I watched two movies from Pirouettte interviews recently and I really liked them : The boy with the stripes pyjamas (Thanks Jenny Dalton) and Last train home (Thanks Lisa Wong). Today it’s my turn to recommend a movie : The Tree (Julie Bertuccelli, 2010). I watched it last night and I woke up with the images stuck in my head. The little Morgana Davies is very inspiring and the tree’s magic reminds a bit of Tim Walker with its octopus shape and little colorful lights.

Mimi’lou is a poetic and whimsical brand of home décor items that was launched by Miriam Derville in 2005.  A graphic designer, Miriam worked 10 years as an art director for Givenchy, Guerlain, Hugo Boss, before creating Mimi’lou.  A she loved designing for her kids and started to turned her illustrations into wall decals. The range expanded quickly into textile, stationery, lamps and accessories. Since then, the brand has developed great collaborations with well-know companies like Habitat, Paul & Joe, Monoprix. 

NEW! Mimi’lou is now available at ABC Carpet & Home, New York.

“What do boys like about Mimi Lou? Boys love to play with our stickers… like with our ‘A L’Aventure’ removable wall boarder for example, boys can imagine themselves pirates and put money in the treasure box, hang a batman in one corner of the room. The possibilities are endless! - What do girls like about Mimi Lou? The neon pink stars… what is better that pink when you are a girl? They also love to chose and help their mum put their décor in their room, fun time together!” 

The world map is brilliant and beautiful. I is made to play with and offer a multitude of possibilities to create different stories and learn at the same time. It comes with more than 50 dots with the names of capital cities, flags, animals, symbols. Children will learn the different capital cities in the world  and place them on the map, they will have fun putting the Eiffel tower in Paris, the pyramid in Egypt and so on..

After Milan and Graz, kidsroomZOOM opened its Vienna last week with more than 20 international designers presenting contemporary art and furniture, as part of the Vienna Design Week.

I am hoping that Paola Noe will bring the event to London soon; London Design week 2012?

Participating to Kidsroom were  az&mut (F), Bybo design (S), Bomb Design (D), breaded escalope (AT), Collect Furniture (DK), Caroline Gomez/mouta (F), Gommini (D), Liliane (NL), green lullaby, Hektik (NL), Johannes Hoffmann (AT), Kalon Studios (USA), KIdsonroof (DK), kubix (AT), Jaell & Tofta (D), jooloomooloo (AT), Junior Living (DK), Lou & dejlig (AT), Move-it product (GB), Nonjetable (F),Nonah (F), Pete Oyler (USA), perludi (AT), Punch’n’Cuddle (GB), Rijada (LV), The Collection (F), Thorsten van Elten (GB), Tukluk (AT).

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 Matali Crasset invites you to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France to discover a new world looming over the city’s asphalt.
This world is a world of plants designed for children and those who accompany the Blobterre, a world with its own rules and inhabitants, where everyone can experience the influence it exerts on it’s environment.
To celebrate the event, Matali Crasset has created a t-shirt in collaboration with Misericordia. The t-shirts features a fantastic blobterrien named Floom.

 Noeuf.fr is proud to distribute the Floom kid’s t-shirt online, in exclusivity.

If you happen to be in Paris this October, don’t miss the wonderful Blobeterre of Matali at the Centre Pompidou.

Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece has a busy busy life. Mother of 5 children, the Princess also runs her own business, the children’s line Marie-Chantal that she launched 10 years ago.

Specially designed by the Princess, this  diary is the perfect way to keep track of everyone’s busy lives and always stay on top of things.

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A Contemporary Textiles Artist, Sara William focuses on dyslexia and the problems Sara has encountered both during her school life and beyond.  The inspiration for her embroidered drawings comes from a school workbook completed by an eight year old dyslexic pupil and Sara’s visits to primary schools.

 “I have focused on the red correction marks from my school days where I continually misspelt words and used these to influence the words and images of my work. By controlling the sewing machine as a drawing tool I have created pages from a book using handmade unbleached felt and itchy woollen blankets that, with my free machine embroidery, represent my childhood memories” explains Sara.

1. Paper work, Brazilian Pavilion – 2. Christian Boltanski, French Pavilion – 3. Mural, Iranian Pavilion – 4. Marina Abramovic, Palazzo Fortuny – 5. An installation by Argentinian artist Amalia Pica, Italian Pavilion

Thanks to Jenny from cool blog the-little-list for sharing these pictures of singer Serge Gainsbourg and wife Jane Birking. Lou and Charlotte, you made (an still do!) dream many of us!

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Currently on display in London (Phillips de Pury; last days) and in New York (Bonni Benrubi Gallery) are the wonderful photos of Linda McCartney. A good occasion to peep at another similar one-of-a-kind family life, with little Kate and Stella this time.

If you can’t see the photos in real life, have a look at the book. Jaw-dropping.

Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs by Annie Leibovitz, Martin Harrison, Alison Castle and Linda McCartney

I am off to Venice Biennale. A little break but I’ll be posting again next week!

Maddie, 7 and her brother Simon, 4  live in Chicago, IL. Maddie loves to perform in front of a crowd, wear beautiful ballet costumes and pose for photos. Alyson is a designer and developer of kids books and printed matter in Chicago, IL. She started her own press this year called Grow Books press.

Benjamin Lacombe is a talented young French illustrator, cartoon designer and children’s books writer. He graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris (ENSAD) and worked as an advertising and animated movie artist before completing his first comic series at the age of 19. We are addicted to his stories and stunning drawings  : The little sorceress, Lin Yi’s lantern, Blanche Neige, Cherry and Olive. His books are translated  in Spanish, German, Korean, Chinese and of course English. Benjamin lives and works in Paris with his dog Virgile, often found hiding among the pages of his books. benjaminlacombe.com

On the list of family films that make us really laugh, those by Louis de Funes rank highly. Very French and very 70′s, favourites include Rabbi Jacob, Oscar or La Folie des Grandeurs.There is one I particularly like, called l’Aile ou la cuisse (The Wing and the Thigh), a criticism of processed food (industrie agro-alimentaire), a hilarious parody yet very visionary, and a good introduction to food issues for younger generations.