A Few Creative Kids Books

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I love books. Mostly non fiction like books on health, crafts, arts & design.

And then there's kids books. When we go to the library the kids choose some... I choose some...

I get really excited if I find a book that is illustrated by an artist I love. So I was super excited when I came across "The Day No One Was Angry" by Toon Tellegen, & illustrated by Marc Boutavant. (The artist behind the TV series Mouk.)

I am greedy for these illustrations; he somehow has figured out the right dose of contrast, colour and texture; adds in his own style, design & composition and then uses this perfected illustration recipe to create amazing illustrations. 

And the stories! They are mini stories that made me excited when I started reading them. They are so creative & different. I got excited because it's not often you read something that seems quite different from everything that's already out there. The stories are strange, poetic and thought provoking. And some just downright laugh out loud weird & funny! Hearing the girls laughter at one of the weird stories where an elephant literally has an argument with himself... This is a fabulous book. 

Listen to this line:  "The earthworm's eyes flashed with sparks. The grass caught fire." Such writing is a springboard for creative thinking for children, who are able to, with their already unencumbered imaginative brains think in this wonderful way already. And when we foster that and feed it...  Joy. :)

The Day No One Was Angry

Rules of Summer is another creative thought provoking book. Poetic with awe inspiring creamy paintings. (Oil paint? I think oil paint.) Shaun Tan, a master of children's book illustrating in my eyes, has written and illustrated this book. There's a random, dreamlike 'rule' on each page. Also a little dark & spooky. 

Miss 5 thought she needed to make a book called "Rules of The Weekend" after reading it. How fun.

See? It's that kind of creativity that I like books to inspire.

Rules of Summer

And 13 words is one I read a while back, that has stuck in my mind ever since. I'm quite taken with the naive illustrations. Painterly and colourful. Thirteen words are featured in this book, and I like that "despondent" is in there along with "bird" and "dog". And "Haberdashery"! Too often we dumb it down for kids but introducing them to a few bigger less common words along with a quirky story & arty illustrations ticks the box for me.

13 Words

Do you have any quirky, creative kids books that you love? I'd love to hear about them.

Jules :)

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