all of the wonderful nursery rhymes that children today do not seem to learn. Wonderful wonderful books! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat an adorable book! My favorite "new" children's book was "My Friend Bear" by Jez Alborough . Its about how even the most unlikely person (or bear) can become your friend. My daughter loved this book and I loved reading it to her. My favorite "old" children's book would have to be Winnie the Pooh!
ReplyDeleteLovely blog post. I think my favorite (and my little grandson, too) is all the stories from Beatrix Potter. I have a modern reprint of her collected stories and my little grandson loves Peter Rabbit. We watch the you tube video of Peter when we're not reading this book. It's really a timeless collection of beautiful children's stories.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a wonderful book. Thanks so much for the chance of winning it.
ReplyDeleteI love the Japanese crafty book about a crochet cat called Amineko.
I love the illustrations of the Brambly Hedge books.
Pati xx
I love the look of this book and the fact you can make the bunny makes even better. I can just imagine the delight little ones would get if they received the book and a bunny together. My favourite childrens book is Guess How Much I Love You, written by Sam McBratney and illistrated by Anita Jeram (hope I've spelt those correctly). It's a story about little and big Nut Brown hares (rabbits) expressing how much they love each other. I always give it as a gift when my friends become new parents.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely book and so much work that has gone in to creating it.
ReplyDeleteMy favourites would have to be The Tiger who came to Tea, Owl Babies or possibly Giraffes can't dance - all books that I have loved reading at Nursery. Another favourite from when my girls were little is The Last NooNoo.
Have a great week Jules,
Kate x
This is so cute,amazing giveaway.Seen it on Greedy for color blog and love it,thank you for the chance to win it.We love to read books,all sorts,and have so many of them,I am happy that I pass on my love for books on to my daughter.We also go to the library regularly,she even had 1st prize this year for reading the most books.=o)So happy and proud.Beside Disney books and some of our regional authors for the moment her favorite is Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney,even I started reading it with her.If you didn't already heard it you should,so funny.And for craft books Falalala felt,crochet ami books,Amineko...Hope I help a little.Have a great rest of the week and thank you for this amazing giveaway,so generous of you.
ReplyDeleteI have to change my fav book...(love all Dr. Seuss, esp Green Eggs and Ham and the Grinch + more)....my g-son used to love me to read to him.......he couldn't get enough........starting at 13 month we literally would read (sometimes the same books over and over and over again) 12 hours a day! by the time he was 3 1/2 he had memorized so many books (so I couldn't cheat and skip pages, lol ) He fell in love with this one book Scare Yourself to Sleep (we are scary book lovers too!) He remembers that book to today (but not all the words) at 12 1/2!! He had memorized every word and all the charter voices that I would read to him with, and he was way ahead of all the other kids in reading when he started school! My daughter was the same way as was I. I want to do the same with my g-daughter and she loves rabbits, so I think this would be a great book for her to find that ;love of books! thanks
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful! I've never seen anything like that done before!
ReplyDeleteI loved, and still love, Alice in wonderland. And there are so many gorgeous editions of it nowadays<3
I really enjoy reading "Something To Do" by David Lucas to my class. Simplicity.
ReplyDelete"Badger's Parting Gifts" by Susan Varley is also very good, very very sad but very good.
My favourite children's book are anything by Shirley Hughes, although the best story is the one about Bonting, where Alfie loses his stone at the seaside. I loved reading these books to my children. Although the book I can remember from my own childhood was called Pookie at the Seaside, and was about a little rabbit who had wings. I have not seen this book for many years, but it was so beautifully illustratated.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Gruffalo" last night to my kids (again) and I think I enjoyed it as much as them. Julia Donaldson's books are just wonderful and the drawings by Axel Schaeffler are beautiful. "Time for Sleep" by Mem Fox is another of my favourites too!
ReplyDeleteOh I do hope I win this book! I adore children's books and have written, illustrated one of my own and self published it too! This one looks absolutley marvelous! A recent favorite children's book of mine is Journey, a wordless picture book. It won all kinds of awards this past year. You will love it if you don't already have it! The illustrations are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love Winnie The Pooh books :) And also all kind of crafts books!
