Fifi Colston is a veteran of Wellington’s annual ‘World of Wearable Art’ show and in ‘Wearable Wonders‘ she gives creative children a step by step guide to completing their own wearable art project.
I’m liking
Full of colour, beautifully laid out and very easy to follow this book gives its young readers a very well structured design process to follow in creating a wearable art project for school or at home. I love that what is being conveyed is a design process, not pre-designed projects to replicate. Readers are encouraged to look around themselves for inspiration and to use inexpensive materials to bring their ideas to life. Any 8 to 14 year old who used this book to kick start a project would likely come away with more than just the usual joys of creative pursuits. Processes such as idea generation, model making and setting a realistic time frame for completion are all explored in a fun and accessible way, and any grown-up in a creative industry will tell you these disciplines have to be learnt somewhere along the line! Photos and illustrations provide plenty of inspiration and I certainly had moments reading this where I was very tempted to get started on a project of my own.
The conclusion
Overall a great resource I would highly recommend for creative 8 to 14 year olds, especially those with promising artistic talent, their parents and teachers. Real art and design skills are taught in this fun and accessible volume.
Published by Scholastic, Wearable Wonders retails for around $20.
