wild

colour blind

Here's a great ad that won Silver Lion in Cannes.
The little boy is adorable and acts perfect.
Hopefully it will gain people recognition and help rally them to the cause.

15 days

...of rest at the beach on the French Atlantic coast, leaving tomorrow.
I'm hoping to come back with nice captures of little Frenchies.

(illustration by Nick Dewar)

lego legs

I like this photograph because it shows the ingenuity that children possess.

(photo by Gregoire Alexandre)

assault course

I used to spend my summer vacation at la Baule as a kid, having lots of fun at the club -just like on this pict.

I like this motion sequence very much, with the boys running, playing and getting doused by the girls on the trampoline. We can imagine easily the noise and moves of the children.
I like the colours as well - look at all the orange and white on the balls (down the slide), the cones, the tape around the trampoline, the buckets...
Thanks for this capture Laura Mary.

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Last day of school.
I used to love this day where we were allowed to bring our favourite things from home.
Anyone else excited about the last day of school?

(photo from life in soviet russia - private moments)

BANG!!

...was my favourite print among the 10 WoWo tee-shirts to choose from.
Here for more info on the contest.

certificate

My son graduated from AICS preschool, group1.
I'm a happy and proud mother.

(photo from life in soviet russia - private moments)

after the nap

What kind of person are you when you wake up?

through the fence

It looks like a little somebody is spying on us.

Holland V Russia, quarter final

I met an orange supporter this morning.No doubt we'll be hearing blowing horns tonight.

little indian

Today I was happy to meet the co-founder of Apache, Liz Hornsey who recently moved to Amsterdam with family.
I'm hoping to interview her soon to know more about her and how she and her husband started this kids business 10 years ago.

alike

What caught my eye was their matching black & white ballet outfits.
Although they were a bit shy when I took their photo, one of them made a vague turn.

ouin-ouin

As I was eating my banana from both ends, I remembered this old French tv commercial with its easily-stuck-in-your-head ouin-ouin jingle.
Great to see it again.

rock you

The new franco-german rock band is in town.

le ballon rouge

Have you ever been followed everywhere you went by a red balloon with a life and mind of its own?

This is what happens to Pascal in "le ballon rouge", a short film by Albert Lamorisse that takes place in the late 50s in the Ménilmontant neighbourhood of Paris, France.
Thanks aboutsomethings for this discovery. So poetic, so beautiful.

You can watch this short film here, here, here and here.

nose

I like her reflection in the mirror.

(photo from kid's wear Autumn/Winter 2007/08)

what's that?

I came across this photograph on finelittleday and liked it immediately: this costume could be anything from an alien to a bug to a space suit, which leaves it open to every child's imagination.

I wanted to know what kids aged 5 years would think, so I showed them the pict and simply asked them: what's that?
The kids were, as expected, very inventive in their response but one in particular was a genuine surprise (and laugh).

Jacob said:
"I know it's me, but I am not sure if I remember that suit - what suit is that???".

bubbles

I like the bright orange colour of his crocs.

Oum

Paddling pools are now open, with lots of kids riding their dolphins and crocodiles.

It reminds me of an old TV commercial for white chocolate Galak by Nestlé, with Oum the dolphin as the mascot. Here.

ballerina dream

It seems to me that every little girl wants to be a ballerina.
Do they simply want to be wearing tights, tutus and ballet slippers? Do they just like to dance in front of mirrored walls or do they want to glide gloriously on a stage in front of everyone?
Any idea anyone?

(photo from life in soviet russia - private moments)

high five!

I wanted to know what "friends" meant for a 4yo boy. Obviously a lot!

Who are your friends?
> Lucas (Nl/Fr), Ansh (India) and Roger (UK/Romania).
Why do you like them?
> Because they're my friends. They're cow-boys.
Who is the strongest? the fastest?
> We're all strong and fast.
Do you sometimes fight ?
> Never.
Tell me a story about your friends.
> There were those bad guys in the playground at school. We fought them and we won, with my buddies. The bad are all dead now. High five!

(photograph by Franck Juery)

united colours

Today was the International Day at the AICS.
Everyone was invited to dress in the traditional clothing of their country.
The silhouettes included saris, kimonos and boubous which were best represented, conjuring up all the elegance and refinement of traditional India, Japan and Africa.

India:Japan:South Korea:Africa:Holland:

the ladies with glasses

Behind the curtain #5: conversation with two fashion art design bloggers from NYC.

Cup of Jo and Scout Holiday are two of my daily-must-read-blogs about art, design, style, fashion. Joanna Godard and Cheri Messerli are the two faces behind these blogs.
I really like the angle they seem to have. Poetic, never boring, always aspirational. And their picts are beautiful.
They unfortunately don't talk much about kids and I wanted to know why.

Funny enough, when I asked them to select a picture of their choice to illustrate this interview, they both picked up a self-portrait.

Joanna Goddard from Cup of Jo

Cheri Messerli from Scout Holiday

Why did you decide to write a blog?
Cup of Jo: I am a magazine writer and love love love fashion, art and design. I get really giddy and happy when I discover beautiful and creative and playful things and I always want to share them with people. So a blog seemed like a great outlet on which I could post and share all these fantastic dresses, rompers, shoes, shorts, bowties, wallpapers, etc etc... and hear everyone's reactions.
Scout Holiday: I started a blog to help me find freelance work, and since fashion is the industry I work in, and is something I love, it's the main focus of my blog, but I have so many other interests too, so I like to keep it interesting by posting about different things from any field that I find inspiring.

How would you define your style in 3 words, and in particular what's your standpoint on fashion?

CoJ: my style = clean, simple, playful
SC: progressiveness, sensitivity, imagination I don't know if that necessarily defines my viewpoint on fashion but those are sensibilities that I look for in it.

What do you hate in fashion?
CoJ: big icons and brand names on items of clothing -- like when louis vuitton bags have the logo plastered all over it, or a ralph lauren shirt will have a big logo that always seems materialistic and unoriginal. But everything else is cool with me -- i like when people have weird, crazy, nutty, even really basic, plain style -- if it's what they like, i'm down with it!
SC: over-hyped super glamorous excess.

Kids fashion: you don't talk much about it. Why?
CoJ: I don't have babies yet, so kids' fashion isn't really a part of my life yet and i think my readers would think i was weird if i posted about it a lot :) they already think i have a serious case of baby fever because i'm always talking about how much i want kids.
SC: I have posted a few things from Milk Magazine occasionally in the past, but I don't have kids so it's not very relevant to me at this point in my life.
http://scout-holiday.com/blog/?p=296
http://scout-holiday.com/blog/?p=141

What do you think of it?
CoJ: i LOVE LOVE kids fashion. i think it's super cute and it makes my heart swell to picture a chubby little babe running around in it:) i especially love when kids' fashion looks just like adults' clothes, like this: http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2007/03/dottie-dress.html
SC: It's often very cute, and it's definitely a very big business right now.

What blogs do you read or know, even if only by name?

CoJ: a million billion trillion. :) i love blogs. some faves at the moment are frolic, black eiffel, lost, hoping for happy accidents, and oh happy day.
SC: So many! Too many to name them all but a few of my daily must reads are Paris Breakfasts, Style Bubble, Lá + Fine Little Day

Thanks Joanna and Cheri!