What do you see?
My family and I love books, but are picky about what books we buy. I'm still all KonMari about stuff and Keenan is a designer and gets twitchy when books are eh. I love taking my boys to the library because we can try out any book we want, and then decide whether we want to buy it. But I do want the boys to own books they'll read and re-read for years to come. I love a well-written children's book with beautiful illustrations! In my dreams, I'd love to write a children's book one day.
I'm delighted to share a new-to-me board book by artist Wangechi Mutu. It's called What do you see? It's a contemporary spin on search-and-find children's books. Mutu has collaged a fantastical, vibrant world where objects are not quite what they seem. The book exemplifies a child's world: curiosity is everything. This book looks different than anything else in our library, and it's a great chance to explore and introduce collage. We may even do a companion activity with this book and collage with paper, leaves, figs, and rocks we've collected over the last few days. The book is published by Home Grown Books, a Brooklyn-based published. (You know I love that.)
It is an eco-friendly board book, which is perfect because our nine month old Sigge is realllly into chewing books.
I love knowing a bit more about the artist or author. It turns out Mutu was born and raised in Kenya and much of her work explores gender and racial identity. Her work is in museum collections around the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Beyond supporting such a talented artist, 5% of profits from this book will be donated to Every Mother Counts, a non-profit organization dedicated to making pregnancy and birth safe for every mother. You can buy the book here.
*What do you see? was a gift but the opinions and book review are my own.
