Draw with your favourite authors
Whilst we all adjust to the new normal, the pandemic is proving particularly challenging for children who are isolated at home and missing both their friends and the routine of school. Two of the most celebrated children’s authors have come to the rescue with initiatives to provide a little light relief from the daily cycle of digital learning, which allow young minds to immerse themselves in the vivid worlds of their own imaginations.
J.K. Rowling recently released The Ickabog, a story she wrote many years ago for her own children and which she read to them every evening before bed, yet which remained unpublished until now.
The story is being published free online, with new chapters released every day. Not only can children enjoy a rare new story from the Harry Potter author, but they also have the chance to illustrate it. Rowling is running an illustration competition for children aged 7 to 12, asking them to submit drawings inspired by the story.
The author will be giving suggestions of what to draw as the story unfolds. Selected illustrations will be included in the hard copy of the book, to be published in November, and royalties will be donated to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Those with young children will be familiar with the books by the New York Times best selling author and illustrator Mo Willems, whose playful series Don’t Let The Pigeon… is loved by many.
To give children a break in their home school routines, Willems has been broadcasting the Lunch Doodles series live from his home studio every lunchtime, in which he teaches children the art of illustration.
The programme, which recently concluded, ran every day for three weeks in association with the Kennedy Centre. All 15 episodes (and the free to download activities that accompany them) are now available on the museum’s website. Willems has even collaborated with celebrated cellist Yo Yo Ma to create the Yo Yo Mo Show!, a bespoke playlist for little ears to listen to as they doodle.
If you are looking for further art related exercises for children, we have produced BNG Kids activity booklets for each of our current exhibitions which can be downloaded free: 2020 Bermuda Biennial, What’s Poppin’ Pop Art And Its Influence, Land & Sea: Fragile Treasures. Children can also tour the exhibitions virtually.
You can also download a scavenger hunt for the Par-La-Ville Sculpture Park in Hamilton.