Skip to main content

Adorable new book: Where am I from?


When I first heard about this new book by Elisavet Arkolaki, it immediately intrigued me, as the title reminded me about one of my favourite paintings by French post-Impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin. The painting I’m referring to is; Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?



Elisavet Arkolaki is a mother, a professional writer, and also runs www.maltamum.com which is the top parenting blog in Malta.



Where am I from? is a new children's book featuring 12 illustrations-murals, 1 mural for the book cover, and a wonderful message. To put it simply, it wants to bring a message of peace & unity while teaching children about different countries, and the beauty of street art & graffiti. In fact, the artist will paint on walls, and then proceed with taking high resolution pictures with a professional camera. The murals will be painted in Athens by Platon, a most well-known street artist in Greece, and his pictures will accompany the story. This is the very first time, that a children’s book will be illustrated entirely with street art.



There’s even a sweet story behind how the author decided to collaborate with this particular artist, who will bring her idea to life. “Because we are good friends. I know him since we were in our early 20s, and he has evolved into an amazing artist through the years. He’s also a father of a young child, so we could share the same vision about this book,” author Elisavet Arkolaki said.

The book portrays a total number of 9 kids from around the world, with different racial backgrounds. These kids gather together to try to find a universal answer to the question: Where am I from? It will take these young ones on a quest in search of common origins. There’s a lot of travelling in the story, and the kids push forward their own points of view, so that they may arrive at a rational conclusion and solve the riddle.

It’s a picture book packed with a universal positive message and jaw-droppingly beautiful street art. Like all picture books, it’s meant to be read to a child, and gives the adult reader the opportunity to fill in as much detail as they would like. Parents can use reading time as bonding time. As time when no phones are being checked. When the distractions of the world are put aside. 

To fund this innovative book project, a total of €10,500 needs to be raised by Wednesday, August 15th. A crowdfunding campaign is now live on Kickstarter with lots of rewards up for grabs. Backers can choose anything in between eBooks and hardcover books, all the way up to the possibility of sponsoring a mural and having a book character painted after their child. 

Provided the campaign is fully funded, Faraxa will be publishing this book, which is mainly targeting children from pre-school to 8-year-olds. The artist will complete the murals by end of May 2019. Faraxa will be finalising the book production by end of July 2019, and finally, in August 2019, the books and e-books will be released. Where am I from? will be available for purchase on the Faraxa Publishing's website, while more updates can be found on the Malta Mum Facebook Page in the coming months.

This article was originally published last Wednesday 18 July on MaltaToday.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

No Fate and No Destiny

Last night, I was sipping some drinks with a couple of friends at Castille Square. We were using the outdoor tables and chairs of The Beer Cave. I was having Amaretto. I love Amaretto. One of my two friends was having Black Label, and the other one was having Gin & Tonic. It was around 2 a.m. when the Gin & Tonic girl said something about fate and destiny to which I immediately replied that I don’t believe in such things. That single comment sparked a very long and exhausting debate. One of the greatest and everlasting debates of humanity has been about the role of destiny in the lives of human beings. There was a time when it was almost an accepted fact of life, that each and every event was governed by destiny. Astrology was considered a science. Then with the advent of modern times, the importance of the role of destiny as a concept started losing weight. Today, belief in destiny is considered a superstition by the majority of people. And rightly so, since th

35 European Countries & their most recognizable artworks

We all love art, and we all love Europe, so I hope you'll enjoy the following list. 01. Austria - The Kiss, Gustav Klimt, 1908. 02. Belarus - The Fiddler, Marc Chagall, 1913. 03. Belgium - The Son of Man, René Magritte, 1964. 04. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Mountain Landscape,  Karlo Mijić, 1924. 05. Bulgaria - Rachenitsa Dance, Ivan Mrkvička, 1894. 06. Croatia -  Roman Woman Playing A Lute , Vjekoslav Karas, 1845-47. 07. Cyprus -  Cyclist in a Landscape, Stelios Votsis, 2005. 08. Czech Republic - The Absinthe Drinker, Viktor Oliva, 1901. 09. Denmark - The Little Mermaid, Edvard Eriksen, 1913. 10. Estonia - Half Nude in Striped Skirt, Adamson-Eric, Year Unknown. 11. France - Impression Sunrise, Claude Monet, 1872. 12. Germany - Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich, 1818. 13. Greece - Venus de Milo, Alexandros of Antioch, 130-100 BC. 14. Hungary - The Old Fisherman, Tivadar Csontváry Kosz

The true origins of Santa Claus

Have you ever wondered from where and how the legend of Santa Claus and his eight flying reindeers came to be? There are many legends throughout history that celebrate a benevolent being that travelled by night bearing gifts for those in need, and this is the story of one of those legends that became part of the Santa Claus we celebrate today. The story begins in the northern regions of Europe. Long before Christianity spread throughout the world, pagan rituals and customs were prevalent throughout the lands, and there was the supreme Odin whose arrival was long awaited by the inhabitants of early Germanic Tribes and Scandinavia. Odin was the father of all the gods and ruler of Asgard in Norse Mythology, and was depicted as a tall, old man with a white beard and almost always wearing a red cloak. He rode the skies and the seas on his fast white eight-legged horse whilst carrying his never missing spear in his hand, and accompanied by his two black ravens which kept him informed a