Cosmo

Cosmo's in the car with what looks to be "BING SWING". Between the ride and the story, it's something of a miracle that he's not getting motion sickness. Cosmo is the nephew of Ben Lund, an old school chum of mine who got in touch some years ago and infected nearby children with the Bing bug. I hope he's not got himself into big trouble for that.

Cyan from Pennsylvania

Cyan's family dog is also named "Bing", whose behaviour is reportedly not too dissimilar to the bunny toddler. This led to the creation of yet another 'folk' Bing doll. Cyan's dad, Pete, said that the other dolls on this blog helped them get their head around the pattern for this one. Another possible future acquisition for the Bing Museum if Cyan ever leaves it behind when going off to college.

Oh, and here's the other Bing in the house:

Anthony

Inspired by "BING MAKE MUSIC", Anthony tries out his own "woona" (see the book for an explanation).

Toby

What amazes me is how many kids like to sleep with Bing books, even though they're not exactly cuddly. This phenomenon will certainly be taken into account when Bing goes back into print one day. "Awhile back I sent you a picture of my daughter, AudryElla, with what looked like a halo over her head, holding her homemade Bing and Flop. Here is my son, Toby, sleeping with his favorite book." Amy, Iowa, USA

Elena's Second Bing Birthday

Amy from Massachusetts created this terrific cake for daughter Elena's second birthday Husband Josh writes, "We have loved Bing through all our three daughters, at bedtimes in Massachusetts, England, and Portugal. My wife Amy just whipped up a Bing cake for Elena's second birthday. We had big plans for making Flop dolls, etc but really all we had time for was the cake. It's a carrot cake, natch. Elena wanted to "SEE BING BUNNY" on the cake for the entire car ride."

Jocie's Christmas Bing and Flop

Jenny from Illinois created these Bing and Flop dolls for her daughter, Jocie. She writes, "I had emailed you a month or so again wondering if you knew anyone who would make a Bing and Flop for my daughter for Christmas and you weren't aware of anyone. Driven to give Jocie the one thing (or I guess two things) I knew she would love, I took the mission on myself and they're complete! They made my Jocie's Christmas SO special!! Flop is a little on the large size in comparison with Bing, and Bing is sort of skinny... But, she knew who they were and is CRAZY for them!!! She drags them everywhere and sleeps with them, and you'll see from the pictures that they have become part of the family. Thanks again for giving us Bing and Flop. They are extremely adorable characters and give us so many special moments with our children. Please let me know if there is anything you need here in Chicago. You have a friend here in Illinois. Sincerely, Jenny"

Katherine at 5 and 1/2, now reads to Bingster brother, Karl

Dear Ted, here is Katharine, now age 5-1/2, reading Bing Get Dressed to her 1-1/2-year-old brother, Karl. He's definitely the second Bingster in the family! If you look carefully, you can see the white fingertips on both kids, as they struggle to decide who should hold the book. I think it's amusing that Karl is winning the battle.

I can't imagine raising toddlers without Bing. Just this morning, when Katharine was trying to glue a ribbon on an art project and was upset that she got too much glue, my husband and I both quoted, "Don't worry Bing, it's no big thing, we'll just cover it all with SPARKLES!" Worked like a charm.

Viktoria, Minnesota

(see previous "Orange Santa" post near bottom of this blog)

More Homemade Bing and Flop Dolls

AudryElla from the USA with her splendid homemade Bing and Flop pair, made by her grandmother for Christmas 2008. This is the 7th pair of homemade Bing and Flop dolls I'm aware of.

Bing Statues

There are only a very few of these Bing 'sculpts' in existence. They're 'flocked' like Sylvanian figures. Unfortunately, I haven't got any for sale, and if I did, they're a lot more than you'd think...

Anthony

Armand, an old pal from Brown University introduced me to his little boy, Anthony, in May 2008 at a reunion. Anthony seems to have caught the Bing infection. I like comparing the toddler picture with the one 6 months before.

Bing Bento

Seems there's a mini Bing cult of at least two households in Atlanta, GA. Pam's exceptional food preparation skills delivered this "Bing Bento Box". You wouldn't believe what she does with children's food. She could get Bing to eat tomatoes. http://www.cookingformonkeys.com/

Bing Bunny Museum's First Acquisition

There's no Bing Bunny Museum you can visit at present, but there's a chair in the living room that is the start of it. Sarah offered me this pair of Bing and Flop dolls that her twin boys played with and of course I grabbed them. These sort of 'folk' Bing and Flop dolls will sadly probably disappear if an 'official' doll is ever manufactured, and so they're precious. Thanks, Sara

Best Bing Birthday Ever

ATLANTA GA: Shanna sent me these photos of the over-the-top Bing-themed Birthday she created with her daughter, Holly. They intelligently jammed on various Bing themes, creating place settings, decorations, and even special Bing clothes. When you think about how busy toddler's parents are, and how much licensed character birthday stuff there is out there, it delights me that Shanna took the opportunity to enjoy being creative with Holly and did such a quality job. Hats off, Shanna and Holly, I'm astounded and delighted. I hope it was rewarding and fun, and that when things went wrong printing out and ironing on that the Bing Thing attitude got you through the tricky bits.

Ned

Lou from Melbourne, Australia, writes; "Ned, who is 1, loves tactile things and so he loves your mix of illustration and photography styles. I am looking forward to downloading Bing and Flop for a T-shirt for Ned and maybe even one for mummy. Thanks for creating such a joyful little character."

