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When you go to the library or the bookshop what do you like to carry your books in?

Over the last few year’s I’ve been lucky enough to gather some gorgeous book bags, courtesy of various publishers giving them away at stands at book conferences and other events:

When I asked on Twitter for more examples of great book bags I got sent some lovely, envy-inducing photos… Thanks go to Anabel Marsh for the photo of her lovely Kelpies bag:

Kate Wise tweeted me this picture of this lovely Usborne bag:

David Maybury sent me a reminder of his happy past:

Melanie from Library Mice sent me a photo of these beauties:

Sarah Yewman is the lucky owner of the Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler Bag and the Shifty McGifty bag:

Amrita, @ghazaldesk, sent me this photo of a Dutch bag, from the American Book Center in Amsterdam:

If you’ve a particularly loved book bag (whether from a publisher or not), do let me know – I’d love to see more great examples! You can email me a picture on [email protected] and I’ll update this post next week.

Jackie Morris creates breathtaking illustrations. Her books are so utterly beautiful – each picture envelops you and transports you to another time and place. Some of my favourite books by her include Tell Me a Dragon, The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems and The Snow Leopard.

One of many buttons you can buy featuring Jackie Morris' artwork

One of my favourite Jackie Morris prints. Click to find out details.

You can find Jackie’s website here.
You can read Jackie’s blog here.
And don’t forget, you can see what prints Jackie has for sale here and her other gifts in her cafepress store here.

On those days when I daydream about winning the lottery, one of my favourite online places for a bit of window shopping is the art gallery dedicated to contemporary children’s book illustration, the appropriately named Children’s Book Illustration.

They have over 800 pictures in stock, both originals and prints from artists as varied as Eileen Brown, Polly Dunbar, Axel Scheffler and Jill Murphy. Prices range from about £30 for a Nick Sharratt print, to nearly £1500 for an original Anthony Brown.

What would you choose if you could treat yourself to anything from this lovely gallery?

Jane Eccles has illustrated lots of books that may have made you and your kids giggle and smile, from a variety of joke books, to a whole range of poetry books including What I Like ! Poems for the Very Young by Gervase Phinn and most recently Puppy Poems chosen by Gaby Morgan. Jane has an etsy shop selling ink and watercolour originals as well as personalised cards.

I particularly like the idea of commissioning a personalised card like this to gift to a newborn baby along with one of the books Jane has illustrated:

Or how about this original to hand in a child’s room?

You can find Jane’s website here.
You can find Jane on Twitter here.
You can find Jane on Pinterest here.
And don’t forget, Jane’s shop is here.

This week I’m highlight goodies you can get from author/illustrator Paul Stickland, the name behind some of our first and favourite dinosaur books including Ten Terrible Dinosaurs and Dinosaur Roar!

Paul sells all manner of fun items in his zazzle store but I know two girls who’d love this T-shirt:

And I wouldn’t mind drinking out of this mug:

You can find Paul’s website here.
You can find Paul on tumblr here.
You can find Paul on Posterous here.
Paul is on Twitter here.
And don’t forget, Paul’s shop is here.

In the run up to Christmas I thought I’d take a moment each week to highlight gifts you could get your family (or yourself) made by children’s book illustrators and authors. Many illustrators offer their work directly for sale and it’s a great way to support book artists and get yourself something beautiful that will last a lifetime.

Kate Slater‘s first children’s picture book Magpie’s Treasure was published by Andersen Press in November 2010 and her second book, ABC London is now available for pre-order.

Kate has an etsy shop where you can buy her illustrations, stunning brooches, cards and ornaments. Some of my favourite items are these bird brooches:

And this whale print:

You can find Kate’s website here.
You can find Kate’s blog here.
Kate is on Twitter here.
And don’t forget, Kate’s shop is here.

This week’s selection of gifts comes from Bas Bleu – an US based online shop which sells book and book related gifts. Unfortunately they don’t ship outside the US, but there are still some lovely gifts which might give you some inspiration.

Photo: Bas Bleu

A lovely t-shirt with the quote “One can never have too many books!”

Photo: Bas Bleu

Photo albums which look like antique books!

Photo: Bas Bleu

An Alice in Wonderland play tea set – I’d love this, let alone my girls!

