奇速英语

Eight-year-old Lilia and her mother Polly Petrova started a business called Lilia’s Smiling Horses in April 2020. “Lilia loves riding horses. She’s been riding horses since she was two,” Ms Petrova said. “The first line of toys that we made was a line of horses with smiles on their faces.” Lilia said that seeing her drawings become toys was “exciting and a dream come true”.

Wanting other children to experience the joy of seeing their drawings become toys, the mother and daughter began offering the service to others. Ms Petrova agrees that her daughter is “a bit of a control freak” when helping, in order to make sure the toys look similar to the original drawing. “You know how artists are with their art, and she wants to make sure everything goes to plan, so pay much attention to the whole thing.”

“It is also a hobby for both of us that we love to do and gives us valuable bonding time together.” Lilia added that being part of the process is “satisfying, especially the part when we send them to the kids—I feel proud and accomplished(有成就感的)”.

A toy that really “stood out” for Ms Petrova and her daughter was a “memory toy” they made using the last drawing of a young girl before she died—a little princess with hearts. “It was a gift from her aunt to her mum—and it got emotional for me and I did all that I could to make it as good as possible”, Ms Petrova said.