Do Not Disturb

Julie and Steve of Surrey, England, sent in this unique piece of Bingobelia with the letter: "Our niece, Misty, absolutely adores Bing. She has just moved From London to Kent and we thought she would feel more comfortable in her new bedroom with Bing 'guarding' the bedroom door! The books are great, thank you."

Bedtime

If ever there was a 'photo of the month', this has got to be it. "I heard Eliza moving around a bit and after it had gone quiet I went up to check and this is what I found."
March 2008

A Bing Birthday Cake

Lynn created this fantastic Bing cake, in his split-jump position (feet on either side) for her 2-year-old's birthday. She writes: "It's nice to have books to read to our 2 year old that don't drive you crazy after 100 readings". As this web-posting was made 9 months after the email arrived, I wonder if Lynn is now up to the 200 mark and ready to mash the next Bing cake into my face.

More Flops!

Two photos of a beautifully made Flop doll. What's curious is that there are now more known homemade Flop dolls than there are Bing dolls, and yet all the cakes sent in are Bing. Personally, it makes a lot more sense for a child to have a Flop doll when you think about it.

Phoebe

Phoebe's message is unambiguous, but perhaps Bing helps them rule. It never occured to me until I saw this photo how the dummy or pacifier is roughly in the shape of Bing's mouth mask.

Another Homemade Flop Doll

Shahid from Perth, Australia, and his splendidly realised homemade Flop. His parents write: "We LOVE Flop so much we had to bring him to life."

A Bing Birthday

Victoria created this Bing cake for her 3-year-old son's birthday. She writes:
"Thank you for producing such a wonderful character. Both my 3 (soon to be 4) year old and 22 month old children love him. And I don’t mind repeated readings of Bing either. The thought of a potential picnic surrounded by dog pooh always makes me smile.
"But a big thanks you for helping me to redirect the strange whims of my 3year old, Bill. It is his birthday this week and for months he has told me he wants a “Horsey cake”. As my creative streak was brutally erased at birth this struck terror in my heart. As well as incredulity. Bill has never ridden a horse, spent quality time with a horse and only petted one briefly. However a very pretty girl called Charlotte is a huge fan of horses to such an extent that some days she will only respond to her pony alter ego name, Pepper. I think this may be his first crush. Bill casually leafed through my “Easy” party cakes book and chose a cake shaped like a bed with a mouse in it. But he wanted a horse’s head on the pillow. It’ s very hard to explain to a 3 year old why this is wrong on quite a few levels, particularly whilst laughing. Anyway, I suggested I make a Bing cake. He agreed.
"The party was a real hit and the Bing cake turned out surprisingly like Bing. I did use black icing and it was a labour of love. Bill’s Dad David blew up a picture of Bing and I reverted back to the infants and did a lot of tracing.
"Introducing Bing to grown ups and children who don’t know him is wonderful. Part of me wishes that myself, my husband and Bill and Iona could meet him again for the first time.Thank you."

Flop Doll

This photo was sent by Elise from Gainesville, Florida:
"My two year old loves the Bing books. For Daniel's 2nd B-day, my mother had a "Flop" made. Daniel sleeps with Flop, a cow and a pig!"

Chance in a Million

Ethan and Phoebe of Roslindale, Massachusetts,enjoy a Bing pile with their grandmother.It turns out they were visiting friends of mine in Oxford and started raving about Bing books to my friends, who of course, were already well buried in Bing culture. Serendipity rules in Oxford!

First Pair of Bing and Flop Dolls

These Bing and Flop doll were created by Carolyn of Charlottesville, Virginia,
for her grandson Abe in Indiana.
This is the first ever pair of Bing and Flop dolls I'm aware of. Carolyn's daughter, Ana, wrote to her: "WOW - I am so impressed! Abe will know how truly special these dolls are both because they were lovingly made by his Grandma and because of their impact on Bing history! The other day we received a box in the mail and Abe got so excited and started yelling "Bing and Flop" thinking that they had once again come to visit through the mail. Thanks again and congratulations!"

Mrs. Pilkington's "Bingish Bunny" doll

This Bing doll was created by Mrs Pilkington.
Mrs Pilkington, a self-described knitter, wife, mom, writer, butcher, baker, candlestick maker, calls him "Bingish Bunny".
photo © Mrs Pilkington
http://mrspilkington.typepad.com

Bingham

"Just a quick note to say "Thanks" for the Bing Bunny series. Our son, who's name is Bingham, (we call him Bing for short) just LOVES these books. So, we purchased all 8 books as a 3rd birthday gift and he nearly has them all memorized. Thanks again!"
Brian, Vickie and Bing

Winner of the Most Messed Up Bing Book Contest

Robert from Manchester, England, is as serious a bingster as any I've seen. He's also a contestant in the MOST MESSED UP BING BOOK CONTEST.
Not only have his parents made him a Bing t-shirt but his grandmother actually created one of the very first Bing bunny dolls.
On the eve of finally signing the contract to start a slow-rolling television and merchandise program, I cant help feeling that this is a historically important doll. Perhaps many years from now, when we build the Bing Museum in Oxford, we can raise funds to acquire the world's first Bing for the permanent collection...
...that is, if Robert is willing to part with him. Which I doubt he would or should.

Jacek and Andris from Hungary

Jacek and Andris from Hungary are the first Bingsters to have photos on the site wearing their Bing ears downloaded and printed out from the site.




Jacek a with a well-worn copy of Bing Bed Time.




Close-up of Andris in characteristic toddler food-in-mouth shot. Dont spill the chocolate biscuit, Andris!