Iranian children’s books from the 1970s

nbelievably beautiful children’s books were produced in Iran in the 1970s. I just wish that I could read them.

The images below are courtesy of A Journey Round My Skull’s “Iran” collection, which I strongly encourage you to visit. Such great use of color, brilliant illustrations, and gorgeous calligraphy… I’m kind of drooling right now. In fact, I should probably go fetch a hankie.

OK. All better. Anyway, please enjoy, and please also take a moment to visit the International Children’s Digital Library HERE.

All images below kindly borrowed from A Journey Round My Skull, a stellar blog of under-appreciated (old) books that you should visit at any and all times.

The birdies might be my favorite, despite the lack of calligraphy/text.

Follow A Journey Round My Skull on Twitter HERE and visit the blog HERE.

Grammar Can Be Fun

rammar Can Be Fun was written by Munro Leaf and published in 1934. Clearly, it rules. You can pretty much always assume I’ll dig something that instills good grammar, especially if that something explains the difference between “well” and “good.” And especially if those explanations are accompanied by awesome illustrations. All images below found over at Curious Pages (amazing blog of lesser-known children’s books, which you must visit A.S.A.P.!) by way of Martin Klasch:

French Friday: Capucine for Edurelief

ne of my former French students sent me this Capucine video via Facebook the other day (merci PN!), and I can’t stop hearing Capucine’s cute, animated little narrative voice talking about “les popotames” (hippopotamuseseses).

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Once upon a time… on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

Quelle imagination de cette petite fille qui rêve des monstres et de la pauvreté et de l’égalité pour tous!

After I received the video, I did a little Googling and found that la petite Capucine has inspired a charitable endeavour by her mother, who is now raising funds for Edurelief, which is a non-profit that raises money to help kids in Mongolia who lack books and other educational necessities. Donations can be made directly to Edurelief, or you can purchase a ridiculously cute t-shirt that features one of Capucine’s original drawings and a quote from one of her adorable tales (quotes can be printed in French or in English). Some images from the website, which you should visit tout de suite:

To learn more about la mignonne Capucine and to watch all of her storytelling videos, click over to the Capucha website HERE.

Some of my favorite Capucine photos from the website (I am having MAJOR difficulty dealing with how cute she is. I bet you will, too. Oh, and I also bet you’ll want that Nutella like I do, too.):

Swedish sweetness

t’s finally snowing in Boston. It was 70 degrees here on Thursday. Very anti-Decemberish. So, I’m extremely excited to see the white fluff whisping around outside and even sticking on the ground. I’m about to go celebrate with a fresh mug of hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows. But first, I want to share some fun Swedish finds with you… they’ll keep you happy and warm this Saturday evening, whether yours is snowy or not. 🙂

Vintage book covers and ads straight from David at the Klockarp Institute:

Dutch picture book covers

Adoringly observed over at BibliOdyssey, these covers originated from the early 19th to the 20th centuries:

Several more where these came from. Click over to BibliOdyssey HERE, and check out their beautifully extensive archives while you’re at it.

Pan Tu Nie Stał

Pan tu nie stał, meaning You Were Not Standing Here, is a Polish design blog created by sociologist Justyna Burzyńska and graphic designer Maciej Lebiedowicz, who are heavily inspired by vintage Polish designs from the 1930s onward. But that’s not all: they also have a shop by the same name, which features clothing, home decor, accessories, and paper products. Oh, and did I mention that they ROCK?

Just look:

All of the beautifully vibrant and inspiring images above are borrowed from their blog, which you can access (along with their shop) HERE.

French Friday: Babar!

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Ted Staunton’s Record Labels

If you haven’t yet visited Ted Staunton’s Gallery of Record Labels from the first half of the twentieth century, you have been MAJORLY missing out.

Here are some reasons why:

I can’t freakin’ get enough of them. And there are a bajillion more where these came from. Check out the beautifully extensive gallery HERE.