"The Dolls Adventures in England" - A Children's Book

I have written my first book! A children's book at that. "The Dolls Adventures in England" is truly a labor of love and encapsulates everything I love in a book for children: simple objects that find themselves in funny, very human predicaments. The objects in this case happen to be a sphere and a cone covered in sparkly paint with pin heads for eyes. The simplicity of the objects allows the viewer to project their human characteristics upon them. Much like a dancing vegetable or a laughing teapot, I'm a sucker for inanimate objects having adventures in a real environment.

It's no accident that I named my daughter Edith. One of my favorite books as a child was called "Edith and Little Bear Lend a Hand" written and photographed by the amazing Dare Wright. Ms. Wrights' incredible series of photographic books on a doll named Edith and her friends, Mr. Bear and Little Bear, set my imagination on fire. I sometimes wonder if I was drawn to photography early on in life in part due to the world I experienced through her eyes.

Communicating emotions through a doll or toy can help children better understand and even cope with big, underlying feelings such as the fear of getting lost, the anxiety created by being in a foreign country or the excitement of seeing old friends. I'm hoping this book will be a vehicle for children to experience these feelings in a non-threating way so that perhaps when they do find themselves in a situation similar to this, they will feel more at ease by having released those big emotions along with the dolls.

I photographed the dolls on location in Norwich, England last Christmas assisted by my husband Jonnie Green and my daughter Edith Ann. We had loads of fun setting the dolls up and following them on their adventure. As we photographed them throughout the English countryside and the city center, the story began to take a very distinctive shape. I hope this book will be as interesting, informative and enjoyable for others while reading it as it was for us making it.

If you are interested in purchasing a prototype of this book, please feel free to go here. If you are a publisher or know of a publishing house that would be interested in this book, please forward this blog page!!! There are many, many more ideas for this series. This winter, the Dolls' will hiking up in the mountains of Idyllwild, knee deep in snow and on to another adventure!

To the child inside of us all,

Julie Pavlowski Green

November 16, 2013