ReplyDeleteThat book is such a brilliant idea! My 3yo son LOVES that I knit & crochet, he often sits next to me with an old knitting needle & a ball of wool, stabbing the ball over & over again whilst claiming "look Mumma, I can knit!" I am going to teach him to crochet soon!!
ReplyDeleteApart from The Gruffalo & Henny Penny, my son's fav book is The Bush Jumper by Jean Chapman - not only does it have knitting in it but also a wattle tree like in our backyard! ...methinks I need a crochet kids book to balance out the yarnie crafts!
Hi, yes it is a beautiful book. It is funny that people like her make a book to inspire people like us.
ReplyDeleteMy Children's book is Peter rabbit and other friends bu Beatrix Potter, I love it and my kids too.
But I have so much craft book that the choice is hard, so !!! but anyway, Tilda's craft is gorgeous and I like Magazines!! Mollie makes and Marie Claire idées because you can find all sorts of crafts in there not just one kind!!
Have a good week,
Miss. xx
when i was young my go to book was the Womens Weekly Craft book...it was almost like a bible to me and still is relevant today. As an adult I love Homespun - they do inspiration so well! I follow Kates Blog and love her free style inspiration
ReplyDeleteMy favorite books were "Little I-Am-Me" (teaches you to like yourself even when others think your strange) and "My book of bible stories" because I was allowed to read it for my book list at school (the book my teacher had were just too scary for a girl who didn't have a television).
ReplyDeleteI like many crochet books and magazines ...but none of them offers me all I dream off, therefore I'm writing my own book now.
"Stanley and the hot air balloon" looks like a dreamworld - that's great! Thank you for sharing...
My current favorite children's books are the ones by Nikki McClure, because the illustrations are gorgeous (she did a lot of paper cutting, which I love the look of).
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm a no reply, but just in case: jhunsberger (at) gmail (d0t) c0m
As a child I loved My Naughtie Little Sister. I have just finished reading them to my daughter. She was so inspired by the story where the little sister knits a scarf for her next door neighbour who looks after her that my daughter asked to knit one for our next door neighbour who also looks after my daughter. She painstakingly knitted, with some help from me. She made pom poms to decorate the ends and I crocheted some flowers to sew over dropped stitches!! It was quite lovely by the end.
ReplyDeleteI love this book about Stanley. A friend has recently started crocheting and is due a baby any day now. This will make a lovely present for her.
My favorite new book is Girl's Get Stitching by Shirley McLauchlan.
ReplyDeletekdavis1@centurytel.net
As a child I loved Richard Scarry's books. The illustrations are amazing. I recently managed to find the very same book we had for my nephew. He's a little bit too young to appreciate it, but my brother was thrilled!
ReplyDeleteI loved Richard Scarry too! So much detail - I spent many many hours studying his illustrations.
DeleteHm...favorite children's book is one called Marcel the Pastry Chef. The most beautiful illustrations of sweets! And there is a book called Doodle Stitching that is my favorite crafty book....embroidery but updated :)
ReplyDeleteMy favourite childre's book is "Where is the Green Sheep" by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek. It has brought so much delight to me and my children and they never tire of it. It is my inspiration for crocheting "sheepy blankets". A happy and colourful read.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely book! thank you for the chance to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteI'll love you forever by Robert Munsch is one of my favourite children's books.
As a child I loved (and still do as an adult) the Anne of Green Gables books. And Little House on the Prairie.
ReplyDeleteI love crocheting little animals! Thanks for the giveaway. Some of my favorite books were the Ramona Quimby series by Judy Blume. sarah@forrussia.org
ReplyDeleteMy favourite book as a child was the Five Chinese Brothers. There are various versions available. My craft time is limited but I love to scrapbook.
ReplyDeleteMyra, from Winnipeg, Canada where we are in the midst of sunny warm weather
My favourite book as a child was all books with princess. I loved princess ;) gulstorff1983@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteCarina from Denmark.
My favorite childrens book must be all "The Little House on the Prarie" books, the first books I remeber my mother readin to me.
