I’m wondering if my son’s recent Dr. Seuss first birthday party is Pinterest-worthy. Lux turned one last week Monday, and we decided to throw him his first ever themed celebration. Seeing that we are an expat family who loves to travel it made perfect sense to use the wonderfully magical story from the Dr. Seuss series: Oh The Places You’ll Go!

I’ve always loved the Dr. Seuss books which are both inspirational and educational, but wasn’t sure if I could pull off a party in honor of one of the famous books from the collection. Most of my ideas went to plan, and some fell a little flat due to Taobao’s inconsistent delivery system – which of course resulted in a number of late arrivals! Give yourself plenty of contingency space when planning a themed party, particularly when relying on certain items to be delivered to a deadline.

Unfortunately the helium didn’t arrive on time, and this ruined my hot air balloon photo corner and ribbon display idea! But alas, when life gives you lemons you can either end up with a sour face or sweet lemonade. I pulled in a few favors from creative friends and got DIYing with most of the birthday snacks and other decorations, which worked wonderfully well and still made for an epic first birthday.

Whether or not the details of the party are Pinterest-worthy, I’ll let you decide!

Get creative and come up an original poem for your invitations

I remember receiving vibrant invitations in matching envelopes from school friends for their birthday parties and although this custom is almost obsolete with the onset of the digital age, I still wanted to offer a little nostalgic throwback to the colorful kid’s birthday invitation.

Lux has become a little bit of a local superstar, so I used the image of him that was featured on the recent EP release for Tavey Lean and the Solid Gold Dream Machine and asked trombone-playing, graphic designer extraordinaire (and new freelancer for beijingkids magazine), Dan from the band, to create the themed invitations. You can easily find a poem template for most Dr. Seuss themed invitations, however I decided to get a little more creative and wrote my own!

To partner these beautiful invitations I wanted to feature a display poster for the party, and Dan also came up with this. Don’t be shy and get your friends and family involved in being part of the occasion. As my husband likes to say, “use the great minds around you.”

I also made Orange Martinis that were supposed to be blue! Unfortunately I don’t have any photos, but I say that’s a testament to how quickly they were devoured. Get funky and cool with ideas for the adults that are fun and festive! Using a little food coloring I went wild and dropped a splash of color into almost everything. These were a great addition for the parents who got to unwind while the kids enjoyed the highs (and lows) of sugar.

The cost of a birthday cake can easily rack up, particularly for themed parties, where it’s easy to get lost in the moment and fork out way beyond the odds for your kid’s first birthday. Instead make the occasion more special with a DIY cake treat that either you (or a friend) can attempt.

Oh the cupcakes are here, how long will they last? It’s time to grab one, be quick, be fast!

The cupcakes were supposed to be multicolored, however if the wonderful delivery world of Taobao has taught me anything, it’s how to improvise. Orange is a signature color used throughout the Dr. Seuss book of our choice and so my dear friend and chef, Simone, made these yummy vanilla cupcakes and covered them in plain and orange cream frosting with desiccated coconut. Finish off your display by slicing up colorful fruit, add some butter popcorn to the mix and let people snack away.

We included a ‘follow your dreams” framed photo next to all the colorful treats, which went well with the theme

Adults and kids love candy, so I thought about making a candy display that everyone could snack from and would double up as a great photo opportunity. I made candy pops, by dipping marshmallows into melted chocolate and sprinkles. I did the same with rice crispie cakes, dipped in white chocolate and a little orange food coloring – which turned out a little pink. I found old glass jars and filled them with marshmallows to create DIY display bowls that the lollipops could sit in.

My husband felt cheated and said I should’ve covered the whole rice crispie cake in chocolate!

You can also pick up some wooden letters to spell out the name of your little one (see photo above), and add it to a display of your choice; because of the travel theme, we threw in a globe for good measure. Another good idea that I had planned for but couldn’t execute was to attach helium-filled balloons to a wicker basket (a laundry basket will do) to make a hot air balloon. Create a photo corner and have little ones climb in to go up up up and away and get snapped!

It was difficult to find pretzels that weren’t broken in half, so I picked up some shop-bought dipped pretzels and used them in a candy garden display for Lux’s one-year candle.

I used an old stone candle holder. No need to buy everything from new. You can can also make a candy garden, using crushed chocolate biscuits and green gummies

One surprising element was how flat Lux’s first taste of cupcakes went. He didn’t seem at all impressed with his first hit of sugar, but his gifted coconut blueberry muffins from mom Franziska was a win.

Just not that into it!

Trying cupcakes for the first time was just one of many firsts for Lux on the day, which included one of the sweetest captured moments – Lux leaning in for his first ever kiss!

Firsts on a first birthday celebration

All bow-tied out for his first party (his obsession with remote controls is out of control)

Most of the kids attending were too young to receive sugar-rush-inducing goody-bags, but I made them anyway! Using the theme colors I ordered mini-baskets and filled them with a mixture of soft and candy-encased pastel-colored marshmallows. I wrapped each basket in cellophane and finished with silver ribbon.

I accidentally forgot to give these out at the end of the party. Maybe too many orange Martini’s?

Overall I think it was a great party and I received some lovely feedback from my guests. Planning ahead makes all the difference and I can’t wait for birthday number two!

Share your comments below!

Photos: Nicole Bonnah

My daughter and I stayed inside last weekend watching the movie “The Lorax”, adapted from the Dr. Seuss book. During the movie, complaint after complaint came on my WeChat about the high pollution readings. I could not stop but wonder, are we all living in Thneed-Ville? Beijing is very similar to the town in the Lorax movie.

