Albertine has a gentle nature, she’s very attentive to others and she does things with passion. “Her level of concentration really amazes me!” says her mother Tiphaine Verdier Mangan. Thipaine is an Artist/Designer  who creates wonderful “Boites a histoires”(www.tiphainemangan.com).

Albertine

What do you want to be when you grow up Vet, I want to take care of animals

Your big dream I dream of living in a house near the sea with the biggest slide in the world and with lots of animals running in the garden

Someone you admire Carolina, my first nanny…she was always so much fun and played so many games with me

What scares you Nothing !

What makes you laugh I love clowns and puppets !

Your favourite films and books My favorite film is The Sound of Music and I really love all books about sea.

Something you did recently that you really loved I really really enjoyed going to Slava’s Snow Show with my grand parents. It’s a clown show in a huge theatre with paper snow blowing everywhere and really funny clowns who even came from the stage to play with us. I’ll never forget it !!

The best holidays you ever had The seaside this summer. I fished for clams, learned how to swim and made sandcastles everyday. One day, Mum and Dad brought me to the Aquarium !!

A place that you would dream to visit New York because Mum and Dad showed me photos of building a hundred times bigger than our house in Paris !

Your favorite belonging My Playmobils !

The next item you would so dearly love to get A Nintendo DS…but I’m not sure Mum fully agrees !!!

If you had a magic wand, what would you do with it right now? Transform my school into a playroom !

Tiphaine

A place you saw when you were a child, and that made its mark on you? When I was small, we used to go to a family home in the country which has since burnt down. When I think of the place that had a big impact on me as a child I’m hit with a certain nostalgia… I particularly remember the incredible vegetable garden. My sister, my cousins and I used to spend hours picking strawberries, raspberries, cranberries and apples that we devoured with such pleasure !

The place you love near your home I really love the Place des Batignoles near my home in Paris, its cafés, its little white church and antique shops. At the weekend, nearby there’s a …market with a farm in the middle for the children to discover animals right in the centre of the city; It’s great fun.

Where do you dream to go for your next family holiday To the mountains in the summer

A film or cultural event that stayed with you I was lucky enough to go to the Avignon Theatre Festival where I saw a breathtaking play in the famous Cour des Papes (Pope’s Court) called The Master and Margarita. It was a visual and sound show that was absolutely spectular, completely in harmony with the location. It blew me away !!

The film that you love to see with the whole family The king and the bird (Le roi et l’oiseau) – I loved it as a child.

The book on your bedside table Nuala O’Faolain – Chimieres.

The children’s brands your cherish Caramel, Bonton, Caramel baby and child, baby lady, bangbang Copenhagen, Donna Wilson

The children’s stores you love to visit and buy from London: Caramel; Liberty, Couverture and the Garbstore – New york : Yoya, Pomme.

Last thing you bought for your Albertine A ticket for Slava’s Snow Show

Favourite pieces in Albertine’s wardrobe A coat from Caramel

What  you buy online Vintage children’s books – I’m crazy about them.

A website that inspires you Mylittleday.fr 

What are your main current concerns  Social injustice and the way you can feel so powerless to help. This morning a mother and her 12 year old son were seated in the cold in front of the building where I live. I spoke to them, gave them something to eat, but then, all of a sudden, I felt powerless to do more and it really hit me : what can I do? After a time I went back into my apartment leaving them outside…it’s tough to know how to manage the pain of others and, in particular children, in life.

Your big dream I work from home, and at the moment, my dream would be to share a work space with some other creative types, for the fun and the creative sharing. It’s not a crazy dream but it’s what I’d really like to see happen today.

Something that made you laugh out loudly recently My children…every day ! Little comments by children between 3 and 6 can be extraordinary; so often full of poetry and humour ! Otherwise, Sophie et Sophie on Canal+…irresistibly funny and Gaspard Proust a French humorist. 

 

Tiphaine’s Boites a Histoires are available at Bonton (Paris), Bianca and family (online), Amaia (London Marylebone) – check here for more sales points.

Caramel London