love that t-shirt, anyone know where it's from?

I really like the look of these, and it looks like a great project. Children's books really make lovely wall art. I have to say, though, what always runs through my mind when I see these face-out bookshelves: If you have limited space and lots of books, face-out is not the answer to your problem. I know people say that kids are more likely to want to read the books if they can see the cover, but I've never found my kids to be put off by book spines. They learn to recognize the spines of their books, and have no trouble rifling through them (or, in the case of my young toddler, pulling them all out into a pile on the floor) to find the one they want. It also helps to keep a rotating set of a few books in heavy rotation by putting them in a little basket next to the bookshelf, or on the coffee table or kids' nightstand, so there are a few in plain sight with ready access.

That said, this looks like an awesomee way to use a very shallow space on the wall that might otherwise go unused, like the one shown above. If you have a few more inches of depth available, though, I say go for a traditional bookshelf--you can store about 20 times more books in about the same space.

I want a bunch of those t shirts to gift to all little nieces and nephews! Adorable!

Awesome use for an unusable space!

Wonderful use of the space! I could see this also being used for their favorite action figures or other toys as they get older and the toys get smaller. Although I could use this right now for some of my husband's things. Ha!

While not the exact same shirt, Bookshop Santa Cruz sells very similar tees - http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/tshirts

I also love some of the READ items sold at the American Library Association's online shop - http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/tshirts Both of my kids have the red READ ball cap, and I'm always getting comments on it.

We have a smallish guest room with limited space, and I think these would work quite well there. However, I probably wouldn't place books that high on the upper shelves in a child's room if I expected them to look at the books, but I could imagine placing decorative objects on those upper shelves. Nice job.

What hyzen said. My two-year-old can got through all those books in a hour. He has more than 300 books on his shelves, and they all get read regularly. No way could I go to face-out shelves.

Great use of space that couldn't be used for regular spine-out bookshelves. We can always use a little more room for books and it would be fun to choose some favorites for face out display!

I DO think seeing the covers of books is ideal. Every time this idea pops up again I go eyeball our available wallspace one more time.

I agree with the comment that there is hardly a point in adding shelves up high out of kid reach. I've considered doing one or two of these for the current library books, I could fit that in.

I will say I wouldn't put these (or anything, really) behind a door. My kid plops in front of the books and goes through them systematically, she would be squished by the swinging door eventually.

THANK YOU Catherine in Philly! Yes I am buying a bunch of them for the little ones. And one for me as well ;-)

Even though this may not be practical for the child's whole collection of books, it would be neat to have a couple shelves reserved to showcase the books he or she has checked out from the public library. The books would get read, they'd be easier to find when it's time to return them, and it's cute. Love this idea!

I can't help but think the books need some kind of little rail to keep from flopping off the shelves?

I was thinking of doing a similar project across the wall that my daughter's closet door closes towards, but I do plan on putting little rails to keep the books in place. No room for a regular bookshelf in there, but I could do this and a little reading nook for her. As for book overflow, I have the rest in the lower shelf of the bedside table.

Thanks for the mention, AT! We built these about six months ago and haven't had any issues with them. The grooves in the baseboard hold the books in place. This is just one of the many places in the house we store books and rotate them out a couple times a month. I got the tee from As Small As Me on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91268424/read-to-me-organic-t-shirt-or-onesie?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=ConnectedShop&utm_campaign=Share

I also love how this looks like a great deal of library "showcase" shelves. great way to not only save space but to give a littles sense of comfort with the library to young readers. well done!

This is sweet, but not practical for kids with 100+ books (as I'm certain most kids whose parents read this site do.) Also, my boys would have those suckers torn down and be using them as something to climb in a heartbeat.

The shirt is available on Etsy. Do a quick search for "Read to Me" shirt. I think it's even on sale now.

I DO think it's practical for anyone that is not using the space behind the door for anything else--and I can't imagine many people are-- regardless of how many books your kids have. It's not meant to store all of your books, it's a great and inexpensive way to display some of the hundreds of books your kids have in a space that otherwise gets ignored. If you worry about your kids climbing them, you could start with some shelves out of reach and add the bottom ones as they grow --when they know not to climb/pull on them. Thanks for the tutorial and the Etsy link.

You can also use vinyl rain gutters to do something very similar and inexpensively.

I love the rain gutter idea! Of course all of the books won't fit but we don't need to choose from the entire library every night. I think it would be nice to have a rotating display; let my son choose the top 10 or so books to display. Keeping the reminder of the books accessible (the bottom shelf of his book case) but not as prominent.
Yes, officially on the summer to-do list.

It would be a good way to regularly cull through the collection for books to donate too.

These are a great idea!!! And I too don't understand why some people even Bother with the negative attitude. OK, they aren't right for you. Don't make 'em!! But if you are a parent with family and friends you know that sometimes there are books (think Thomas, Pokemon or some other of the ilk) that you might LIKE to have up there on that top shelf. Out of sigh, out of mind.... But still it's there!
Great Idea-- I love it, and thank you.