Save the World’s Oldest Children’s Bookshop

https://www.littlebookroom.com.au/

The Little Bookroom is at a turning point. You can help to give it a new home, a new chapter, and a future that honours its extraordinary past.

Melbourne’s beloved The Little Bookroom was founded by Albert Ullin OAM in 1960. The Little Bookroom was Australia’s very first bookstore dedicated solely to children’s literature.

Over time, it has become something even rarer — a living legacy to the power of books, imagination, and community. In fact, it is now the oldest children’s bookshop in the world!

For more than six decades, it has been a haven for readers young and old, a meeting place for authors and illustrators, and a cultural treasure for Australia, and the global children’s book community.

Michael Earp writes – “I’ve dedicated my life to children’s and young adult literature. I was The Little Bookroom manager from 2018–2022, and in 2021 I was awarded the Bookseller of the Year by Book People (the Australian Booksellers Association). I believe this beautiful bookshop deserves to celebrate its 65th birthday — and many more to come.”

Quote
This children’s bookstore has weathered many moves
and challenges over the years.
Most recently, the pandemic and personal circumstances.
The incredible Lambert family
who cared for The Little Bookroom for 17 years
made the decision to step away.
—Michael Earp—

You can step in, says Michael! The doors at St Georges Road have closed but this doesn’t have to be the end.

To make a bright book future happen, you and GoFundMe can help:
Link https://gofund.me/98a13b4f
Info: https://www.theurbanlist.com/melbourne/directory/little-bookroom-degraves

Secure a new home for The Little Bookroom (location to be announced soon!)
Fit out the new space with shelving, technology, and event essentials.
Ensure accessibility so all families and readers feel welcome.
Reopen with strong, diverse book stock from day one.
Host the storytimes, launches, book clubs, and school services that make The Little Bookroom a vital part of the community.

Share in the joy of knowing you’ve helped save a piece of children’s literary history! I can see children sitting reading, totally absorbed in their books.

Michael Earp continues: “As a non-binary writer and bookseller living in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, with over 23 years experience in bookselling and publishing as a Children’s Book specialist. I’ve worked with publishers like Walker Books and Affirm Press, and bookstores including Kinokuniya, Borders, The Younger Sun, and (of course) The Little Bookroom.“

Also, Michael hold a Masters in Children’s Literature and a Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education, and is currently Chair of the Board for Q-Lit, Victoria’s Queer Literature Festival. Also the editor and contributor to Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light; Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories; and Avast! Pirate Stories by Transgender Authors, co-edited by Alison Evans.

Michael passionately believes in creating spaces where every child can see themselves in the stories they read, and adds “I’m not asking for help with ongoing costs. I’m asking for a launchpad — a chance to give The Little Bookroom the future it deserves.”

If every person who has fond memories of the St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North bookstore, who believes in the importance of children’s literature or who wants to see this cultural landmark continue — if every one of you gives even a little — it can live on!

Let’s write the next chapter together.
Donate. Share. Spread the word. https://gofund.me/98a13b4f

All donations will be received by Michael Earp and used to cover costs involved with the moving and set up of The Little Bookroom in a new location so that the shop has the best chance of a long future.
I have donated. The more raised by this GoFundMe the more it will reduce the amount of money needed to borrow. Therefore, the new shop can open on a solid foundation and focus on thriving into a wonderful reading future.

Books Rule! 📚💗 Edited by Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

*So Many Books!* Artwork illustrator Tomislav Tomic https://tomislavtomic.com/

Note: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.
Link: https://gofund.me/98a13b4f

Sweet Pea Vision by Poet Alfred Noyes

“A Child’s Vision” by Alfred Noyes

Under the sweet-peas I stood
And drew deep breaths, they smelt so good.
Then, with strange enchanted eyes,
I saw them change to butterflies.

Higher than the skylark sings
I saw their fluttering crimson wings
Leave their garden-trellis bare
And fly into the upper air.

Standing in an elfin trance
Through the clouds I saw them glance…
Then I stretched my hands up high
And touched them in the distant sky.

At once the coloured wings came back
From wandering in the zodiac.
Under the sweet-peas I stood
And drew deep breaths.
They smelt so good.

By Alfred Noyes

Alfred Noyes was a British poet. He was born 16th September, 1880, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, UK. He passed away 28 June, 1958, on the Isle of Wight. A traditional English poet, mainly remembered for his lyrical verse. The heart-wrenching “The Highwayman” and “Drake” are his best known works and illustrate his love of the sea.

It is said that the Romantic poets such as Tennyson and Wordsworth greatly influenced him. In 1949, due to his increasing blindness, Noyes dictated all his subsequent works. He also wrote for children and in 1952 he published a very popular children’s book “Daddy Fell into the Pond” and other poems.
Info: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/alfred-noyes

🌺 An annual plant of the pea family, sweet-pea flowers are cultivated throughout the world for their beautiful petals and soft perfume. Their rather unflattering botanical name is Lathyrus odoratus but the meaning comes from the Greek word lathyros meaning pea and the Latin word odoratus, meaning fragrant. Alfred certainly liked them!

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

‘Wynken, Blynken and Nod’ Poem by Eugene Field

Childhood can come crashing back when you read something from your past. I saw the words ‘Wynken, Blynken and Nod’ and instantly I was about five years old.

Unwilling to stay in bed, sleep seemingly a million miles away, I knew as soon as my mother recited this magic poem, I would drift off into dreamland.

Eugene Field may not have known the children around the world who fell asleep under the spell of his words, but I’m pretty sure his own kids were good examples. Did they know the entire poem? Every line, every verse, every nuance? I certainly did not.

If you are in the same shoe-boat, read on to discover the complete original while you sip strong coffee…

Wynken, Blynken and Nod

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea —
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish —
Never afraid are we”;
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam —
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
‘Twas all so pretty a sail
it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea —
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one’s trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

By Eugene Field (1850 – 1895) poet and journalist.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/eugene-field

Biography:

Eugene Field was born in St Louis, Missouri, on 2 September 1850 and by all accounts was a great practical joker.

In 1875 he married Julia Comstock and eventually they had eight children. In 1883 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, to write a column for the Chicago Daily News.

His columns occasionally featured light verse for children and he became known as the ‘Poet of Childhood’. These imaginative poems were both happy and sad (‘Little Boy Blue’ is a well-known tearjerker) and later published in collections including ‘The Tribune Primer’ in 1900 and ‘A Little Book of Western Verse’ in 1903. Eugene Field died on 4 November 1895 in Chicago, Illinois.

Maxfield Parrish and other artists illustrated his earlier books, and artwork changed to reflect 20^th century styles over the years while the eponymous characters remained constant.