When we have children and grand-children I think we become more aware of the natural world particularly as we endeavour to explain and share the beauty of the change of seasons and other wonders in our parks and gardens.
The books I am writing are designed for small people so they too are quite small and contain many images. In this I owe a debt of gratitude to the great photographers who provide their work royalty free through the Creative Commons.
The first children's book I wrote was for my grand-daughter Maria who has a cosmopolitan background. Her father (my son Andrew) was born in London England, her mother was born in Queensland Australia and Maria was born in Vancouver, Canada where her father was working at the time. The one thing those three places have in common is Captain James Cook, an Englishman as he was the first European to land on the east coast of Australia and the west coast of Canada.
The book 'A Journey through Time' detailed the games children played in those countries, the things they ate, their usual clothing and housing, musical instruments, and the native flora and fauna in those countries at the time when Captain Cook was there.
I did all the illustrations and hand-bound the book myself. I was later surprised and delighted when the book was chosen by the Queensland Bookbinders Guild for inclusion in an exhibition called 'Finely Bound' at the Queensland State Library, from August 2010 to the end of January 2011.
The book I'm currently working on is about Trees and all the wonderful things that depend on them. It too is for children though not just my grandchildren, hopefully for others too - but more about that next time .....
Read more...
Friday, July 22, 2011
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