The Lorax is a mystical creature that comes and protects the trees. Beijing is full of mystical creatures that are protecting one or the other. People of Thneed-Ville move around in very peculiar ways: strange bikes, and even weirder cars. In Beijing anything goes, as long as it has wheels you can get anywhere. The different means of transportation amaze me every day.

Everything is made out of plastic in Tneed-ville, even the trees have batteries. Plastic is used quite similarly in Beijing. The air in Theed-ville is horrible; they don’t have real trees so there is no clean air at all, ever. The residents need special machines to be able to breathe. And the machines look very similar to the ones we have here in our homes in Beijing.

The family in the movie eats funny food such as a dinner made out jelly. We get surprised on a daily basis when we eat out in Beijing. Will the food be salty, sweet, soft, firm? Then there is the Once-ler, he mistreats the animals in the forest and feeds them marshmallows. Sadly, we have seen lots of animal cruelty here in Beijing.

The fashion in Theed-ville is similar to how I look when I go shopping on taobao.com. Clothes are usually too small, sometimes too big, and very often not the colors that I ordered. In fact I never look like anything in the picture. And yet I can’t stop myself from trying to find the perfect Beijing outfit. I met this inspirational lady on the bus, and we had a heart to heart about fashion.

There is a thing for impulse buying in the movie that nobody knew they needed “The Thneed”. I find this happens to me in Beijing, I find things I never knew existed and feel like we need it. “The more smog in the sky the more people will buy.” I’m pretty sure online buys soar when the pollution hits the sky.

I wish we could be a bit like the people in Theed-ville. They have 99 problems but are still happy. A child in Theed-ville is glowing after taking a swim in a pond, and the parents are still singing! The next time a pollution bomb hits the sky, and your family is stuck inside, count your blessings. I have not seen glowing children, and we still have real trees in Beijing. We are quite lucky actually!

Pauline van Hasselt has just started working for Beijing Kids. Born in Wassenaar, The Netherlands, she moved with her husband and her 3 year-old daughter to Beijing in June of this year. Prior she lived in the Netherlands, Belgium, Paraguay, Texas, and London, studying and working as a chef. Pauline enjoys biking around Beijing, finding markets and new restaurants, reading crime and fantasy books in bed, and most importantly, turning her house into a home for her family.

Pictures:

www.pixshark.com,
www.kitchenstewardship.com,
www.aceshowbiz.com,
www.impactthriftstores.org,
www.doblu.com

My favorite books as teenager were, without a doubt, Philip Pullman’s inspired His Dark Materials trilogy of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass to American readers), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. In fact, the only reason I only failed to mention any of these as my top books in my recent staff introduction blog, is because I enjoyed them so much as an adult that I’d forgotten they were children’s books.

But then Hollywood came along. In the process, my rose-tinted visions of the fantasy characters and thrilling escapades depicted in the books were shattered. The 2007 film was utterly void of any of the more controversial themes, and ruined by performances that were more wooden than a forest of Xiangshan ginkgos.

But there have been many fantastic adaptations over the years. With the right vision, a book’s magic can leap seamlessly from the page to the big screen. So in keeping with the movie theme of our November issue, I’ve brought together my favorite movie versions of children’s books.

As winter approaches, now’s a good time to stock up on some of these classic kids’ DVDs. I would also, of course, recommend looking into the original books of each as well.

Willy Wonker & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
When impoverished Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket to tour of the previously closed-off chocolate factory, he can but imagine the magical happenings behind the foreboding metal gates. This cult-classic brings Roald Dahl’s ever-lasting gobstoppers and Oompa-Loompas to glorious life, while Gene Wilder’s mesmeric performance as the title character and an unforgettable soundtrack make this a must-watch for kids of all ages. I am yet to see the 2005 version with Johnny Depp, though beijingkids’ Web Editor Nimo describes it as “lacking personality”.

Suitable for ages 4+

Watership Down (1978) Based on Richard Adams’ book of the same name, Watership Down was (along with Bambi and the Lion King) my first introduction to death, albeit with furry animated animals. But despite the dark themes and apocalyptic visions, this is a thrilling adaptation that sees a band of rabbits escape from killer dogs, shotgun-wielding farmers, and totalitarian rabbit societies. Although beautifully animated, the film is undoubtedly responsible for a number of life-long vegetarians.

Suitable for ages 4+ (officially, at least). Some younger children may find certain scenes upsetting.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009) It took a while to get used to the 3D animations, but Spike Jonze’s adaptation brought back a lot of fond memories of the defining book of my younger years. He brings a new darkness to Maurice Sendak’s tale of 9-year-old Max who dons his wolf costume and embarks on an adventure to an island inhabited by monstrous Wild Things. Threatened with the risk of being eaten, Max instead convinces the beasts of his magic powers and they appoint him their king.

Suitable for ages 8+

The NeverEnding Story (1984)
The film version of Michael Ende’s German novel follows young Bastion’s adventures in the parallel world of Fantasia (Fantastica in the novel) which he enters, fittingly, through a magic book. Faced with a battle against a mysterious force called “The Nothing”, Bastion himself becomes a part of the book’s narrative and, with the help of an array of bizarre-looking mythical creatures, sets about rebuilding Fantasia with his imagination. The “never-ending” nature of the book meant that another two installments subsequently appeared.

Suitable for ages 4+

Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Now a staple part of the Christmas TV repertoire, Ron Howard’s interpretation of the Dr Seuss classic does justice to the characteristic absurdity of the book. It may have received somewhat mixed reviews from the critics, but the box office showed just how popular Jim Carrey’s portrayal of the neglected and sour Christmas-hater was with kids. It is the highest grossing Christmas film of all time according to Investopedia.
Suitable for ages 8+

Images are all movie screenshots