Childs book recommendation : Journey by Aaron Becker

Journey is one of mine and Scarletts favourite books ever. full stop. The story is an intriguing, captivating, and imaginative. It also happens to be a book with no words.

This was the the first book I have bought for my daughter that has no words at all. I was intrigued by the idea when I saw this book advertised somewhere and for the life of me cannot remember where. I thought it was a great idea letting the child make the story up as they go along. But to be honest it was a bit different then just making up a story. It was more like an observational journey you took with someone. Having to rely only on pictures and gestures to get clues as to what was going on and watching the story unfold.

Journey is the story of a young girl who is bored at home one day. Her family is seemingly busy doing other tasks, and activities.

(on the picture above Scarlett always reads it as her mummy is cooking ,her daddys working, and her sister is "on facebook".)

She finds a red marker on the floor and draws a door. A door that transports her to another whimsical steampunk world. Her first glimpse of this world is a magical looking forest. There are fairy lights and lanterns hanging from the trees and it is my favourite page in the book. The forest looks scary and beautiful at the same time. I would love to get lost in it for hours.

She gets to a pier and can go no further. She has to solve a problem using her imagination. Her decision leads her to a world filled with citadels, flying ships, and flying carpets.

She must overcome obstacles armed only with her marker and imagination .At one point in the book she even nearly loses her magic marker! A mysterious bird turns up and helps her along the way but where did it come from?

 I wasn't sure how scarlett would react to not having words in her bedtime book. She really took to it right away though. As soon as we were finished she asked "can you get me more books with no words?" Its amazing how observant kids can be! Little details I didn't think she would pick up she would notice right away.

 The pictures in this book are so beautifully detailed. I'm thinking of possibly getting some of the pages in print form to hang on the walls of Scarletts room. They really take you on a journey and tell the story wonderfully. I think everyone should  try a book with no words. With your kids or even on your own. Its okay to read kids books. I do. They are some of the best stories ever written. I'm just glad I have a child now and I have a viable reason to be hoarding childrens books.

You can purchase this book on amazon here. Thanks for reading. stay creative!   -Kass

Childrens book review: Buddha at bedtime

Hello everyone!I know, its been awhile. I've been pondering which way to carry forward with this blog. I want to do more than talk about art tutorials, products, and techniques. I want to discuss living life creatively and more passionately. That includes the foods we eat,the music we listen to, the books we read, and the places we go.In fact I aim to bring creativity into all aspects of my life. I invite you to follow with me. I pursue this life to keep me sane, and I feel when we strive to be creative we make the most of our life. We don't become as complacent, and forget to "stop and smell the roses". I hope maybe you who are reading this can get a few ideas to be more creative yourself.

So let's start with a children's book review!

Last week we started reading Buddah at bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja and Sharon Tancredi.

This book is a collection of stories written to get kids thinking about kindness, compassion, and empathy. It includes a section on who Buddah was and a little about practicing buddhism. We all know our children need to get out playing more and using their imagination.  Though its becoming increasingly difficult in a world full of apps, video games, films, ext. Im not saying those things are all bad. Far from that. I love a good crime drama, and im currently obsessed with instagram. I just think all of that is okay in moderation. This book helps us set aside a little time to sit quietly with our child, tell a story, and travel to another place. 

 I wasnt sure how my daughter would like this book as it reads as a chapter book and I was worried about lack of pictures. To my suprise though, she really likes it! They scatter smaller pictures along the edges to keep the reader intrested as they read along. I would stop every so often and ask questions like "why do you think Dinos was crying?"(because Arthur broke his promise). At the end of that particular chapter there is a few sentences about why its impotant to keep promises.

We arent finished with this book entirely but so far we are really enjoying it. These authors have wrote a second book on the same subject called The Buddhas apprentice we cannot wait to read! I really suggest this as a great book to read with your child.  

Remember this:

“it’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.” –L.r knost

 Does anyone have any particular stories they like reading with their child? Id love to hear about them! We are always looking for new books to add to our list. They dont all have to be as thought provoking as this particular book. Another book we have on our shelf is called Walter the farting dog...but we will leave that for another post. Thanks for reading and stay inspired!


                                                                                                 -Kassandra