ReplyDeleteMie from Denmark.
If you can find "Dream Animals - A Bedtime Journey" by Emily Winfield Martin, I know you will enjoy the story and her beautiful illustrations. There are so many great books for children and anyone young at heart - I'd love the chance to explore Stanley Rabbit's world and learn how to make some of those baby bunnies and toadstools! Thank you for doing this nice giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThere are soooooo many books from my childhood, I think my favourite was Peter Pan. A book which had belonged to my father as a boy which contained some marvellous colour plates. A book I loved to read with my daughter was from the local library and was entitled 'My cat likes to hide in boxes'. It made a great impression on her as she bought me my very own copy for Christmas a few years ago. I love to crochet and hope that Stanley and the Hot Air Balloon will become one of my granddaughters favourites. Thank you for doing this give away.
ReplyDeleteS xx
Such a cute give away, would love to enter! It reminds me a bit of one of my favourite kids&DIY book "Het Muizenhuis", it's a story about little mice, and this lady makes all her mice + the house and every little details in it!
ReplyDeleteStanley is gorgeous, and I love Kate's blog. My favourite book from my childhood is A Home for Whiskers by Madeleine Raillon. :D
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy children loved 'This Is The Bear' by Sarah Hayes and Helen Craig - lovely rhyming story in the Walker books 'reading together' series. I adored My Naughty Little Sister - particularly the story about Mrs Cocoa's treasure box (a decorated and lined shoebox filled with all sorts of other little boxes and containers filled with simple little treasures for when my naughty little sister was ill in bed with spots!) I sooo wanted a box like that when I was little and set about making lots of different little boxes. I made little pompom birds - tiny pompoms with felt beaks - to nest in some of them. Happy memories!
ReplyDeleteNow, I like to use Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker for crochet (great for checking stitches in both UK and Us terms), 'Around The Corner Crochet Borders' by Edie Eckman (great ideas for finishing off the edges), and 'Hook, Yarn and Crochet' by Ros Badger (lovely for some different, contemporary - and useful - projects!
Kates' gorgeous book would be wonderful to win! What a treasure! Thanks for the give away!
It has been exciting seeing this book come together..I've been reading Kate's blog for a couple of years.....my favorite children's book of all time is The Secret Garden....but my favorite childrens's picture books are by Patricia Polacco....I also collect Cinderella stories...and I love David Delamare's version....which seems to be set in Venice....
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely, cute, crafty book!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite childrens book has to be The Wind in the Willows, a story that captivates any age group and has the ability to whisk me back to my childhood as I read it to my own children.
this book looks so awesome! I loved the Cat in the Hat when I was younger and Dr Suess. For a bit older I liked Freckle Juice/Fudge by Judy bloom
ReplyDeleteAs a child, I loved "Goodnight Moon" and "The Giving Tree". As a mom, I have enjoyed reading those to my children as well as "The Paperbag Princess" and "The Crooked Apple Tree". My favorite young readers book (small chapters) besides the Narnia books was "The Ordinary Princess". Chapter books my daughter began enjoying when she was around 10 were the Sisters Grimm and Charlie Bone books. I also loved the paintings and story of, if I remember correctly, "The Whale's Song"
ReplyDeletePeter Rabbit always made my son smile, mind you there were numerous cross stitched Peter Rabbit pictures in his nursery.
ReplyDeleteNow being the the proud mama to my beautiful 6month old grand daughter the fun starts again. But now I crochet too
I have so many favorite children's books...Corduroy, Blueberries for Sal, Happy Birthday Moon, ALL of the Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove, the artwork is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! And the trip down memory lane. ;)
I have so many favorite children's books but if I had to choose I would say I love Winnie The Pooh and Eric Carl's books. As for Kate's book it's just adorable and what an innovative spirit... Crochetting her own book and story ... I just love it . Thanks for this generous giveaway :)
ReplyDeleteOh I'm too late - boo!! Those mushrooms look super cute though!!
ReplyDeleteAs a child, one of my favorite books was Curious George. It's been incredible to see this book come to life in the PBS kids cartoon, for my children to enjoy along with the books!
ReplyDelete