He imagines Raspberry is with him everywhere he goes. They share each activity and together they become explorers and climb mountains. They are pirates that sail the seas together, astronauts and dragon catchers. Henry’s imagining that he is with Raspberry is so strong, that he feels as if his friend isn’t lost at all.
This interesting and rare concept for children has its genesis in the friendship between the two Australian-born creators, when at a very young age. They had a dream to create children’s books. This dream gave birth to the company Cuppa Cooish in 2014.
Skye Byrne is the daughter of author Rhonda Byrne, of the amazing and highly successful book, The Secret. This picture book carries the Secret seal, and is geared to encourage children to believe and visualize, and shows how powerful a tool the human imagination can be.
I found this, their first publication, inspiring. It reminded me of a time in childhood that I used this method without knowing it, to obtain a longed for object. Imagine how rewarding it could be for children if they could learn to consciously use visualisation to ignite their imagination.
The illustrations by Nic George are extremely creative. The clever use of mixed media such as shadowed photographs as background, and materials of various kinds scattered in corners and on borders, serve to accentuate the child’s imaginative thoughts. Black pen images call attention to themselves on an ochre background, and enhance the coloured objects interspersed around the pages.
Title: The Power of Henry’s Imagination
Author: Skye Byrne
Illustrator: Nic George
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, RRP $24.99
Publication Date: October 2015
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781471145193
For ages: 5+
Type: Picture Book