Children’s Books to Inspire Your Creative Self

Inspiration and encouragement to pursue our dreams can often come from unexpected places.

You might even find some for yourself, as I have, in the beautiful books created by author and illustrator Peter H Reynolds.

If you’re a parent of young children, you’ve probably noticed that many children’s movies these days seem to be written more with the parents in mind than the children themselves.

The children’s books written and illustrated by Peter H Reynolds are a lot like that too.

Titles such as “Ish“, “So Few of Me“, “The Dot” and “The North Star” contain messages of encouragement that will resonate with those adults who read them long before the children they are read to begin to grasp their meaning.

These books, so beautifully illustrated, contain some of these simple but powerful messages:

• the importance of  individuality and of following our own path
• a reminder to not let perfectionism stifle our creativity
• encouragement to slow down, to take time out to dream

While my children are old enough to pull these books off the shelf and read them to themselves, as my son did tonight, there’s just as much chance that I’ll be the one to pull out one of these beautiful books for a bit of inspiration.

My favourite is “The North Star“, which tells of a young boy’s journey to find his own unique path despite those signs pointing him along the well-worn path travelled by many before him.

All of these books are beautiful, but I also have a special love for “Ish“, which is the very first of Peter’s books that I was lucky enough to find. As a (recovering!) perfectionist, the message contained in this book – that our creativity doesn’t need to be perfect to be worth sharing – is one that I love to read.

If you haven’t checked out Peter H Reynolds’ website before, it’s gorgeous and well worth having a look at too. You can find it here.

You could wait for the perfect gift opportunity to buy one of Peter’s books. But I won’t tell anyone if you decide to buy one just for yourself! You might just find the creative inspiration you’ve been looking for.

Brigid

I’d love to hear about the books that inspire and encourage your creativity. Share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” at the top of this post.