Review of ‘Found: The Art of Recycling’

Please welcome Fiona Eastwood to Children’s Books Daily. Fiona is a primary school teacher librarian at Coopers Plains State School and like me she is completing her Masters – so we both really should not have been reviewers for the Children’s Book Council claytons short list event held in Brisbane recently…but who can resist the opportunity to read and review some of the best in children’s literature! Fiona reviewed the information book category and this is one of the books she choose for her Information Book Short List. Here are Fiona’s notes from our claytons evening…

Title: ‘Found: The Art of Recycling’
Author: Lisa Holzl
Publisher: Walker Books
Age Range: Middle Primary – Lower Secondary

“Sometimes art is created to make a point, and not just to be collected.” (Lauren Berkowitz- waste not want not). This quote sums up this publication perfectly. I found the sticky tape covered collage illustrations not too busy, not too sparse but ‘just right’ for a book outlining art created from recycled materials over the last century. I found the endpapers intriguing…. You will recognise the verbs ‘glue’, ‘scavenge’, ‘assemble’,  ‘collage’ but how do you ‘Cornell’ or ‘Picasso’?

Click on title links or cover image to purchase.

In ‘Found: The Art of Recycling, each entry over a double page spread gives a succinct overview of the featured artist, their concept of their art, a quirky fact and an iconic example of their work and where it could be found. This alone would make it an award-winning non-fiction title. However further features cements this title as a must for any library or home. I found the timeline of art movements at the front informative and aesthetic. I found the glossary of styles useful and the biography of artists from 1900 to today enlightening. There is also a helpful index and bibliography including websites.

But the addition of an activity for readers to sample this style of art I found fabulous. Instead of using war propaganda leaflets, what about creating your point from the mountains of junk mail we receive? Or construct a Cornell box of secrets?

As Jean Tingluely said in ‘The Art of Destruction’, “the overproduction of commercial goods  leads to waste”.