It’s always exciting to receive new books in the library, especially in these times of tight budgets, and the latest clutch of acquisitions is no exception. Even better, we got to preview them before ordering instead of selecting from a catalogue, thanks to education officer, Kath Daniel, of Education & Program Development, who arranged a visit from Mary Fetterplace of The Book Garden
All the books are about the process of art and creative expression in early childhood, but the standouts are the ones from the Reggio Emilia in Italy. Even the titles are interesting: ‘Dialogues with places’; ‘Children, spaces, relations: metaproject for an environment for young children’; ‘Making learning visible: children as individual and group learners’ ; ‘The hundred languages of children’. Not only beautiful, the books are practical. I asked graphic designer, Kate Lamerton who is the online producer of the wonderful Powerhouse Museum children’s website what she thought.
According to Kate, these publications articulate exactly the philosophy that is being worked towards on the PHM children’s website – to inspire and suggest without being prescriptive; to encourage both creative expression and an awareness of the aesthetic of art.
The books are currently being catalogued and will soon be available for loan to staff and to other libraries on Inter Library Loan through the Libraries Australia Document Delivery Service, For further details contact the Research Library’s Inter Library Loans expert Dimity Holt dimityh@phm.gov.au
For more about the Reggio Emilia foundation/philosophy of early childhood education read on