Tag Archives: Nina Chakrabarti

Double Giveaway! Creative Gifting: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Gift Guide

by Julie Posted on December 11, 2012

If you’ve read any of my posts then you’re familiar with my obsession with giving children gifts that promote creativity and learning.  Books are an obvious choice, I know.  But these aren’t just any old books.  Laurence King Ltd., a British publisher distributed in the U.S. by the  beloved Chronicle Books brings us some modern, interactive titles and more to fuel your child’s imagination, rocket-style!

Here are my picks for the kids in your life:

1. Magic and Fairy-tale Dice -  These give new meaning to the term “conversation starter”.  Simply roll the beautifully crafted wooden dice and include your resulting image in a story.  At $14.95 these are great for the classroom or home and fun for all ages – I quite enjoy them myself!  The whimsical images include an array of creatively classic storytelling components, including a frog, witch, phoenix, shamrock, and you-know-who’s little red cape.   The most magical thing about these magic dice is the way they get the gears in motion, my girls are so excited to add on to the story and love the challenge of including the random element determined by their rolls!

2. & 3. Let’s Make Some Great Placemat Art and Let’s Make Some Great Fingerprint Art by award winning illustrator Marion Deuchars are interactive workbooks designed in such a way that the child is practically collaborating with the author on some pages and being guided by her on others.  In the tradition of her Let’s Make Some Great Art (a personal favorite), these activity books provoke your child’s imagination.  Great springboards in the placemat book include inventing one’s own pasta shape and imagining what some illustrated people and birds might be dreaming about, at only $12.95 and 72 pages, this book is both affordable and will provide hours of inspiration.  Also, inspirational, the fingerprint book is exactly what you’d imagine, and then some!  Be sure to wrap a stamp pad or two with this one, as your recipient will use her own fingertips and hands to create a plethora of creatures and critters.  At $14.95 for a whopping 128 pages this is a winner for elementary kids and up!

4. My Wonderful World of Shoes by Nina Chakrabarti rides on the heels (pun fully intended) of My Wonderful World of Fashion and My Even More Wonderful World of Fashion, which I gave to my daughter last year and she still enjoys.  Inspire your future designer with styles from vintage to couture to color, embellish, and make their own!  $15.95 is a small price to pay for 144 pages of high fashion and more!  For an adorable sample of Chakrabarti’s adorably detailed footwear, check out this cute little video!

 WIN!

Enter to win one of two awesome prizes generously provided by Laurence King Publishing Ltd.!  They are giving one Takes a Village reader a set of Magic and Fairy-tale Dice and another reader will receive a My Wonderful World of Shoes activity book!

Plenty of ways to enter are below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Huge thanks to Laurence King Publishing Ltd. for providing terrific review materials!
Posted in Book Review, Creativity, Development, Education, Gift Giving, Gift Idea, Giveaway, Holidays, School, Toys, Villagers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Giveaway: Set of 3 Art and Fashion Activity Books! Let the Creative Sparks Fly!

by Julie Posted on December 16, 2011

I’ve encountered a case of writer’s block every so often.  It is no fun, I tell you.  Sometimes we all need little springboard for our thoughts, our creativity.  Although this is much less of a problem for the extraordinarily active minds of children, it is nice to add a little spark to their flaming furies of imagination.

When I see that one of my daughters has developed a new interest, I must immediately fuel that fire and watch it grow.  My girls have always had their own style (for better or for worse on some days!) and started choosing their own outfits at a very young age.  So, it didn’t surprise me when my eldest recently told me she wants to be a “fashion lady” when she grows up and my younger daughter has been proclaiming herself an artist for months.

Laurence King Publishing has produced the perfect igniters for both of their passions!  For my little Vivienne Westwood, I present My Even More Wonderful World of Fashion, by Nina Chakrabarti.  Obviously a follow-up to her first successful title, this awesome activity book provides my little stylist with tons of extraordinary starting points for fashion design and more!  At 240 pages, there are hours of fun projects, such as drawing a headdress for Cleopatra, inventing patterns for various articles of clothing, and tons more!

Creator/ illustrator, Chakrabarti, also includes clever ideas for outside these pages.  She suggests embellishing a coin purse with trinkets in the custom of designer Judy Blame or turning “ordinary curtain tassels into a splendiferous belt”!  With illustrations ranging from minimalist to extremely detailed this grand starting point is both influential and inspirational.  Although this book is aimed at age 8, my six year old has been having a blast designing and coloring these pages.

Chakrabarti, whose clients include both French Connection and Vogue has not left the education out of this title.  I love that she has referenced cultural, historical, and iconic references.  Your child can design a hat inspired by Princess Leia’s hair, color a spread featuring all that was hip in the 1960′s, and be mesmerized by the intricacies of bridal dress in Djibouti, Africa, all at the turn of a page!  Talk about multi-tasking!   For easily shared inspirations, there is also a mini-version of 30 detachable postcards featuring her illustrations!

Now, for my little Louise Bourgeois, Laurence King has also published Marion Deuchars‘ Let’s Make Some Great Art.  Deuchars created this masterpiece of an activity book to keep her own five and six year old sons stimulated sans computer.   My daughter is younger (almost 4) but the beauty of this book is not lost her.  She enjoys learning about the different styles of the featured artists, including Paul Klee (his line drawings are a favorite!) and Rene’ Magritte.  I say it’s never too early for art!

Deuchars is not surprisingly, an award winning illustrator. Her sketches are fun and enticing, leaving my girl motivated and curious.  Super fun activities include fingerprint and handprint animals, making a cubist portrait via collage, drawing with an eraser, and a myriad more!

I sincerely thank both illustrators for helping my daughters to think outside the box (both the metaphorical one and the one with a screen).  They both have chosen these activities over the television on multiple occasions!  All books are available for purchase on Laurence King Publishing’s website.

WIN

Laurence King Publishing is kindly offering two lucky readers a  set of these three incredible activity books: Let’s Make Some Great Art, My Even More Wonderful World of Fashion (Book plus Postcard Book), valued at close to $50.00!  

Just comment below with which artist or fashion designer you’d most like to see influence your child’s art!

EXTRA ENTRIES: Please leave a comment below for every extra entry you complete.

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Contest ends December 30, 2011 at Midnight PST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and emailed.  US only please.

Special thanks to Laurence King Publishing for providing advance copies  for review purposes.

Posted in Book Review, Gift Idea, Giveaway, Villagers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments