Kids' Work Counts

Special events plus The Making of The Color Wizard for subscribers.

"To young children, of course, nature is full of doors — is nothing but doors, really — and they swing open at every step. A hollow in a tree is the gateway to a castle; a bird's nest the portal to an underworld. To young children, "landscape" is not backdrop or wallpaper, it is a medium, teeming with opportunity and affordances, volatile in its textures. Time to them is fluid and loopy, not made of increment and interval; time can flow slow enough that the green moss in the leg of a tree can be explored for an age. What we bloodlessly call "place" can be to young children a wild compound of dream, spell and substance: place is always somewhere they are 'in', never only 'on!"

—Robert MacFarlane (from 'Childish', the last chapter of Landmarks; prompted by a morning spent in a wood with a 6 year old)

A cameo on a TV Show

This was really fun. I got to meet Taviss, a supercurious kid in a forest in the middle of the city and we made some ink together. All the episodes are great.

A Book!

Okay the most exciting announcement is that my kids book is hitting shelves on September 10! I really want you to see it, buy it for your friends with kids or demand that your local library carry it because I love it and because I think we need a new generation of optimistic kids who learn and grow through mess, experimentation, and hands-on relationships with things at their feet. In celebration, I have some exciting demonstration workshop all ages events coming up!

Some events to celebrate the book

The first one is just a short ride up the Hudson River from Manhattan at Storm King Art Center which could not be a better location for wizardry and its free for kids! Next Sunday. Don’t you want to bring kids and adventure into the unknown with me while celebrating How To Be A Color Wizard? Details below or on their website/

And then I am in Brooklyn September 28th from 10am to 4pm its an all ages demonstration also free. See here

Also The Smithsonian is hosting a workshop for Kids and for adults in Washington DC on the 29 September

Below are the two workshops for Sunday at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Have a look here for more information.

In Toronto I will celebrating with a few events which I am still sorting out please bear with me. One of them will be part of Canadian Library Week at a library that has a sensory room. More details on this and other events soon.

Behind the Scenes

“One of the most important messages you can tell young people is that their work is legitimate - that it counts…