Appellation Mountain

Where every name has a story

A Give Away: Custom Bookplates from My Kids Eat Off the Floor

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Ask a child of the 1970s or 80s about the challenges of growing up with an unusual name, and she might tell you that she never had personalized pencils, the kind that Jennifer and Ashley always brought to class.

Not so in 2011. Or ever again, really. Clio might be a never-in-the-Top-1000 choice but thanks to clever, insanely cheap technology, the purple LeapFrog My Pal Violet knows how to say and spell her unusual name.

And then came Etsy. Aprons, notecards, lunchboxes, super-hero capes. You name it, and there’s a shop that can customize pretty much anything you can imagine.

Which brings me to those gorgeous images above. Those, dear reader, are custom bookplates, created by Kate of My Kids Eat Off the Floor, also the name of her blog and, speaking of names, she’s guest-posted here on Name Stories.

One lucky reader will win their very own set of 20 bookplates – four each of five designs in the collection of your choice: Woodland Friends, Modern Boy, or Whimsy. And, of course, the bookplates will be personalized with any name you choose.

Impatient? Don’t like your odds? You can also order any item for 10% off with discount code APPELLATION.

To enter, just leave a comment below with the name of your favorite children’s book!

Want a bonus entry? Just wait ’til Monday’s Nameberry post.

The winner will be chosen at random. Winners must have a US shipping address. The winner will be chosen at random, and be announced next Saturday, October 29, 2011.

Note: Comments are closed, and a winner will be announced later today.

More names you might like:

Comments

  1. Chantel says

    Oh, so many great books, but absolutely adore On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman. Can’t hardly read it to my son without tearing up.

  4. Abbey says

    so very many favorites, but today I’ll go with a recently discovered delight: The Zoom Trilogy by Tim Wynne-Jones.

  5. Taylor says

    My absolute favorite children’s book would have to be Chrysanthemum…although Wump World will always hold a special place.

  6. Jill Dilworth says

    My daughter’s current favorites are the Pigeon series (Don’t let the Pigeon drive the bus! etc.) My favorite is Good Night Gorilla

  8. thetxbelle says

    “Ernest and Celestine” and “The Box Car Children” are my favorite childhood series <3

  9. Eponymia says

    I must enter, since my daughter loves to write her name on all her books. Her current favorite is “the Story of Ferdinand,” by Munro Leaf.

  12. Elizabeth W. says

    I don’t have just one favorite — who could? — but The Ordinary Princess has always been high on my list. It has one of the best princess names ever in it: Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne (Amy for short).

  13. Kelly says

    I don’t know what age u want exactly. I don’t think my mom ever had time to read to me when I was little, when I could read a bit myself I like the Mothers Goose Nursery Rhymes, and then later The Babysitter’s Club & Sweet Valley High were my obsessions.

  15. Ena says

    Not only were there no items personalized with my first name, I grew up just raising my hand when the teacher would pause during roll-call on the first day of school. Hard first name, Ena, AND last, Szkoda. Now married, I made sure my son had an easy first name, James, to go along with his surname, Wojciechowski!

  17. Stephanie says

    Favorite children’s book would have to be The Velveteen Rabbit. Most heart-breaking story ever.

  18. Kristi says

    My 2 year old is very fond of Jamberry by Bruce Degen and Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. Animals win out over anything else in a book, at least for her 🙂

  23. Julie says

    I loved Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever. My book was very loved and some of the pages are held together with tape. My aunt gave me the book when I was little and she gave my 4 year old the book last Christmas. Definitely a classic!

  26. T says

    My current favorite is Llama Llama Home with Mama because my daughter gets a HUGE smile on her face when I read it to her. From my own childhood, I still love The Velveteen Rabbit and any Beatrix Potter book.

  30. Madi says

    I really loved books as a child (and still do!) so I had many favourites! When I started to read on my own, though, I quickly became enchanted by Enid Blyton’s books – especially The Naughtiest Girl in the School. I begged my parents to send me to a boarding school like the one in her novels!

  32. Rosy says

    Ah, I have so many! All of these books in the comments are totally bringing back memories. I’d say my favorite is Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright.

  34. C in DC says

    As much as this pains me to admit it now, my favorite book as a child was “Little Mommy”. “Hippos Go Berserk” by Sandra Boynton is a household favorite these days.

  39. Oph says

    Goodness this is difficult. Of the top of my head I would say that it is a toss up between The Berenstain Bears, The Rainbow Fish, The Giving Tree, or Winnie the Pooh. So many to choose from!

  40. Sarah A says

    My favorite book as a child was definitely The Paperbag Princess by Robert Mensch 🙂

  42. delfina says

    favorite children’s books:
    current for my daughters = knuffle bunny and llama, llama books
    from my childhood = the snowy day & harry the dirty dog
    love the book plates. adorable.

  43. Emma says

    A favorite I discovered as an adult shopping for my niece is, “The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch.”

  45. Raquel says

    My favorite children’s book is “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” by Grace Lin. Beautiful illustrations, too!

  49. Madelaine says

    One of my favourite books when I was a child was “Each Peach Pear Plum” by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. I think I just about knew it off by heart!

  50. British American says

    Oooh, I’d love to win. I can’t stop buying my kids books – especially at thrift stores and through the Scholastic book club.

    I will pick ‘The Gruffalo’ by Julia Donaldson as a favourite. I’ve bought it as a birthday party gift several times, as it’s by a British author and so I hope that my American friends don’t already own it.

  55. Emily says

    My favorite children’s book was Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. I also loved Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss.

  56. B. says

    Wow. I was just thinking about the name Helena this morning. Weird. One of my favorite books as a child was What Happened to George? It’s about a pig who ate too many donuts. I could always relate to him. lol

  57. dreadedjaws says

    Those are very cute book plates – the woodland ones are especially sweet!

    But how does one pick ONE favorite book?

    Well, I think with my son, it’s “Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb” by Al Perkins… my daughter likes to listen to chapter books now, and I think her favorite so far was one I loved when I was little: “Heidi” by Johanna Spryi. The ultimate bedtime story for both my kids has been “Goodnight, Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown. When the lights are off and it’s too dark to read, I recite it to my kids – the little one hears it just about every night and can join in for the majority of it already.

  59. Lyndsay says

    I would like to win, please! Favorite children’s book though? That’s such a hard question! The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter, The Sneetches/The Lorax by Dr. Suess, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, A Baby Blessing by Welleran Poltarnees, and Little Hoot by Amy Crouse Rosenthal… That’s a top six, I’m sorry! I just keep thinking of more so I need to stop! I’m going to go with Little Hoot today, for cuteness.

  60. Jennifer Faltin says

    Hansel and Gretel was my favorite. I find that slightly creepy now given the ending. I also loved The Very Hungry Catepillar.

  62. K. says

    It’s a tie between ‘Good Night Moon’ and ‘Hieronymus White’ by Jeff Moss for me. 🙂

  63. Jocelyn Lister says

    What a hard decision! Probably the first Boxcar Children book or anything Amelia Bedelia!

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