AD - Materials supplied courtesy of Viking for World Book Day.
This World Book Day I was challenged by Viking to celebrate my love of books by creating something out of old pages of books, brightly coloured card and stamps. Now, I'm not the most creatively minded person and really struggled to come up with something to create. So, I decided to go back to basics and keep it simple.
My Design
So, with my lack of creative skills somewhat holding me back, I went back to basics (and I'm talking, five-year-old basics!) and used cookie cutters I had to trace the shapes onto the old book pages which had been provided to me by Viking.
I decided to use the different sizes of both the circle and heart cutters to lay them on top of each other to try and create some sort of 3D effect with them. I did wish I'd still had the horse stencils I used to own as that would've been perfect for this as I absolutely loved Black Beauty when I was growing up.
Nevertheless, I used what I had and as art is subjective the shapes can represent characters from any of the books featured here or any others you loved. I stamped out the phrase 'read the book' because, quite simply, you should always read the book!
My design doesn't celebrate any book in particular, rather it celebrates books themselves and how they can transport us to different places by the words on the page. Also, I like to think it shows that even after they've served their purpose, been loved by many, they can be reused into something different and be given another life.
Of course, I don't think I could cut up my favourite childhood books for something like this as they still mean so much to me, so I'm pleased we were given supplies which we could turn into a creative project.
Reading As a Child
A few of my favourite childhood books are:
Roald Dhal Charlie & The Chocolate Factory,
C.S Lewis The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe,
Roald Dhal The Magic Finger,
About Teddy Robinson,
Roald Dhal The BFG,
Roald Dhal Fantastic Mr Fox,
Ursula Moray Williams Adventures Of The Little Wooden Horse,
Norton's Nightmare
Epaminondas And His Auntie Sara Cone Bryant (My Mum would always say I was like him and didn't have the sense I was born with!)
I can vividly remember reading all of these books (and more) when I was younger, and they just bring back so many memories for me and definitely sparked off my love for reading.
What Reading Means to Me
I have written previously about why reading books is good for my mental health and how it can be a good activity to look after our own well-being. Getting lost in an author's words and forgetting about what is actually happening in daily life, gives my mind something different to focus on.
When I find a book I love, I find I want to devour it as quickly as possible to find out what happens and to see if the ending is as I thought it might be. As much as I love doing this, I am also sad, because it means I've finished, and I can no longer be lost in that world and get to know the characters.
Once I find an author whom I love or a series I have really enjoyed, I want to continue with that and keep finding out what happens to them!
Whenever life is getting too much, getting stuck into a good book can really help me switch off and forget about what is happening. It's also good to switch off from social media from time to time, be away from my phone and the stresses which that can bring with it.
My Final Thoughts About Getting Creative for World Book Day
I have really enjoyed this challenge, set by Viking as it really did make me stop and think about how to create something from the materials they sent me. Like I said at the beginning, I'm not very creative and I felt quite pressured to produce something similar to what everyone else had done.
Then I remembered that it doesn't matter what I produce, because participation is what's important here and the fact that I did anything at all without having a major melt down is something to be proud of.
Yes, my artwork may seem silly to some and like something a 5-year-old could have done, but at least I tried! To me it still represents books and my love for reading so that's what matters, it's not a direct representation of the books I love.
I loved many books as a child and I still do now so it would seem wrong somehow to just pick out one book to make a design around and anyway, doesn't World Book Day generally celebrate ALL books and encourage kids and adults alike to make time to, you know, READ?!
I think what's important here, isn't my design, but rather the homage to reading and how I still enjoy it as an adult, just as much as I did as a child. Reading and books mean so many different things to different people that it can be hard to nail down exactly what book they loved the most when they were younger or which book encouraged them to start reading more frequently.
I adore books, always have and I like to think I always will. There's something magical about being transported to another time and place by an author's words which will always make me feel good.
Love, Sarah xoxo