This week’s selection of possible gifts for book loving children and families comes from The British Library Shop.

Photo: British Library Shop

A beautiful bone-china set of two cups and saucers, illustrated with a charming design from Kipling’s much-loved tale, The Cat who Walked by Himself.

Photo: British Library Shop

Bookchase is the perfect game for anyone who has ever read a book. The game can be played with questions or without – fast or slow. Ever dropped a book in the bath, or lent a book to someone and never got it back? 2-6 players aged 6 and upwards – the perfect family boardgame. First to collect, beg, borrow or steal 6 books is the winner.

Photo: British Library Shop

Children’s Writers – The Spoken Word. Settle down and enjoy as ten favourite children’s writers read extracts from their own books. Listen to the actual voices of J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman among others.

I also want to point you towards Wonder-Shirts – an online shop selling t-shirts (for both adults and children) featuring artists more familiar from children’s books, including Arnold Lobel, Rosemary Wells, Garth Williams and Tomie de Paola

Image from the Arnold Lobel T-shirt, Wonder-Shirts

Wonder-Shirts is based in the US but will ship world-wide if you contact them about shipping costs.

If your kids are in to Miffy then there are lots of treats you could get them.

Photo: Miffy Shop

A Miffy tabard for wearing when cooking or crafting.

Photo: Miffy Shop

Wooden Miffy bookends

Photo: Miffy Shop

Photo: Miffy Shop

Wooden farm playset featuring Miffy and her friends

All of these items are available at from The Miffy Shop.

Today’s selection of possible gifts for book loving children and families all comes from The Literary Gift Company. Here’s a selection of my favourite items they stock:

Photo: The Literary Gift Company

A Nancy Drew address book!

Photo: The Literary Gift Company

An Alice in Wonderland teatowel

Photo: The Literary Gift Company

A library monitor badge (I love this one!)

If you love Tove Jansson’s Moomins then there are some wonderful gifts out there for you…

Photo: Cooksparaphernalia

A Moomin Love bowl, plate and mug set from the UK store Cooks Paraphernalia, who stock a wide range of Moomin crockery.

Photo: Cloudberry Living

Moomin 4-Piece Cutlery Set available at a UK store which specialises in Scandinavian goods, Cloudberry Living.

Photo: Pussy Home Boutique

Moomin overnight bags from Pussy Home Boutique – they also have Moonin keyrings, jars, pencils and other goodies!

Photo: Artbox

Moomin duvet cover and pillow set from Artbox, who also sell many other Moomin gifts

Are you a Moomin fan?

This week I found these delights in the online shop of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London…

Photo: V&A Shop

Elephant and Nemo notebook. Little Nemo is the main fictional character in a series of weekly comic strips by Winsor McCay (1871-1934) that appeared in the New York Herald and William Randolph Hearst’s New York American newspapers in the early 20th century.

The comic strips have since been republished as bound books. They’re expensive but look lovely!

Photo: V&A Shop

Stationary by Japanese illustrator Junzo Terada

Photo: V&A Shop

Fine bone china mug featuring Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny (on reverse). From the illustrations by Beatrix Potter.

Photo: V&A Shop

A mounted print of ‘The Duck and the Kangaroo’ by Edward Lear

I don’t particularly like promoting consumerism and suggesting people buy stuff, but as I’ve been looking for fun items related to children’s literature for upcoming birthdays and Christmas I thought I’d share my finds with you once a week. Frivolous fun, but maybe you’ll spot something that is just right for you!

The post on Playing by the book which continues, month in, month out to attract the most visitors is the one I wrote for my 100th post – all about the Barbapapas. Our Barbapapa family is still played with daily, and so when I saw the new range of Barbapapa clothes and accessories from Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) I immediately knew some of these fun items would be making their way into Christmas and birthday presents!

Photo: H&M

Photo: H&M

Photo: H&M

There are hairclips, hairbands, pyjamas, rompers and even a little Barbapapa handbag – lots of goodies which could be paired up perfectly with a Barbapapa book. The UK online shop doesn’t deliver outside the UK, but H&M does have a presence in quite a few countries, and some of them also offer online shopping.

Here’s another book-related item that caught my eye…

Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

Greetings cards for Christmas with an image from children’s book author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (American, 1898–1962), available from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store, which does ship internationally.