Monday's Magnificent Marsupial

I am afraid Friday's fun fact is a little late so I shall call this Monday's Magnificent Marsupial!

Did you know that the name Koala comes from an Australian Aboriginal dialect that means "no drink''. This is because they mostly eat eucalyptus leaves, which provide them with the water they need and as a result they very rarely drink. 

Here are two more cute Koalas illustrated by John, from his best seller, 'Can You Cuddle like a Koala?' 

And we love these gorgeous little hot water bottles from our friends at Moore and Moore...

Happy Monday all!!

All the fun from the fair

As promised here is a selection of photos from our first show - The Weald of Kent Craft Show at Penshurst Place...

All set up and ready to go...

The little people were never far away...

William's first word... ZEBRRRAAA!!!

It was such a lovely weekend that went better than we could have hoped and, as it was my birthday on the last day, it was a perfect excuse for a double celebration. 

Fun at the fair and Friday's fun fact

This time last week we were busy setting up for our first show in the Kentish countryside. It was all hands on deck making sure we had everything we would need for selling in the middle of a very muddy field. To say the weather left a little to be desired is a bit of an understatement as this is what we were faced with on arrival...

Even though the sun didn't shine throughout it didn't seem to put people off attending, which was great as we met some lovely customers and all felt it was well worth getting stuck in the mud for! The sun even decided to make a brief appearance at the end of the show which was a welcome break...

I will post some more photos from the weekend soon, but in the meantime here is Friday's fun fact.

Did you know that there are over 500 million domestic cats in the world, making them one of, if not the most popular pet. Their popularity as a pet may have something to do with the fact that it has been scientifically proven that owning a cat can help lower blood pressure and help with stress. It seems their popularity extends to the great writers of our time as this website shows.

www.johnbutlerart.com and getting ready for our first show!

It's all go here at Little Blue Zebra HQ at the moment. John has been working on updating his website. It has taken a little time to put together but as he has had to collate all the work he has done over the past 30 years it is not surprising that it has taken a while. The finished result went live this morning - www.johnbutlerart.com. It is very interesting to see everything he has worked on, from packaging to editorial illustrations, but of course mainly focussed on his adorable animals!

We are also busy getting ready for our first show! We have a stand at the Weald of Kent Craft Show at Penshurst Place in Kent this bank holiday weekend. If you are in the area, we would love you to come along and pop by our stand to say hello, we are stand B15! We are excited to have on sale some new products, including gorgeous greetings cards and gift tags. Everyone has been busy lending a hand to make sure we are ready, including little Lara...

Friday's fun fact - Toot toot toucans

Did you know that toucans are one of the noisiest jungle birds? Their frog like croak can be heard from half a mile away.

And here is a fun time lapse video showing how our little toucan was created...

Happy Friday all x

Rain rain go away

Now, I know a drought has been declared in many parts of the UK and I know we need the rain. It just seems that ever since a hose pipe ban was enforced in our area the rain hasn't stopped. Even my 3 year old keeps asking "why is it still raining?"

Trying to find fun and entertaining things to keep little ones amused is always that bit harder when the rain never stops. So I was very pleased when a friend suggested this lovely bookshop on the coast. They even have storytime sessions (and a tearoom!), which look great fun.

Every cloud has a silver lining, as this little mobile shows...

Down That Little Lane

We are very happy to see that our little armadillo has been making new friends. Having been featured in last week's Friday Fun Fact, it was great to see this feature in the newsletter and homepage for a lovely online company based in Australia. So if you happen to be 'Down Under', why not take a trip down that little lane.

Friday's fun fact - Sleepy Armadillos

If you are feeling a bit sleepy this Friday morning you are not alone. Did you know that armadillos are among the laziest animals in the world. They can enjoy up to 20 hours of sleep a day. Oh to be an armadillo for just a day!

Here is a sleepy little member of the Little Blue Zebra family enjoying a lunchtime nap...

Since having children I have found that sleep is a much talked about topic of conversation. Here are two quotes on the subject that ring true...

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one"

"The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more"

Happy Friday all! x

Friday's fun fact - Monkey tails

It's that time again. Friday seems to have come round very quickly because of the bank holiday Monday. Only a few weeks until another one, hooray!

We found today's monkey fun fact in a book John illustrated back in 1993...

And if you have a little monkey who is mad about monkeys you might like these party ideas. Go bananas!!!

Happy Friday all x

Happy Easter x

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter xxxx

Here's one little Easter bunny in his Old Rectory pyjamas...

The Old Rectory is a lovely Irish company set up by two sisters like us. We think their designs are gorgeous, as are their promotional shots...

And here's another one of our Easter bunnies hunting for eggs...

Easter treats for you to enjoy

With the Easter holidays in full swing we thought you might like these cute little illustrations, which you can download, print off and colour in (just click on the images then right click with your mouse and 'print picture' or drag them onto your desktop and print from there). They are sketches from two of John's books, Rainy Day Duckling and Time to Go Home Little Bunny, enjoy...

The World of Creatures

A while ago John was asked to do some illustrations for a range of natural and organic skincare products for children. They had seen his books and loved the style of his illustrations and thought they would work really well with their range, as they say on their website...

"As many other mums I was concerned about the chemicals in every day toiletries and spent the last few years sourcing the best ingredients from around the world to care for children’s skin. I also wanted small children to love the labels and packaging (and to look beautiful in the nursery) and worked with a children’s book illustrator to get these very real looking pictures of animals. Mums tell us their kids love talking to the little creatures on the bottles!"

My two little boys love using theirs and love seeing Grandpa's pictures at bathtime. They like the foam spray a little too much as it has nearly run out, so I will have to stock up again soon.