Collection: Millie's Picks

Millie is nine, in the fourth grade, and she chooses what goes on this page. Crafts and activity books come first, then anything scented, glittery or shaped like an animal. That is roughly why OOLY keeps appearing here: their pens smell of fruit, their crayons come in cat shapes, and the colours are loud in the way that age likes.

The pens are where most of it starts. The Tutti Fruitti set is six scented gel pens with ink that changes as you write, and the Yummy Yummy glitter version adds sparkle on top of the scent. The Oh My Glitter set is the tidier one, four glitter inks in retractable barrels, and the Le BonBon Patisserie highlighters are the pastel set for anyone who finds yellow too much. The Color Luxe pens are the fine ones, for small handwriting rather than big posters.

For drawing, the Color Appeel crayons have a paper wrapper that peels away as the crayon wears down, so there is no nub left stuck in a sharpener. The Cat Parade gel crayons sit in twist up barrels and turn into paint if you add water with a brush, which makes them the most useful thing here for a child who wants to do both. The Big Bright brush markers are chunky enough for a small hand, and they are washable, which matters more to the person doing the washing.

The rest is the small equipment. The Sketch and Show sketchbook has a built in stand so the drawing can be propped up when it is finished, and its pages are perforated so they come out cleanly. The Note Pals tabs are donut shaped and mark a page without a bookmark falling out. The die cut sticky notes come as corgis and frogs. The Penco caddy sits on a desk holding pens and small tools, the leather pouch carries them, and the Mighty Sharpeners have three holes so a standard pencil, a fatter one and a fine tip all get sharpened properly.

Millie picks from what has arrived in the shop, so the page changes as new stock comes in and older picks move back into their own collections. If you are buying for a child of about her age, it is a fair picture of what they reach for. If there is something you would like her to try, or something you cannot find on the website, reach out to us and we will be glad to help.