Dub Leffler shares a secret story in the making!

We think Dub Leffler is one of Australia's most inspired writer/illustrator/artists. A BIG claim indeed! When the wonderful team at Magabala books (the oldest independent Indigenous publishing house in Australia and most remote in the world!) sent us the early release of his book Once There Was a Boy, it was love at first sight. Tha Thump. When senior editor Luca (now age 9!) took it into his class the next day it received rave reviews with his teacher saying it was the best book she had read 'forever'. When Lilly read it to Twyla (age 3) after meeting Dub at the launch in Sydney, her response was  'Hey mum they have different colours on them and they love each other".  It is a book of great beauty and sensitivity and an unforgettable story of love so much needed in the world. Dub was one of thirteen children and is descended from the Bigambul and Mandandanji people of south-west Queensland. After receiving accolades from near and far including the Bologna book fair Dub is busy working on a new book and most wonderfully he contributed an original and responsive version of his secret work in process for the Treasure pages. Shhhhh....

The Magician and the Magical Fish 

The only Photograph of Hans Fanta in existence! by Dub Leffler   

Once, while floating,

Looking down into the sea …

I saw,

Sitting on the sea bed,

A Magical man with a strange hat on his head …

Smiling up at me …

He held in his hands a gold, sparkling fish …

And painted on its scales …

A Treasure Map …

OH! Then SWISHHH!!

Went the fish and shed all its scales,

And the Magical man let go of its tail!

Darting away, did the fish followed by that

Mystical enchanter …

His name,

The Magician,

Hans …

Hans Fanta.

Creative Ideas for Contributing to Game On! EDITION 3

The BIG Treasure Maps edition is flying all over the world and now it is time to send in your ideas and artwork for the next (THIRD!) issue of BIG Kids Magazine - Game On! 

This is what's inside my brain when I play
Aimee, age 4, Brisbane

We want to make contributing to BIG Kids Magazine as easy as possible.  Here are the first of some BIG ideas for supporting your kids to understand the process of responding to the theme of Game On! and helping them enter into an open ended creative process in which they are also guided by simple parameters. Feel free to collaborate with them or create your own work Side by Side. 

- What is your favourite game of all time? Close your eyes and imagine playing the game. Imagine winning. Imagine losing. Draw the inside of your brain or heart when you are winning and/or when you are losing.

- Create a brand new game character that no one else has thought of. Does it have a name? What invented game is it from? 

 - Draw/paint/collage/dance/write your response to a character from a game you love - the Horse, Castle or Queen from Chess, a snake from Snakes and Ladders, the 'Chance' man from Monopoly...

- Close your eyes and draw shapes and lines all over a page. Open your eyes and make up the rules of the game you have just drawn. 

- Think of something you would like to learn. Make up a game that would help you learn it. 

- Write a story about the scariest, funniest or cleverest game ever invented. 

The GAME ON! Edition - Play every page

Submissions due by JUNE 1st
If you are an artist or child who wants to register for the Child Artist Response Project (CARP) send and email to submit@bigkidsmagazine.com with CARP in the subject line

BIG voice of an emerging artist: Emma Fishwick

We are so pleased to have Emma join us via JUMP, the National Mentoring Program for Young and Emerging Artists. I will be working with Emma on the development of her own work as choreographer and visual artist and she will also enjoy an inside role with BIG this year. We have invited her to contribute a couple of key blog posts to mark her journey with us and we hope you enjoy her adventures as an emerging artist in the world!   

Puzzle necklace designed by Emma for her if.ab project

Hello Big and Little Kids,

My name is Emma Fishwick, I'm an emerging Perth artist with a creative practice incorporating dance, visual arts, design and the written word. I'm very fortunate to be currently under the guidance of the wonderful Jo Pollitt as part of my JUMP mentorship. JUMP is a program run by Propel Youth Arts Organisation and the Australian Arts Council to enable emerging artists to form a relationship with a professional artist of their choice. Jo and Lilly have generously opened the doors of Big Kids to me and my work, now I hope to give back by joining in on some of the aspects of their BIG world. 

In April Propel is running KickstART Youth Festival as part of the National Youth Week. This Saturday the flagship event of the festival is the KickstART Youth Markets to feature, celebrate and inspire the young people of Western Australia. I will be showcasing my design label if.ab PROJECT and featuring BIG Kids Magazine at the Markets held from 11am-5pm in the Perth Cultural Centre Northbridge (directly opposite PICA). Come down to support some amazing young artists and designers and even try your hand at completing a cover of BIG Kids Magazine! 

xx

Emma 

Pencil rings designed by Emma for her  if.ab project

Pencil enclose designed by Emma for her if.ab project

Free Artist Print and a BIG response

 "Someone was painting a map and I fell in it" Luca, age 8 

A feature of the BIG magazine is the free artist print in every edition. For the First Flight edition we received a wonderful response to the work by Madeleine Stamer.  For Treasure Maps edition we experimented with a co-authored print. I sent a written score for an 'owl who swallowed a map with a cross for her heart' to Lilly and she responded with the artwork below. I titled it "Cross My Heart (and hope to fly)" and Twyla, age 3 finally responded by collaging the treasure to create a new map.

SUBSCRIBE here now to receive your free artist print AND be in the running to win one of the very beautiful mini maximus posters featuring the First Flight "Falling Icebergs" Owl  print by Lilly Blue.

 Artist print in the Treasure Maps edition of BIG kids Magazine
"Cross My Heart (and hope to fly)"

Star crossed pathways to treasure mapped sky

                                                I'm looking for children to teach me to fly. 

Twyla (age 3) collages draft Treasure pages into a new map.

