Laura’s World And An Invitation To Create Your Own

Myra here.

I have been meaning to find this picturebook ever since I saw it being shared by fellow bibliophiles and book bloggers. While not yet available in our public library, it is now in my institution’s library, upon my behest.

A World Of Your Own

Written and Illustrated by Laura Carlin
Published by Phaidon Press (2014)
ISBN: 0714863629 (ISBN13: 9780714863627) Borrowed from the NIE Library. Book photos taken by me.

This book is a tribute to a child’s imagination, an invitation for readers to create a world with the solidity of actual foundations, but with a structure that is sprinkled with stars and make-believe. Think of an entire space that sells shoes for superheroes, for one…

… or factories whose physical shape resemble whatever it is they are producing:

It is evident that Laura Carlin had a lot of fun creating this picturebook that has an interactive quality to it. I would have to say, though that my favourite place in her entire neighbourhood would have to be the public library – since one will come out with not just books “but also toys, hair styles, and even voices!” How cool is that.

What I especially enjoyed was looking closely at the illustrations and finding so many visual puns within the page, such as an ape wearing a tutu, 131 kittens, or transportation made in the shape of your favourite animal. Nothing is too fantastical, yet everything seemed credible – like the notion of one fashioning a world out of clay. I also found her art very appealing, its deceptively-childlike strokes I felt, would resonate with young readers who undoubtedly would be very eager to start crafting a world of their own after reading this book.