One of the greatest gifts that Dav Pilkey have provided to readers is creativity. The latest entry in his famous creative arts series delivers on the promise of exploring what it takes to be an influencer. For as much as Pilkey embraces the nature of being silly, he's also an expert at understanding how to speak to young readers who maybe need advice on how to make art. While the initial idea can be exciting, the effort to have it reach its full potential is more difficult. His characters make the workshop process feel effortless as he makes even the painful idea of criticism palpable.
In this entry, he explores how to share your work with a larger audience. While it's far from the viral content creator nature many are thinking of, it's still a source of pride for characters to have others see their work. It's about recognizing what inspires one to create art in the first place. Pilkey even shares where he got his ideas from throughout the text. The results are playfully antagonistic and capture something recognizable to children whose stakes are much lower than bestsellers. Even then, he manages to keep the dream feel palpable that maybe, just maybe, with a little effort they too can have something meaningful to share with the world.
By now readers of Cat Kid and the various offshoots will know whether this series is for them. For those who have enjoyed the previous books, this is more of the same. If anything, the collection creates a perfect starter kit for those wanting to inspire their kids to follow their own voices and create something that is strange and, more specifically, personal to them. It doesn't have to be the most emotional piece of art imaginable, but it has to bring some joy to their lives. Academic prose may do a better job of capturing the process, but nobody is inspiring people to read and write quite like Pilkey. His execution may seem peculiar to those without a sense of humor but, for everyone else, it's kind of brilliant.
No comments:
Post a Comment