one hundred

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

Loris Malaguzzi
(translated by Lella Gandini)
img. a book cover by beatrice alemagna

( from here, today )

© dora b.

( from here, tonight )

© dora b.

fabia's simphony

( bird mates. so glad for it : )

 More fabia schnoor, aqui.

um mercadinho de inverno especial

R. da imprensa, nº 20 - Alfragide  - tel: 214713228

gigantesco invisível

Livro enorme para dizer o que as palavras custam a definir.

Por isso o tamanho, por isso as magníficas imagens de Beatrice Alemagna (o texto é seu também). Apetece abraçá-lo porque a escala de alguns personagens é próxima e torna realista a ilusão tangível de intimidade. Esta proposta, torna-nos  cumplices de um segredo de que ainda não sabemos a resposta e que cada página desdobra em enigmas. Lá para o fim, andaremos perto mas já nos esquecemos de "ganhar" o troféu da adivinha adivinhada: estamos, isso sim, embalados poeticamente, em sintonia mais análoga à atmosfera que a música consegue.

As afinidades de tom deste A Gigantesca Pequena Coisa rimam profundamente com  Depois do Natal, da mesma autora, e que não consigo deixar de lembrar aqui (e agora). Quase impossível dizer melhor a nostalgia fina dessa "estação" vizinha.  
Felicidade é termos estes dois livros editados em Portugal. Excelente o catálogo que a Bag-of-Books está a construir.

cerejas PT

A imagem da presença portuguesa como pais convidado da próxima Feira do Livro Infantil de Bolonha acabou de nascer no atelier silvadesigners: como - também de comer - as  cerejas. ( And, yes, we like this cherries ).

winter fairy

Curtis Moffat (1887-1949), 'Dragonfly', about 1930.

picture book manifesto - USA

We are tired of hearing the picture book is in trouble, and tired of pretending it is not. And so:

WE BELIEVE

- Imitation, laziness, and timidity are poisoning a great art form.

- A picture book should be fresh, honest, piquant, and beautiful.
- Children's books merit grown-up conversation.

- Grown-up conversation doesn't mean asking kids to leave the room.
- We write for children, adults who read with children, and adults who simply enjoy children's books—in that order.
- We should know our history.
- We must cease writing the same book again and again.
- We need a more robust criticism to keep us original.
- The line between author and illustrator is irrelevant. - The line between moral and meaning is paramount.
- It is right that anything a child sees, feels, or thinks be our grist.
- Picture books are a form, not a genre.
- Good design fosters good reading.
- Picture books look best when their covers face outward.
- The tidy ending is often dishonest.
- Even books meant to put kids to sleep should give them strange dreams.

WE CONDEMN
- The term "kid-friendly."
- Convention as crutch.
- Glossy paper as default.
- The amnesiacs who treasure unruly classics while praising the bland today.

WE PROCLAIM
 - Every day we make new children—let us also make new children’s books.

Signed: Mac Barnett, Brian Biggs, Sophie Blackall, Lisa Brown, Kevin Cornell, Carson Ellis, Isol, Laurie Keller, Jon Klassen, Matthew Myers, Tao Nyeu, Sean Qualls, Aaron Renier, Adam Rex, Christian Robinson, Dan Santat, Jon Scieszka, Erin E. Stead, Philip C. Stead, Lemony Snicket, Scott Teplin, Maria van Lieshout.

link: www.thepicturebook.co

via: http://www.facebook.com/thepicturebook

ps. c'est vrai ; )

... da bela dupla de moi j'attends.

she waits....

" Woman is the Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, she who receives and submits. In song and story the young man is seen departing adventurously in search of a woman; he slays the dragon, he battles giants; she is locked in a tower, a palace, a garden, a cave, she is chained to a rock, a captive, sound asleep: she waits."                

simone de beauvoir, the second sex.

img. carll cneut

a criança e as artes

Curso de Mestrado na Escola Superior de Educadores de Infância Maria Ulrich: inscrições abertas.

de composição de outono ( lisboa )

life... underwater

"The epic transition that this delicate creature undergoes gives hope as it expends energy on a huge scale to make it happen. Imagine if you would, the whole of your life changing to such an extreme where you are unrecognizable at the end of the transformation offers great hope to me.
Exploring these themes through the introduction of water; acting as both nurturer and destroyer, it has the power to cleanse and reinvent, or to drown and disappear. Believing that drawing on water’s transient and destructive nature exposes the fragility of life, and the temporary nature of our existence.
This series for me acts as a reflection on life and mortality; it is fleeting, beautiful and ultimately tragic."

"In his most recent series, ‘Vanitas’, Alexander James re-visits the works of the 17th century Dutch Masters. Using period props, food and real insects, he captures carefully staged underwater scenes 'in-camera' without the use of post production, either traditional or digital. Working with subtle distortions of light & movement from the waters own wave energy to create a unique and painterly effect. The subjects appear as if to be floating in a black space that neither interferes nor disrupts the subject matter, the collaboration within this void offering a serene and dreamlike sensation."

Impressionante o trabalho deste fotografo inglês. Ver mais e melhor, aqui.

publicamente, os livros infantis

como matéria de afectos, relações, projecto artístico e objecto de estudo.
Isso tudo, estes livros.

in revista do jornal Público de 2/10/2011.

ilustração por todo o lado

Só restam duas vagas para o workshop de fim-de-semana (1 e 2 Outubro) com a Ana Ventura. Todas as informações, aqui.

delicious !

 by chantelle grady

to be 1

( to my so dear and lovely baby girl, happy birthday....♥♥♥ !!!! )

pós-graduação em livro infantil - 4ª edição

Estão abertas as inscrições 2011-2012 para o Curso de Pós-Graduação em Livro Infantil da Universidade Católica. O folheto do curso pode ser consultado aqui.

padrões de infância

Kelly English (via) é a designer americana que recriou os motivos acima. Pertenciam ao seu mundo infantil e foi de memória que evocou cortinas, papel de parede, tecidos de roupas. Para além do impacto estético, é talvez este o dado interessante que nos faz imediatamente viajar ao nosso passado gráfico.

"In an attempt to identify some historical moments of my own design development, I decided to do a project where I recreated some influential textile patterns from my childhood environment. Since these are all developed from memory, I have no doubt they're not very accurate. But it's been exciting to revisit some of these visual memories and notice how they've impacted my current sensibilities. This is a project I hope to continue and expand upon".