I am very proud to carry Ursa the Bear by David Weeks in Anothershop. My little son instantly fell in love with this beautiful sustainably harvested beech wood bear of more than 34 cm high (in standing position). He started to growl and made ominous arm… [ Continue reading ]

This would definitely be my favorite toy when I was 8. ‘PlayShapes by Miller Goodman is a modular set of 74 geometric wooden shapes which can be endlessly arranged or stacked to produce hundreds of 3D creations. The smooth shapes, with flashes of colour… [ Continue reading ]

A new article by Anothersomething in Bright Magazine. This time focused on all the beautiful toys and gadgets for your little love. Clockwise: Moov, Playshapes (soon available at Anothershop), Barino, Joolz Day,… [ Continue reading ]

While working on a special for Bright Magazine on kids, I missed the deadline to add these beauties so wanted to share them here. Our Children’s Gorilla produce home accessories inspired by the children’s imagination. We especially love the Milwaukee Express, a handmade… [ Continue reading ]

It’s winter, and for us in Holland it’s been a while since the last winter like this. Inches of snow everywhere, failing public transport, failing traffic at all but I like it. Today I was tracking down some kids toys and stuff for my next… [ Continue reading ]

The movie news of the year―at least on this side of the Atlantic―has almost wholly revolved around Spike Jonze's filmic adaptation of Maurice Sendak's seminal children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, an innocent-looking 48-page essential that no good mother would be caught without. The big screen version of the generation-transcending classic is quite visually spectacular and emotionally moving (I'm not going to get into criticism or review here―The New Yorker's for that), which is, not incidentally, what most Sendak fans assumed it wouldn't be. ("How can you―and why do you want to―inject live-action life into a masterpiece of the two dimensional?" many asked.) The magical transformation from innocuous paperback to grandiose $100-million-dollar-budget silver screen spectacle can be explained by noting the importance of a simple "a-ha" moment Jonze had several years ago upon splitting with his girlfriend Sophia Coppola: The Wild Things embody wild emotions (anger, fear, and loathing; happiness, exuberance, and excitement). The trouble-making director, along with one of this generation's most lauded scribes, Dave Eggers, transformed Sendak's bedtime story into an exploration of the most primordial feelings that unify us all.

Unusually, the film did not come attached with the usual Disney-style marketing package (numerous throw-away action figures, cheap pajamas, lunch boxes, video games, and so on), but rather a sort of grassroots call to (creative) arms. Where The Wild Things Are gave people the bug to simply create in reverential celebration of a seminal work of toddler fiction. Obviously, Jonze et al. had a roll in the development of these "extended value" efforts, but theirs was more of the warm, encouraging father than the demanding, out-of-touch boss. Read on for a rundown of some of my favorite objects that were created in concordance with the flick. [ Continue reading ]

Lately we’ve been busy creating a ‘news paper’ for Joolz. As Anothersomething we participated in the paper by selecting some beautiful toys, books and kids’ stuff in the Jewels page. Clockwise: A beautiful shinning Egg Bank by J Schatz, a swiss Deer by Big… [ Continue reading ]

I’m a fan of the wooden toys by Brooklyn-based designer David Weeks for Areaware. This time he collaborated with Kidrobot to create a wooden version of the Dunny toy. This limited edition beauty (only five were fashioned) is hand-hewn and sanded from zebra-striped hard… [ Continue reading ]