Stuck in the house and looking for things to keep the children amused? Have a look at the
Barefoot Books website where you'll find some great Children's Crafts and Activities to keep them
entertained. There are animated videos, and also Podcasts which can be found by clicking on this link.
This Month's Review:
The Gift - A book to re-energise your life
By Bel Mooney (published in the Daily Mail Sunday 13th November)
Have you ever wondered if fate is waiting to send a message? It happened to me in 2004, at a
painful time of transition, when I walked into John Lewis and saw a household display
beneath a banner saying, NEW START.
I turned around, to see another proclaiming, RENEW. Yet another said, REFRESH. It was so
cheering.
It just happened again. In London the other day I went into the Air Gallery in Dover Street,
London, where there’s an exhibition of paper-cuts and screenprints by a quiet genius of an
artist called Rob Ryan (to see his work visit misterrob.co.uk).
I was feeling somewhat tired, but there on the wall in front of me was an amazing red papercut
(they have to be seen to be believed; the show is on for another week so if you’re near, do
go along) which spoke to me.
It shows a large bird and a young man surrounded by ornate foliage. And the bird is saying to
the boy, ‘Your job is to take this world apart and then put it back together again but even
better.’
Yes! said a voice in my head. Then my husband whispered, ‘That’s why you write your
column’ — and instantly the vague sense of purposeless I’ve felt since my brother’s death
disappeared. ‘Onwards!’ I thought.
I can suggest another way of sharing Rob Ryan’s vision.
He’s collaborated with the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy on a beautiful book which should
be on everybody’s Christmas list.
Called The Gift (Barefoot Books, £10.99) it’s a picture book with a universal message for
people of all ages.
It tells the story of a young girl who, on a picnic with her parents, has a strange vision which
colours her whole life.
Illustrated with Ryan’s intricate paper-cuts, The Gift is about the life journey all of us have to
make, from our youthful dreaming through maturity, creativity, family life, old age and death.
This is a joyful book which makes sense of change
Remember - FREE POSTAGE AND PACKING ON ORDERS OVER £40 until 24th December.
