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It's Not Always Black and White
- GenresNonfiction
172 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Kate Knapp
21 books25 followersHi, and thanks for stopping by my Goodreads page! I don't visit this site often, so the best way to reach me is via my websites at www.rubyredshoes.com.au and www.twigseeds.com or on instagram and facebook where I'm @missrubyredshoes and @twigseeds
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Kate Knapp is an Australian author and illustrator.
Her studio, Twigseeds, has given flight to a world of colourful characters, including the charming and much loved aware hare and children's book character, Ruby Red Shoes.
Ruby lives in a prettily painted caravan with her grandmother, Babushka Galina Galushka. Ruby is gentle and kind and cares for all living things. Her days are spent tending to her vegetable patch, chatting to her chickens and enjoying the outdoors and sunshine. Ruby is particularly partial to strawberry jam and peppermint tea. She is also rather fond of red shoes.
The Twigseeds band of furry and feathery friends have grown a following of both children and grown-ups alike. They have appeared in books, magazines, art prints, greeting cards, stationery, plush toys and bed linen.
Kate creates all her artwork by hand, using pencil, ink, watercolour ... and a bit of magic.
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Kate Knapp is an Australian author and illustrator.
Her studio, Twigseeds, has given flight to a world of colourful characters, including the charming and much loved aware hare and children's book character, Ruby Red Shoes.
Ruby lives in a prettily painted caravan with her grandmother, Babushka Galina Galushka. Ruby is gentle and kind and cares for all living things. Her days are spent tending to her vegetable patch, chatting to her chickens and enjoying the outdoors and sunshine. Ruby is particularly partial to strawberry jam and peppermint tea. She is also rather fond of red shoes.
The Twigseeds band of furry and feathery friends have grown a following of both children and grown-ups alike. They have appeared in books, magazines, art prints, greeting cards, stationery, plush toys and bed linen.
Kate creates all her artwork by hand, using pencil, ink, watercolour ... and a bit of magic.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 26, 2022
a simple book, yet filled with beauty. I was gifted this to remind me of the simpler things in life. Reminding that the grey areas are filled with colour too.. just depends how we react to it.
April 3, 2024
It's Not Always Black and White is a book of illustrations written and illustrated by Kate Knapp. The art features line work of birds and elements of nature (like flowers, trees, etc). Along with the illustrations are short texts, such as small amounts of dialogue or poems.
My first thought about the book is that I think the illustrations are nice. They’re very simplistic and are line work illustrations. Admittedly, sometimes it feels like they’re not as polished as they could be. But I think that’s an interesting aspect of the author’s style; to give it a very basic and personal touch. I feel like the artist is able to get the message across reasonably well in each drawing. If you are considering purchasing this book, I recommend seeing if you can check out a view of the sample pages on the author’s website (or other portions of the author’s work on their website), to see whether you enjoy the look of the book, prior to buying it. The illustrations are generally on one page, but sometimes have two pages if it’s a little bit of a story or have multiple elements to it.
The themes of the book have a lot to do with emotions, such as fears, worries, anxiety mental health and similar type things. A commonly used term in the book is “expectations” and the characters are often mentioning that other birds have high expectations of them, and stuff like that. While not all of these illustrations will appeal to everyone, there’s definitely a few in there that you may be able to relate to. For me, I felt like there were a reasonable number of pages that made me smile. And the author had some very whimsical moments for their characters, using a lot of imagination to create some fun scenes.
I think the printing of the book was generally really well done, and a lot of it was nicely designed. Holding it in my hands, it feels like really good quality work by the printers and book binders (sorry if that sounds weird to say). I loved the end sheets of the book; they are primarily black, with a white pattern of the birds and plant matter. It’s absolutely beautiful. Though, one consideration I had about the printing of the book is that I would have liked there to be page numbers; to make it easier to return to the illustrations I wanted to look at again.
Overall, I think it’s a nice book. I like that the author is able to capture little moments in the lives of these birds. And I think there are definitely lines of the text that a lot of people can relate to. I paid $3AUD for a second hand copy of the book, which I think was well worth it for me.
My first thought about the book is that I think the illustrations are nice. They’re very simplistic and are line work illustrations. Admittedly, sometimes it feels like they’re not as polished as they could be. But I think that’s an interesting aspect of the author’s style; to give it a very basic and personal touch. I feel like the artist is able to get the message across reasonably well in each drawing. If you are considering purchasing this book, I recommend seeing if you can check out a view of the sample pages on the author’s website (or other portions of the author’s work on their website), to see whether you enjoy the look of the book, prior to buying it. The illustrations are generally on one page, but sometimes have two pages if it’s a little bit of a story or have multiple elements to it.
The themes of the book have a lot to do with emotions, such as fears, worries, anxiety mental health and similar type things. A commonly used term in the book is “expectations” and the characters are often mentioning that other birds have high expectations of them, and stuff like that. While not all of these illustrations will appeal to everyone, there’s definitely a few in there that you may be able to relate to. For me, I felt like there were a reasonable number of pages that made me smile. And the author had some very whimsical moments for their characters, using a lot of imagination to create some fun scenes.
I think the printing of the book was generally really well done, and a lot of it was nicely designed. Holding it in my hands, it feels like really good quality work by the printers and book binders (sorry if that sounds weird to say). I loved the end sheets of the book; they are primarily black, with a white pattern of the birds and plant matter. It’s absolutely beautiful. Though, one consideration I had about the printing of the book is that I would have liked there to be page numbers; to make it easier to return to the illustrations I wanted to look at again.
Overall, I think it’s a nice book. I like that the author is able to capture little moments in the lives of these birds. And I think there are definitely lines of the text that a lot of people can relate to. I paid $3AUD for a second hand copy of the book, which I think was well worth it for me.
November 22, 2023
Such a cute book! My friend Sage picked it up at a garage sale and we’ve both fallen in love with it. The last day of our exams all of us sat in a circle and opened up parts of the book and read it aloud.
January 30, 2023
Short, simple, and sweet.
September 30, 2023
Cute and quirky, loved it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2016
Such a beautiful book, both physically and content-wise. So wonderful and simple and utterly charming.
September 27, 2014
A most utterly charming and delightful book that spoke to me, as I feel now. My inner being was taken on a ride.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews