The "Creatrilogy" Books
The "Creatrilogy" series of books are perfect for the little artist in your life - and also share inspirational and empowering messages to any child. Better still - they are perfectly aligned with Montessori principles! The Dot, Ish and Sky Color are the perfect additions to any Montessori home or classroom library!
The books certainly meet the Montessori criteria of emphasising realism and featuring a high quality of language and artwork. But these special books also address concepts that were close to Maria Montessori's heart and mind!
The Dot, Ish and Sky Color tell tales about creativity - encouraging children to express individuality and, in true Montessori style, to focus on the “process, not the product”. This was Dr Maria Montessori’s almost prophetic way of anticipating the modern movement of the “growth mindset”. A growth mindset inspires a child to understand that intelligence and ability is not fixed, but that it can be developed. Growth mindsets promote intrinsic motivation and encourage children to find joy in the process rather than worrying about the outcome.
The Dot
The Dot is the story of a little girl who is initially nervous about participating in art class, worried that her attempts won't be good enough. To appease her teacher she makes a single simple mark on the page - just a dot - but this small step is enough to unleash a torrent of creativity that sees her creating a whole gallery full of "dots". An inspiring message that all it takes is that first little step to unlock your self-expression!
Ish
"Ish" tells the story of a child who is feeling frustrated by wanting to get things 'right', focusing too much on the product and not enjoying the process. This perspective is transformed when he discovers that his younger sister still sees the beauty in his 'rejected' artworks. When he tried to draw a vase and saw only inadequacies, she saw that it was "vase-ish" and that was more than enough for her to appreciate its value.
Ish is the ideal antidote for children who are struggling with perfectionist tendencies. It subtly encourages them to take the pressure off themselves to get everything "right" and instead to appreciate the process and to find the beauty in attempts that are just "ish".
Sky Color
In Sky Color we meet an enthusiastic artist who takes great pride not only in her own creations but in advocating for others to express themselves too. One day she finds herself facing an uncommon artistic block when her attempts to paint the sky are thwarted by a lack of blue paint. She soon realises, however, that there is no 'one size fits all' answer in art, and that creativity is not always literal and should never be limiting. She opens her eyes and mind to the realisation that the sky is, and can be, many different colours - when the sun sets, when it rains, and when she dreams and imagines! A poignant message reminding children that true artistic expression is not about 'painting by numbers' or fitting the box - it's about expression, creation and imagination!
Shout-out to Sarah, an amazing individual who started out as a "customer" and has become a wonderful friend, for alerting me to the fact the one of my favourite children's books - The Dot - was actually a part of this special series!