This book studio has been a labor of love. It’s been mai goal for the last 3 years to remodel the space ~ to put new shelves up, clear the floor from the towers of book piles, and create an inviting reading and play space, especially now that Mai Little Love has arrived earth-side.

The initial goal was to have the studio finished before Baby was born, since I would most likely have even less time once he arrived, but alas~ that was an ambitious goal. However, one he was almost a year, I slowly began to make progress. His interest in crawling and play motivated me to curate a studio where he could move, read, and play while I worked, or where we could enjoy the space together.

Now for the details! I will walk you through each of the different areas of the studio, and include links to our shelves and some of the key features in the book studio. If you have any questions, please drop them in the comments below! I hope you enjoy learning about the book studio just as much as I enjoy putting it together and sharing it with all of you!

For a VIDEO book tour Walk-through, check out mai highlight on IG.

Book Display Wall

This 5-tier forward facing book display features many of the collections you see featured in mai blog posts and on mai Instagram grid. This wall is right to the left of the book studio door when you walk in.

The shelf is from Joy Kids Original. Notice that the different tiers have different height differences, meaning only certain size books can fit on each tier. The second and third shelf from the top have a smaller length, so only shorter books can fit on those shelves. It can make curating the collections a bit difficult, but in the end I like the mix of different size books, and it encourages me to include a mix of different age-level books: such as middle grade or board books.

Mai Toddler will sometimes pull books off the bottom shelf, but is a bit too small to reach the other tiers. At the moment, he is more engaged with his other shelfie that I mention down below.

Literacy Center

This is a corner I am very proud of! I had to figure out what to put on this wall, because as you can see there is a door on the adjacent wall. This means people need to be able to come in and out of that room without bumping into anything. I would have loved to put a shelf there, and at first mourned the loss of shelf space. I didn’t want just a blank wall, so at first I though I might frame copies of picture book art prints. But I really wanted to corner to be interactive in some way. I actually first considered a chalk board, or some kind of white board ~ but then, just like fate, I stumbled upon Modi Modu on Instagram.

Modi Modu has created a Multifunctional Wall Decal that is *Exactly* what I was looking for: A flat wall decal that I can put on the wall that’s not just purely decorative~ rather, it’s self-adhesive, magnetic, and works as dry erase and chalkboard. Plus, it’s pretty!

And it was the perfect addition to the book studio to create a mini Literacy Center. Mai vision is for Toddler to be able to explore the magnets and drawing/ pre-writing in this area. To encourage this exploration, I filled a basket with Wooden Magnet Shapes (This set is from Modi Modu and comes with 120 wooden magnet pieces), ABC magnets, white board markers, erasers, and picture dictionary books. The idea is for when Toddler is older, we can flip through the picture dictionaries, and find a word he likes, use the different sets to spell the word, and use the markers to draw the word and related pictures. For now, Toddler enjoys pulling the magnets on and off the wall.

Next the Multifunctional Wall Decal is a Baby Tadeus Bench Table from Wiwiurka Toys. The Baby Tadeus is a baby & toddler Montessori inspired. exceptionally crafted dual activity space and climbing toy. When placed upside down, it even becomes an indoor climbing dome. It’s designed for littles ages 6-30 months, and is the perfect size for Toddler to sit in. Currently he uses it to eat snacks (mainly cheerios), but I’ll also often put a toy on the table, or his Tonie audio box for him to listen to while he eats.

Toddler’s Shelfie

To the right of the Literacy Center, on the wall opposite of the entry-doorway, is Toddler’s Shelfie. This is where we curate all of Toddler’s Board Book Collections. This forward facing shelf is the Large Lexico Display from Sprout Kids. (Use code: STORYBOOK10 for 10% off any Sprout Kids purchase!) Toddler has a lot of fun with this shelf! He will often pull the books on and off the shelf, and just recently attempts to put them back on the shelf too! I really wanted an accessible bookshelf like this for Toddler to independently choose his books and *read* on his own.

We also always keep a Toki Play cube somewhere in the book studio for comfiness and fun. Toddler likes to lay his belly on the cube, or he enjoys tossing it around. It’s compact but super soft~ perfect for tossing!

Above the shelf are two floating shelves where I will typically display picture books that connect to the board book theme below. (Fun Fact: The hanging plant in the top right corner is dead! However, it dried with the leaves still green and pretty, that it looks alive from far away! So now I have a plant I never have to water~)

Filming Center + Play Shelf

To the right of Toddler’s shelfie is a Nico & Yeye Cubo Cubbie Storage Shelf. I love how it can double as a bench and play surface. In the cubbies, I store activities and toys for Toddler to access. While I work in the book studio, he knows he can find all of his toys in these cubbies. In the far left cubby, I keep his Tonie Figures, a few Fisher Price Character Toys, his Yoto audio player, and additional Yoto cards.

In the middle cubby he has immediate access to his jumping peg toy from Keiki KauKau, and maraca. In the yellow bin are a couple Busy Books, chargers, a deck of cards, reusuable stickie notes, wooden puzzles, and a few pop tubes. Toddler doesn’t have direct access to the items in this yellow bin. I take out an activity for him if he is done with his other toys.

In the far right cubby is a reading buddy basket full of stuffies. I have a larger pile in another inaccessible part of the room, so rotate out stuffies occasionally.

On top of the Cubbie shelf are his Joey Dolls: featuring a Japanese, Filipina, and Vietnamese doll. There are also a few building blocks for him to play with. These are part of a larger set, but I only put a few out at a time to avoid overwhelming him.

