Seeing the world through child’s eyes
● Publishing house brings rainbow artwork to life
Children across the globe are helping their tired, stressed and financially strained parents find the rainbow at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Helping adults around the world see life through a child’s perspective — one where rainbows taste like bubblegum milkshakes — is UK-based publishing house Make Believe Ideas.
Its latest project, The Rainbow Project, was conceived with the aim of connecting communities all over the world by asking children to submit their rainbow artwork online.
While these children, from SA to America, Canada and the like, may live thousands of kilometres apart, they all have one thing in common right now: their lives have been completely disrupted by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Make Believe Ideas designer Gabrielle Mercer, who moved to Port Elizabeth five years ago from Berkhamsted, outside London, said the number of admissions received had been overwhelming.
The company felt that with most people living in isolation right now, the need for community, kindness, hope and togetherness was more important than ever before, Mercer said.
The project was inspired by seeing all the amazing rainbow art created by children during their time at home and away from their school routine.
An idea was then conceived to ask parents to submit their children’s artwork online and to answer a couple of questions, such as “what do you think a rainbow tastes like”, “what might you find at the end of a rainbow” or “what is your favourite colour of the rainbow”.
The Rainbow Project would then showcase some of these submissions on its website, to be printed in a keepsake book later down the line.
A publishing date had not yet been released.
The hope for the book was to unite children across countries, continents and even their garden fences, and to serve as a reminder of the kindness, hope and togetherness that shone so brightly during these dark times.
Proceeds of the sale of the book would go to a charity which had not yet been announced.
Mercer said the concept had built up an incredible amount of momentum online, and that many children in Port Elizabeth had already participated.
For Port Elizabeth’s Levi Ricci, 6, who participated in the project, if he could make the world a better place right now, he would “plant flowers everywhere”.
He was also sure that a rainbow, if eaten, would taste like candyfloss.
For Emma Kimberley, 5, she wanted to grow up to be a doctor like those on the frontline and decided that a rainbow would taste like a bubblegum milkshake.
Make Believe Ideas publishes children’s books for all ages from colouring-in books to activity books and stories.
To submit your child’s rainbow artwork, visit www.therainbowproject.com and www.makebelieveideas.com