As the leaves start to turn, and already begin to fall, it seems timely to do a brief review of a book which I purchased following my post on Beach Art. Written by Richard Shilling and Julia Brooklyn, it is devoted to the kind of Land Art which you can do in the woods – not only in Autumn, but at any time of year. However in the Autumn, the art materials provided by trees are of course especially inspiring, both in terms of the variety of colour and the fruits that are available.
This is a small, but inspirational book which is suitable for children to read themselves since it is quite short and the language used is not too difficult. It explains simply how to make a range of land art projects around woods and trees, with suggestions for more, as well as relevant snippets of information about trees, wildlife and the seasons, all of which help to make the activity more of a complete learning experience. It would make a lovely and unusual gift for a creative child who also enjoys spending time outdoors.
You won’t find this book in the shops, since it is effectively self-published using Blurb, the online publishing tool. It has been designed to help promote land art for kids, rather than actually make any money, and therefore only makes a small profit. This means that is available at the very reasonable price of just £7.50. The other book in what is eventually intended to be a series, is ‘On the Beach’. If you want to take a look, you can see them here.
And if you want to see more land art of this kind, or get further inspiration, both the Land Art for Kids Flickr Group and the Land Art for Kids website are well worth a visit.
All images courtesy of Richard Shilling.