PASSIONS

A Tiny World

BY LYNNE KONSTANTIN

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN

Amy Shapiro, Meredith Weston-Band and Rabbi Aaron Bergman
live in a small world. They don't know how they got there, but it's
where they belong.

AMY

SHAPIRO

former executive assistant,
Amy Shapiro opened My
World of Small in Ferndale last
October because, says the mother
of a 9-year-old son, "I'm just a little
girl who never grew up."
More than just a seller of doll-
houses, Shapiro has created a magi-
cal fantasy world and brought it to
life — and along with it, the imagi-
nations of little girls (and some boys
and big girls, too) in the area.
"I'rn on a mission to bring doll-
houses back to children," explains
the Huntington Woods resident.
"Most stores carry handcarved
furniture for dollhouses starting at
$50 for a chair. But they're considered col-
lectibles. They're for adults," Shapiro says.
"There are lovely things in a more economi-
cal price range," including, for example, a 10-
piece Victorian living-room set that includes a
grandfather clock with an opening curio cabinet

A

32 • m

AY

2005 •

JNPLATINUM

Living room with working

Grandfather clock

Hand-painted dining room s

and a fireplace that Shapiro sells for $22.
She offers Clarice Cliff-style china sets from
England for $15, miniature grand pianos, wallpa-
per, paint — even Judaica: "Every good doll-
house has a mezuzah," she says.
She also stocks diminutive plates of chopped
liver, challah and menorahs.

But the best part, she says, is that "parents
don't have to hold their breath when their
daughters touch them. I want kids to play with
them. Everything in my shop encourages
interaction."
Including Shapiro herself, whose services
include birthday parties, the cost of which cov-
ers handmade invitations, cake and ice cream,
dancing, singing and a project for all guests to
take home. ❑