Here at My Little Duke we offer a small selection of the awesome children's primer books from BabyLit. I just love this company and their ethos. In a world where parents are reading less and less to their kids, we endeavour to supply modern mamas with classic literature that's not only educational, but fun for kids too! As an English teacher to 14-16 year old kids, I know only too well how reading is becoming less popular in our younger generations. I love books and sincerely hope that my little Phoebe can grow to love them as much as I do!

Keeping in tradition with my love of all things American, I wanted to have a baby shower to celebrate the imminent birth of my first baby last October. As I was off work with pregnancy-related illness, I had oodles of time to spend searching on Pinterest for ideas for that perfect baby shower. It seemed obvious to me to have a book themed shower and my husband and I soon came up with our tag-line 'Bring a Book for Baby Duke.' I loved it! I loved the idea that guests could simply arrive with one book to add to my collection for baby, no fussing over gender neutral outfits, packets of nappies or wondering how much to spend. Check out our invitations! Isn't my husband so talented?!

My sister was hosting the shower and was doing her very best to keep some surprises for me, but I am too much of a control freak to not be involved and I found myself bombarding her with decor, game and food ideas!! In the end though, we had a pretty epic shower (if I do say so myself!!) My sister did an incredible job decorating my house with book themed decorations. She even made The Hungry Caterpillar out of balloons!! Have a look at some of our pictures from the night. Most of our food was related to children's books and my favourite was definitely Peter Rabbit's vegetable garden!! My mum also made the most awesome baby in a pram out of a watermelon!! We played games such as 'Guess that baby', 'How big is Steph's Belly?' and 'Speed nappy changing!' It was such a special night and I remember feeling so blessed and thankful that my little one would come into the world to so much love from those closest to me. Plus, my new baby now had the beginnings of their very own library. I cannot tell you how excited I am to build the reading corner in Phoebe's nursery!

If I could buy all the BabyLit books for Phoebe, I would! Do check out our BabyLit collection in our SHOP and help your little one learn a little and enjoy some classic literature. We also stock two amazing Playsets (The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland.) These, I just adore! They are such a great way to bring stories to life for those babas who are a little older. The Playset includes the original board book, as well as punch-out cards full of characters and scene elements for a day full of play. The storage box also doubles as a backdrop decorated for adventure! I am so excited about getting our youngest generation to appreciate the wonder of books and what better way, than with classic BabyLit. They have the right idea:

"With the timeless popularity of classic writers like Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and William Shakespeare, BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature.

At BabyLit, we believe in the power of reading. Why? Because books take us places. Good places. And when we read with a child, we go places together. It’s more than just reading. It’s learning. It’s experiencing. It’s growing. If a million copies of our books encourage just one parent to read with their child, we will have succeeded. And printed a lot of books.

So while the world wonders why babies need classic literature, we will be reading."