A Gift - from Artists, Poets, Photographers (under 13)
Have we forgotten what the world looks like to a child?
'A Gift' reminds us of all the things that we have missed, mislaid and forgotten. Bringing together words, images and photographs by children from around the world, from the ages of five to thirteen, the book is an invitation to wonder, creativity and play.
We encounter flying dinosaurs, a conference of animals, portraits of the Queen,as well as street photography, moments of intimacy and quiet joy. The book includes paintings from the Cyrene Mission in South Africa, the revolutionary Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York that collected art from children during the 1930s, and poems from Poetry Box in New Zealand. The works are often extremely beautiful, sometimes hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking – you have in your hands a book like no other.
More Detail
'Children come to the world with two possibilities of expression – words and pictures. Later the words will be adapted to practical purposes and, sadly, sometimes the pictures get lost altogether. Until then young sensibilities are immersed in these activities, intensely and unselfconsciously. This book brings together a wealth of these creations. Don’t feel you have to make allowances – this is art.' QUENTIN BLAKE
'The most joyful art is made by children. Adult artists are almost never able to recapture the clarity with which they saw the world in childhood.' DAVID SHRIGLEY
'Wonder comes to us, creeping into our heads. Adults throw wonder away, like a moth-eaten blanket. But children treasure it.' (Paige Layton, aged 10)
By Redstone Press. Paperback, 144 pages, 20 x 14cm.