ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 4th January 2019: "Design for Children: Play, Ride, Learn, Eat, Create, Sit, Sleep" by Kimberlie Birks and Lora Appleton (Phaidon)

It's time for our first Book of the Week for 2019, a truly amazing book that gathers together some of the most iconic designs ever created for children.

"Design for Children: Play, Ride, Learn, Eat, Create, Sit, Sleep" by Kimberlie Birks and Lora Appleton really is the sort of book you can completely lose yourself in.

It seems creators are usually at their most playful and whimsical when designing things for children to enjoy, whether they're simple designs that just make sense or functional designs that do something we've taken for granted in such a simple yet innovative way.

As a complete design nerd, I have loved leafing through this luxurious book filled with brilliant toys, amazing beds and chairs, clever methods to engage kids with learning and ways to encourage picky eaters to enjoy mealtimes.

We seemed to have our daughter at a time when clever designs were everywhere, and yet looking through this book it's very clear that talented folk have been creating amazing things for kids for a very long time.

Great for bathtime or bedtime, cloud-shaped designs for your little dreamers

It works as the sort of hefty coffee table book your visitors won't be able to resist browsing through. It also works as a way of highlighting just how many things you've either had yourself as a kid, or have bought for your own kids actually came about.

Bet you wish you were pint-sized again, just so you could try these out!

It's reminiscent of a certain Scandi store's catalogues, but gathers together stunning photography with some simple facts about each object, and a little bit about the creators of these amazing things too.

So cute!

Thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable this.

C's favourite object: The cool wooden cars with glorious aerodynamic shapes

Daddy's favourite object: Everything by Brio. I still adore those little wooden train sets and would probably fill the house with them if I was allowed to.

"Design for Children" by Kimberlie Birks and Lora Appleton is out now, published by Phaidon (kindly supplied for review).