You will see that this is also where I film mai social media content. My ring light is always positioned in that spot on top of the shelf. You never see it from this angle~ rather you always see the shelves behind me when I film. I film here so that I can use the natural light from the window. Even though I use a ring light stand, I never use the actual ring light to film. I much prefer the natural light.

Play Couch + Furniture

The main piece of furniture in the book studio is our Nugget Couch! Of course the book studio had to have a cozy nook to read, and the Nugget Couch is the perfect Play Couch for cozy story time snuggles, and adventurous climbing and play. It makes an excellent centerpiece, and I can rearrange the cushions for different climbing challenges and play areas for Toddler, and for mai own use when filming and shooting content.

Displayed on our nugget is our collection of Miniland Diverse and Inclusive dolls. These dolls are anatomically correct, and feature diverse & inclusive representation with Down Syndrome dolls, dolls with glasses, dolls with cochlear implants, and dolls of different races.

Next to the Nugget, in front of the closet shelves is a Rocking Boat/ Steps Play Piece from RAD Children’s Furniture. Toddler currently loves the side with the Steps- he is a climber! But the piece van flip to function as a rocking boat. The perfect pretend-play piece to accompany you on reading adventures!

Featured on the Rocking Boat/ Steps is our sensory Glow jar from glopals: The light is triggered by water, so will only light up when you put water in the jar.

Middle Grade Shelf

All of mai shelves are loosely organized. I debated whether to make this a picture book shelf, but decided I wanted at least a small space to display. Some of mai favorite middle grade series, books, and chapter books. This shelf has no strict organization, other than the top shelf holds mainly chapter books, the 3 middle shelves feature middle grade, and a few young adult, stand-alone books and series. The bottom shelf has mai Elephant and Piggie Collection, Habbi Habbi Bilingual language learning books, and the Cook in a Book series. (This is a bookshelf we’ve had since I was little)

Diversity Shelves

These are the main shelves you see behind the Nugget. In mai reels, you have a side-view of them on the left. These 2 shelves and the third one to the right of these larger 2 are mai diversity shelves. The majority of them feature mai Asian collections, as I hold on to most of those books since they are meaningful to my own and Toddler’s identity. Here’s how they are organized starting from the left shelf top left. (These shelves are from Ikea)

Top left is for East Asian / Chinese picture books. This shelf has mostly Chinese representation picture books as they are the most represented in kidlit. Below that shelf is mai Southeast Asian Collection. Below that is a partially empty shelf which is meant to hold a mix of Southeast Asian books and South Asian books. Next shelf below is South Asian Picture Books, then below is Asian festivals and holidays, and then the bottom shelf is a mix of Arab picture books, Pacific Islander Books, and Asian Story Collection Books.

Then on the shelf to the right, starting at the top: An empty shelf for East Asian overflow books (aka room to store future books I know we will want to keep). Below that is East Asian picture books featuring Japanese and Korean characters. Below that is mai Black Picture Book Collection, and then another empty-ish shelf for overflow of Black and Latinx picture books. Below that shelf are mai Latinx representation picture books, and the bottom shelf features Indigenous children’s book.

Next, the smaller shelf on the far right holds mai LGBTQ fiction collection. Below that is the Little People big dreams series, and below that is 2 shelves of picture book biographies.

Bookshelf Wall

This is the final section of the book studio, and the main wall space. This area actually used to be my closet growing up, which is why the shelves are more tucked back into a closet-frame. The shelves were custom built for a birthday gift one year. The book stacks on the ground in front of the shelves are book collections that I am prepping, or needing to be prepped, for content- including photograph collections and reels.

These shelves are also loosely organized by topic. I’ll start at the top left. This one shelf is fiction books by Asian authors that don’t focus on Asian representation. Again, as I identify as Asian, these are books that are important to me to curate and collect on mai shelves. The next two shelves below that one aare fun-fiction books. No major theme or topic in particular. Mainly they are just wildy fun and sweet stories. The next two shelves below those are mai *magic* shelves. I keep fairytales and fairytale adaptations, and magical creature books~ such as fairy, unicorn, and dragon themed books~ on these shelves. The giant stack tucked in the corner there are books I need to move out. I will either donate them to the local little free libraries, or I use them in giveaways! (Often these are books that I am sent multiple copies of~ so brand new picture books!)

The next column starting at the top: Family books- so books featuring different family members, mainly focusing on grandparents, mothers, fathers, and new siblings. Below that begins mai SEL collections. The next shelf holds body positivity books and grief picture books. The next shelf below features mainly kindness and friendship theme books, then the next row features mainly books on anger and anxiety.

The next column (third from the left) features election/ civil rights/ social activism themed books. Below that I keep my collections on apologizing, conflict resolution, growth mindset, and consent. Next is a shelf for books about bravery, positive self-esteem, and shy littles. And the bottom shelf in this column is where I keep most of mai neurodivergent titles.

Final column of shelves on the right side features Jewish picture books and musical-themed picture books. The following three shelves below that feature back-to-school and school-topic focused books, i.e.: math stories, books about books and reading, science picture books etc.

And at the very, very top, which you can’t quite see at this angle, is one long row spanning all the shelves combined. This is where I keep mai holiday books. Not easily accessible! but they don’t need to be because I only use them once a year. These holiday books include Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Easter, and Valentine’s Day.

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And that concludes the book studio tour! Thank you for checking out this special space, mai friends! Let me know if you have any questions, or want to share about your own remodeling projects or reading goals for the month/ maybe even for next year!

*~Also, I’d love to  see and hear about your own reading adventures you are having with your little learners, so please share your story times below in the comments ~ Or Tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary , FaceBook , find me on TikTok, or contact me via email . I’d love to hear from you!~

Until next time, Happy Reading!