A 4-way collaboration: Lilly, Jo, Twyla and Luca - The BIG Owl Family xx

Side by Side: Father and Son: Wandermonster

The creative projects we come across in our BIG reach out around the world are quite something. Rob Kimmel is a designer and dad to 8yr old Ben. For years he has been sending a yellow sticky note in Ben's school lunch box with a provocation his son completes each day to surprising end!

We are thrilled to present this truly responsive work and introduce you to Rob's Wandermonster blog which features their daily before and after micro-artworks. In the BIG pages there is the opportunity to complete your own sticky art notes and this page was one of the first senior editor Luca and his brother took their pens to with much hilarity and great discussion.

The Lunch Posts on Wandermonster from rob ben on Vimeo.

BIG Kids Magazine Page 23: Wandermonster

Send one in your child's lunch box today with a little pencil attached with blutack for instant schoolyard responses!

Treasure Maps Revealed! The Second BIG Edition.

We are so excited to release the 2nd edition of BIG Kids Magazine - Treasure Maps. We have worked beyond what either of us thought possible and are thrilled to finally present these amazing contributions and creative projects mapped by artists and children around the world.  Our cover artists are the incredible Jacqui Stockdale, and the equally surprising and inspired young Makaela, aged 8. Together we think they have produced a cover that tells of stories, dreams and histories both real and imagined. 

BIG stands for Bravery, Imagination, Generosity and is for kids and BIG kids everywhere.  You can subscribe or purchase online here now or visit our stockists next week. Please share the link with your friends and let us know when you find the Treasure! We very much want this new publication to be scribbled on and marked in myriad ways by BIG and little hands alike.

Complete your own cover page! 

We very much look forward to your response and thank you so much for your support of this dream to connect the visions, responses, provocations and celebrations of children and artists side by side. 

xx Jo and Lilly, Luca and the BIG team

The BIG Treasure is here!

Treasure will be found in post boxes around the world this week!  It was a very BIG day with all hands on deck in Perth to pack the hundreds of Treasure Maps. Thank you to our new intern, JUMP mentee Emma Fishwick, the wonderful Cath Stewart, and our little BIG girls Twyla and Nadia for making it such a great experience.

Our First Flight edition sold out in less than 3months! To be in the next mailout this week, subscribe or purchase your copy here.

The BIG girls: Jo and Nadia, Lilly and Twyla

Jo, Emma and Lilly

All hands on deck

 

Sending out the Treasure. Hundreds of Australian addresses in the car, some of the internationals in hand :)

Let us know when the Treasure lands with you!

Sandy Savas Ocean Maps

Almost every day we receive the most beautiful responses to BIG prompts and provocations from children and artists all over the world. Some time ago art teacher Sandy Savas, from a small town in California, sent in a response by her students to our very own Grumpilina and Grumpilotta. More recently her students responded to our Treasure Call with these gorgeous ocean maps sent all the way from the other side of the Pacific ocean. 

We would so love to be able to print every contribution in the BIG pages and we spend many late nights finding ways to expand space so that more of the beautiful work we receive will fit. You will find these underwater worlds hidden in the next issue of BIG Kids Magazine but they are far smaller than the oceans they map. 

Subscribe here to locate these watery works in the soon to be released Treasure Maps pages.

My treasure is flowers. They are really pretty. I had to go through buildings and I rode the hawk and go through a path of stars and then I went down and crossed the street. The truck waited for me. Then I stepped over a puppy and then I was at the flowers. It made me happy they are so beautiful. I love my treasure.

Zara , age 5

Luca, age 7

I am searching for a candy tree because I crave sweets. Sweets are delicious. I often find myself wanting more. I had to cross flames from a burning house that caught so long ago but because the fire was so big, it never burns out. Then I climbed over big rock and got a  few cuts but they were just little and I’m ok. I had to cross water next where I nearly drowned because the water was so deep but a dolphin came and saved me. Then I had to climb through thorns and got cut again. The cactus has little thorns .It was stuck in my hand. I ran into a pile of snakes they didn’t scare me, past red ants and electric eels, thru a cave, past medusa and finally found my candy tree. I had a good journey, lots of dangers but I’m ok. When I finally reached my treasure candy tree I was happy.

Hadley, age 7

Halleluja, age 6

My treasure is a diamond because I have a crystal collection, but I don’t have a diamond. I love crystals-they make me feel good. If I find my treasure, a  diamond, I’ll add it to my crystal collection. I had to cross a desert and some islands to find my treasure. I started my journey by crossing the ocean. I saw a giant squid. When I got to the island it was so blank it only had rocks and cactus. I was really hot eventually, I had to find fresh water to drink. That island was really long, I traveled the whole thing and I got loads of cactus thorns on me-they didn’t hurt. Then I traveled to the next island. There were rocks and cactus  and this island had a palm tree. I saw a coyote on this island. Then I crossed to the next island and it was kind of shaped like a snake and all it had on it was a cactus so I went to the next island where I found my treasure. I found a diamond. It made me feel really good because I’ve always wanted a diamond.

Luca, age 7

Oceana, age 7

Ruby is searching for a rainbow because she wants to climb it. She wants to get to the other side to find her treasure. She is searching for art. She loves art., her terrain is the ocean. She passes by dolphins, a treasure chest, pearls and fish on her journey to her treasure. I love the ocean.

Ruby, age 7

My treasure is a mermaid because I like them and they make me feel really happy. I had a journey to find my mermaid. I had to go through coral, it was so pretty. The school of silver fish were pretty. And the electric eels were gorgeous but they were dangerous. I went through a cave that was really dark but I liked it because there were pretty and nice animals in it, one was a fish dog and a cat fish. Then I saw a clown fish it was really pretty too. Then I saw the mermaid I was looking for. It made me feel really great because I love mermaids. They are really pretty.

Triana, age 5