Slugs & Snails & Puppy Dog's Tails...

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Dress: Anthea Crawford dress

Kimono: Portmans silk

Wrap: Hari Seng

Booties: Corelli @ Williams

Bag: Novo patent

Necklace: Prouds silver

Cuff: Wallace Bishop silver

Bracelet: Vintage Kellie's Antiques silver

Ring: Vintage marcasite & mother-of-pearl (Gift from Jenny)

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Spent a delightful Sunday afternoon "showering" my cousin with gifts to celebrate the impending arrival of her baby!

Decided to go with a predominantly blue outfit in a nod to the baby's gender, wearing a gorgeous blue floral brocade Anthea Crawford dress. The unpredictable Queensland weather struck again, meaning that not only did I take my silk embroidered & fringed kimono but my gorgeous photo-print floral silk & wool-backed wrap as well to ward off the nippy mid-afternoon breeze. Added lashings of silver jewellery to complete the ensemble: my beloved silver cuff, vintage bracelet with heart locket & tiny key, marcasite ring with blue-tinged mother-of-pearl centre & fob necklace with large heart pendant to draw the eye to the dress' stunning portrait neckline. 

Transported to Christopher Robin's childhood bedroom via the ingenious decor, strung with vintage-style bunting, guests reveled in the Children's Picture Storybook theme of the day...

There were amusing games to play - Getting To Know You, The Price is Right... For Buying Baby Necessities & the Jeopardy-style Alternative Children's Book Titles - as well as my favourite, Name That Book Character, where players had to name all of the famous storybook characters depicted in the white frames... Bonus points for those who were able to name the book they came from & the author. Scroll down to the bottom of the games pictures to have go yourself. How well do you remember your childhood reads? See if you can name all 14. Answers in tomorrow's blog post. 

Following on with the storybook thread, the delicious fare included: Pooh Sticks (Cadbury chocolate fingers), Winnie the Pooh Honeybee Cakes (cakes with marshmallow icing), Mornay in Melbourne (salmon mornay in puff pastry cases), Piglets in Blankets (cheerios wrapped with puff pastry), Red Ripe Strawberries (strawberries dipped in chocolate) & Vegetables from Mr McGregor's Garden (a selection of carrot sticks, celery sticks & snow peas with hummus or avocado dip). 

Guests were then given a book to take home as a keepsake/reminder of the day's festivities, with a sweet little poem inside, pictured below:

The mother-to-be's favourite childhood story might be Shirley Hughes' Dogger (the same as my brother Louis) but here are Franny's Top 10 Children's Books of All Time:

#1 The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Written in 1936, this book tells the story of a young bull who would much rather sit & smell the flowers than achieve glory through bullfighting. Ferdinand sits in the middle of the bullring, failing to take heed of any of the provocations of the matador & others to get angry & fight. The book was released 9 months before the Spanish Civil War & was seen by many of Franco's supporters as a Pacifist tome. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler was so threatened by a mere children's story that he ordered the book burned while Mahatma Gandhi called it his "favourite book of all time." 

#2 Corduroy by Don Freeman

Published in 1968, it tells the story of a teddy bear named Corduroy who is displayed on the top shelf of a department store toy section. One day, a girl named Lisa arrives with her mother & spots the bear. She is willing to buy him, but her mother doesn't wish to spend money on a bear with a button missing from his overalls. Disappointed, Corduroy decides to find the missing button himself & embarks on a trip around the store after it closes for the evening. He goes upstairs to the furniture department & finds items he has never seen, including beds & mattresses. Thinking that one of the mattress buttons is the one he is missing, he pulls on it until he falls from the bed, making a noise & drawing the security guard over. The guard takes him back to the toy section & places him back on the shelf. The next day, Lisa returns with the money she had saved in her piggy bank & buys Corduroy. She takes him home & sews on another button to replace the one his missing. 

#3 Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy

One of the most popular books on 1983, Whatever Next! follows the adventures of Baby Bear, who was about to go to bed when he looks out of his window & sees the moon. Intrigued, he decides he wants to go there & the next morning, sets about fashioning a rocket from common household items. Baby Bear makes the long journey through space to enjoy picnic with his friend Owl on the moon's surface before making it back in time for his bath, where he regales his mother with the story of his great adventure... but she doesn't quite believe him...

