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Every Heart Sings
Patricia Piccinini is an award-winning artist who loves exploring the amazing connections between humans and animals. Published by the National Gallery of Australia, Every Heart Sings is her first children’s book.
“I grew up in Canberra and I first realised I wanted to be an artist when I visited the National Gallery of Australia as a teenager. I now live and work in Melbourne and, as an artist, I am interested in what it means to be alive in the present day. I hope to create a world somewhere between the one we know and one that is almost upon us, and to focus on the emotional lives of the new creatures that might emerge. I am interested in our relationships with them and with nature. I work with a studio of people to help make my work, starting with my drawings and ending up with a sculpture, or a video or even a hot air balloon. Skywhalepapa 2020 is a work that continues my relationship with the people of Canberra that began with the Skywhale in 2013. Together they form a skywhale family that will take to the air over Canberra and go on to explore the country and the world. Every Heart Sings is a project that talks about nature, family, evolution, care and wonder. They float into our lives to make us smile and think.”
“I grew up in Canberra and I first realised I wanted to be an artist when I visited the National Gallery of Australia as a teenager. I now live and work in Melbourne and, as an artist, I am interested in what it means to be alive in the present day. I hope to create a world somewhere between the one we know and one that is almost upon us, and to focus on the emotional lives of the new creatures that might emerge. I am interested in our relationships with them and with nature. I work with a studio of people to help make my work, starting with my drawings and ending up with a sculpture, or a video or even a hot air balloon. Skywhalepapa 2020 is a work that continues my relationship with the people of Canberra that began with the Skywhale in 2013. Together they form a skywhale family that will take to the air over Canberra and go on to explore the country and the world. Every Heart Sings is a project that talks about nature, family, evolution, care and wonder. They float into our lives to make us smile and think.”
32 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2020
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 12, 2022
I'm a zoologist and I think this book is an absolute treasure. Rather than being a passive exchange of information it asks kids to think and explore and develop their critical thinking skills. I loved imagining what traits skywhales might have evolved in order to live their lives in the sky. The drawings are absolutely beautiful, and the book has gorgeous thick pages and is very high quality. I think this is a really special book.
August 22, 2021
If you have never heard of a skywhale, I suggest you look them up (although you may want to do so in private). I promise they actually floated across the sky above my city!
I had no idea what to expect from this book before I opened it. I was delighted to find that the book invites the reader to consider the amazing creatures that exist on this planet and imagine how a creature of imagination, the skywhale, might have evolved here, too.
The smallest member of the household enjoyed chatting about each animal as they were revealed. Said small person was very surprised to discover that the skywhale has nipples and mammary glands. Of course, I said, how else would it feed the babies? I think the small person thought the skywhale had tentacles!
I had no idea what to expect from this book before I opened it. I was delighted to find that the book invites the reader to consider the amazing creatures that exist on this planet and imagine how a creature of imagination, the skywhale, might have evolved here, too.
The smallest member of the household enjoyed chatting about each animal as they were revealed. Said small person was very surprised to discover that the skywhale has nipples and mammary glands. Of course, I said, how else would it feed the babies? I think the small person thought the skywhale had tentacles!
January 6, 2023
This is a very short book, I think mainly aimed at children. But god damn, if I didn‘t nearly make me cry. It is written in a way of wonder only an artist can think of. Absolutely love it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews