Some of my most vivid memories from early childhood revolve around books. Snuggling up on my parents’ bed to the sound of It’s Time for Bed and A House is a House for Me. Singing about My Many Colored Days in a school program and painting scenes from A Bad Case of Stripes in the classroom.

So when I started making plans for a close family member’s baby shower, pondering what I’d want to pass along to the baby, these books came to mind. I set to work organizing all of the decorations, food, and activities inspired by classic children’s books.

For anyone planning their own storybook-themed party, I want to share some of my inspiration with you. This is a great, gender-neutral baby shower theme, as well as a fun birthday party or school celebration theme. Feel free to use some of these ideas and make them your own!

Decorations

With books being the central theme of the party, I wanted to make them the focal point of the décor. So, I raided our collection of children’s books, scoured the thrift store, and gathered from the library. I scattered them throughout the party, using them as labels for the food, general props, and centerpieces for the guest tables. I focused mostly on classics that all of the guests would recognize.

I am a huge fan of using what I’ve already got, so I scoured my home for other decorations to fill out the space. Mostly I used crates, baskets, an old typewriter, vintage toys, and handmade book page flowers for a timeless, childlike theme.

Food

Anyone who has ever been to one of my parties knows I go all-in on themes. So, all of the food is inspired by classic children’s books. I also had an added challenge of making everything transportable, as the party was a decent trip away and I wanted to have everything prepared ahead of time. (Less stress on the day of the party? Yes please!) Here’s what I came up with.

Very Hungry Caterpillar fruit kebabs: I wanted to offer a little something healthy to snack on, which is perfect for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, who spends almost the entire book eating through different fruits. I got a mix of fruits that reflected the colors on the book’s cover, even putting them on the skewers to look a bit like the caterpillar himself.

Green Eggs and Ham mini quiches: I’ve seen Green Eggs and Ham snacks done all kinds of ways—Jello, food coloring in deviled eggs—but honestly, none of those sounded too appealing. Then, these spinach and egg quiches did the unimaginable: making green eggs look tasty. I got a big box of these quiches at my local wholesale store, then chopped up some ham to top them before heating them up. I included some plain quiches as well for anyone to whom green eggs still just don’t seem appealing.

If You Give a Moose A Muffin: Not quite a dessert but not quite a savory snack, I thought some mini muffins would be a great addition to the snack table. I brought half chocolate chip muffins and half blueberry muffins to appeal to all muffin preferences.

Chicken Little salad sandwiches: Okay, not gonna lie, my husband and I laughed about these as I was making them. I just hoped no one at the party would think about it too hard and worry that we turned Chicken Little into a sandwich. They sure were tasty, though! They’re just a dollop of homemade chicken salad on mini croissants, and they went fast!

Activities

The mother-to-be had a pretty mellow guest list, so I knew I had a bit of a challenge on my hands when it came to activities. Lots of popular baby shower games were out of the question—I couldn’t imagine her grandma doing anything that involved running around and sticking her face in chocolate-filled diapers. So I got a bit creative with the activities.

Wishes For Baby: I put together a list of prompts about the baby for guests to fill out. I set these out for guests to pick up and work on as they arrived and settled in.

Guess the Storybook: I gathered a list of quotes from classic children’s books that guests would have to match to the book titles. The guest with the most correct answers won a prize. I set these out as well for guests to do on their own time as they mingled.

Baby Mad Libs: I wanted at least one activity we could do as a group before the mom-to-be started opening gifts. So, I wrote up a little Mad Lib of “advice” we could all give her. I asked for different parts of speech from the guests and wrote them into the story, then read it aloud at the end. It helped break the ice a little to all laugh together, and guests came up to me later to tell me how funny it was.

Baby Shower Bingo: Just before the mom-to-be started opening gifts, I handed out little Bingo sheets and asked guests to fill them out with things they expected she would receive Each time a guest got a Bingo, they won a prize.

Once again, picture books have brought me together with loved ones. And all to celebrate a new little person coming to the world and entering our story. What a nostalgic, relaxed party this was. I wish the same for you and your future celebrations!