IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS:
A creative picture book for 4-7 year olds (of either gender) which is sure to get them thinking about the kind of
world they live in, and the one they want to live in. And all you need to make it happen? A box of pencils!
DETAILS, DETAILS:
Published by Phaidon Press in 2014
48 pages, $24.95 RRP
WHAT THE BACK COVER SAYS:
If you were creating a world of your own, what would it look like? Would you build your house out of brick – or out of jelly? Would it be on the ground or in a tree? Would you ride a train to town, or a dinosaur?
Taking the reader on an extraordinary visual journey through her imaginative world, award-winning illustrator, Laura Carlin, inspires children to look, draw and make – first from life, and then from the imagination through sharing her own personal thought-processes and drawing techniques.
From getting up in the morning, to going to bed at night – Laura shows children how she records every day things and events on paper, and then improves them through her wild and witty imagination – helping children form a visual manifesto of their own world, and enthusing them to find enjoyment and entertainment in drawing and creating with the most everyday objects.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura Carlin is a London artist and illustrator, whose work has featured in publications such as Vogue, The New Scientist, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph and The Independent. She has also illustrated several children’s books and was voted in 2009 an ADC Young Gun, one of the 50 most influential creatives under 30 years of age.
MY THOUGHTS:
The first thing my 6 year old did when she finished this book was to rush for six blank pieces of paper. She taped them together and spend much of the morning, drawing her own ‘world’.
I tell this story, not in praise of my daughter, but in praise of the book A World Of Your Own.
The word ‘inspiring’ gets bandied about a lot. But I think it’s safe to say that when a book prompts a kid to create art – then it has surely inspired them.
This book has some beautiful things to say about the nature of creativity and art.
Most kids are born with the most extraordinary imaginations; their artworks are truly ‘out there’. Sadly, they get the message pretty quickly, that their pictures should look a certain way – the sky should be blue, the grass should be green, and colouring should occur between the lines.
But why? Why should it?
It’s widely acknowledged that the best works of art in the world are not faithful reproductions of the world as it is – a great work of art interprets the world in a way of which we had not thought before. Kids do that naturally. Or at least, they do until told otherwise.
Real-life should only ever be a starting point for great art; it is in the imagination that the magic really happens. Read this book – and help your child tune into their own special brand of magic.
A World of Your Own is available from Angus & Robertson or Book Depository
