Usborne Activities: Royal Dolls House Sticker Book illustrated by Elisabetta Ferrero, designed by Lucy Wain and Jamie Ball (Children's, Sticker book, 8/10E)

 September 2013, Usborne Children's Books, 24 pages + 10 pages stickers, Paperback, Review copy

Themes: sticker book, royal houses, ornate furniture, modern equipment, homely touches,

Summary from Usborne

Experience the life of luxury behind the closed doors of a royal palace in this exquisite sticker book.

Explore the lavish rooms, and fill them with beautiful furniture and artefacts. Choose from over 200 stickers of bespoke furniture, regal oil paintings, chandeliers, elegant soft furnishings and lots more.

Includes over 10 rooms for children to decorate as they please, including a formal saloon, the orangery and the grand master bedroom.

Children will have hours of fun arranging the house to make it fit for royalty.

Nayuleska's thoughts 

I think the best word to describe the furnishings in the house is exquisite. Most of the rooms were breathtaking; the dining room didn't do anything for me, but I was cooing over the nursery (the elephant design felt familiar but I'm not sure from where), I stared in awe at the intricacy of the details in the formal saloon, I laughed at the kitchen because I hung the wrong items in the wrong place and it aptly had a few toy magnets plus the letters K & W on the fridge - this has to be a nod at Kate, William & Louis, the newest English royal. I was delighted to see knitting used in the informal sitting room - it's a craft that should be promoted! 

I had to give this an 8/10E because I had trouble taking the stickers off. I think I could just have a dud book - some tore while I tried to get them off, and as I got closer to the end some wouldn't come off at all - which was the case for most of the stickers in the orangery. I've had other sticker books from Usborne and they have all been fine, so don't let that deter you from reading this fab book which provides a lot of food for thought on how modern royals may decorate their home, as well as what readers would want in their own ideal home. 

Suggested read

For more elegance check out Sticker Dolly Dressing: Edwardian Fashion (Children's, sticker book, 7/10)