#4 The Tiger-Skin Rug by Gerald Rose

A humorous tale from 1979, the idea for the story came from a "tall tale" told to Gerald Rose when he was a small boy in India. One day, a scrawny, starving tiger decides to swap places with a rug hanging on the rajah's washing line & starts enjoying a life of luxury with the rajah's family - snacking on midnight feasts & playing with his children. The tiger goes entirely undetected until one night, when burglars break into the palace & he has to decide whether to stay in disguise or risk expulsion by saving the rajah from a horrible beating. However, tigers who live in houses can enjoy happy endings, too, as this utterly brilliant book seems to suggest. 

#5 The Jolly Postman by Janet & Allan Ahlberg

Taking 5 years to complete, the 1986 tale follows an unnamed English village postman as he delivers letters by bicycle to a whole host of fairytale characters including the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella & the 3 Bears. Following each sheet of narrative verse & illustration is one shaped like an envelope that contains the postman's latest delivery. Each envelope is opened & its enclosure read at that point in the story. So popular that it has never been out of print, the interactive tome has been the recipient of many awards including the 1986 Kurt Maschler Award & the 1987 British Children's Book Award. Our copy was so well loved by my little brother Louis that many of the envelope pages have been sticky-taped & re-taped many, many times!

#6 The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Written in 1922 & given the alternative name of How Toys Become Real, Margery Williams' tear-jerker about the healing power of love chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit and his quest to become real through the love of his owner. The rabbit is given as a Christmas present to a small boy who, at first, plays with his shiny new toys instead before taking it to bed at the behest of his grandmother in the place of a lost toy. The rabbit soon becomes the boy's favourite toy & he regards the rabbit as "real." One day, the boy becomes ill with scarlet fever & the rabbit sits with him as he recovers. The doctor orders that the boy should be taken to the seaside to recover & that his room should be disinfected & all books & toys burnt. The rabbit is bundled into a sack & left out in the garden overnight, where he sadly reflects on his life with the boy. The toy rabbit cries & as a real tear drops onto the ground, a marvellous flower appears. A fairy steps out of the flower & comforts the rabbit, taking him to the forest where she gives him a kiss & he transforms into one of the real rabbits he had seen while playing with the little boy in the meadow. 

#7 Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

Written in 1968 but translated from a story that is much older, Tikki Tikki Tembo tells the tale of a first-born Chinese boy with a very loooooong name who falls into a well. His exalted, elaborate name makes it very difficult for his second-born brother, Chang to get help in time & he almost drowns, teaching his parents a valuable lesson...

See how quickly you can pronounce Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sa Rembo Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo!

#8 The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack

This 1933 story begins when Ping, the duck, is taken by his owner to feed on the riverbank. Later, when it is evening, Ping is the last duck to return, so he hides to avoid being spanked. The following day, Ping observes some fishing birds & is captured by a boy who wants to take him home to become dinner, but luckily, he is released. Ping sees his master's boat & hurries to return to his family, knowing that he will be in trouble for being the last duck back again but this time, he accepts his punishment. 

#9 The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl's 1978 wickedly humorous story takes place in Africa, where an enormous crocodile goes tramping through the jungle telling all of the animals that he's going to eat some children. The animals tell him that's a horrible thing to do but he tries to use all his cleverest tricks to eat them nonetheless. Later on, Trunky the elephant punishes the naughty crocodile by swinging him around in the air by his tail & letting him go, sending him flying into the sky, where he crashes headlong into the sun.

#10 Old Bear by Jane Hissey

The first in a popular series of books by British author Jane Hissey that have subsequently been made into a BAFTA award-winning television series, the 1986 tome chronicles the rescue of the ubiquitous Old Bear from the loft. The dusty brown teddy is finally returned to the playroom where he leads the others - Bramwell Bear, Duck, Rabbit, Little Bear, Zebra, Jolly Tall the Giraffe & Hoot the Owl - on many wonderful adventures. 

All that's left to do is wish my cousin & her husband 

all the best for their new life with their 

new little bundle of joy!