"Here is the star it?s Barbapapa..." Okay time break things up a bit and be a kid for a moment. I'm finding so many cute toys and illustrative children's books over here, I can't resist posting about at least one of my new favorites -- Barbapapa!

I spotted these brightly colored toys in various home magazines in the past, mostly European magazines featuring kids spaces, but I never thought much them until my recent getaway to Sweden. It was there in a design store where blog pal Emma pointed them out to me, explaining a bit about them. Here's one above on a piano.

Barbapapa is a French cartoon that was popular in the '70s and has since made a comeback with products and toys, much like Hello Kitty has in the states, I assume. When I returned from Stockholm and asked my husband about Barbapapa, he instantly knew what I was talking about because he said here in Germany, it was all the rage when he was a little boy and that he enjoyed watching the cartoon as a kid. It's about a family of shape shifters who turn into many different shapes and objects. I have to confess, I was intrigued to learn more, so I watched some of their cartoons on You Tube over the weekend. So cute., I'm an official fan of these adorable little characters.

And I found a local design shop called Wohnwaren where they sell the entire collection of anti-stress toys and key chains, so I may come home with one of the characters in my suitcase. Here's a link to their online store. So next time you're flipping through a design magazine, see if you can spot any. If your kids haven't heard of them, maybe you'd like to introduce these characters to them. Here's some fun Flickr images of Barbapapa.

These S+P sets were designed by idhaus, a Flickr person I found today - I've sent him an email to see if he sells these online. Seems Barbapapa was his muse.

via: chilli_ian

via maltchique

via kbo

via jenn44.
These are planters that contain seeds, she found them
in Japan. Sooo cute.

Any Barbapapa fans out there? If so, here's a cute online Japanese shop offering Barbapapa in case you are interested or on the Creanova website. I want the dish scrubber and the slippers (shhh don't tell anyone, super immature of me I know).

(interior image from vtwonen)