An art book for children, titled Art is a Verb, recently won the bronze medal in the ‘Interactive Children’s Book Category’ of the IPPY Award 2020. This annual international award honours independent publishers and authors.
Published by Art1st, which aims to redefine visual art education in India, the book uses a combination of art and language based activities to engage young readers on a curious voyage of actions in art. While doing this, the book draws from the works of renowned Indian artists. The book offers a hidden activity segment on each page and propagates the joy of creating something first-hand.
Its designer Rohina Thapar says the book was created to keep in mind the experience factor a reader will have while picking it up. “Having designed a range of books in the past, I tapped into some of my past insights of editorial design, i.e. composition and typography.
But, I also successfully broke down some of my redundant ideas of what a children’s book is supposed to be,” she says, adding, “I was inspired to stretch the limits of the book’s structure and play creatively with its material. Designing this book was an absolute pleasure because I wish I could experience art and verbs like this when I was young!”For Likla, author of Art is a Verb, it was the creative energy of dance as an art form that inspired her to make this book.
“As I used to practice various dance forms, I started noticing the movement in paintings too. Usually a lot of people see the paintings as a 2D image, but there is so much going on in this art form. The book looks at the verbs that exist in a painting, and broadly takes a child on a journey in a day through art. The designer of the book, Rohina, brought it all to life through fold-outs and cut-outs and many other ideas.”