Philosophy has been a passion of mine since a young age when the riddles of the universe first snuck into my soul and the everyday everydayness of life coming alive left me spellbound as if I could see things through a pair of kaleidoscopic spectacles.
My focus over the past twenty years of working in schools, external literacy programs and theatre has been to awaken the philosopher inside the minds of children to get them thinking about how they are thinking and wondering about why they are wondering by enchanting them with vivid stories, complex creatures, twinkling soundtracks and most importantly, questions.
I write books for parents and children. Fragments of thoughts were ripped from the pages of my own journals and became my first nine illustrated children’s books in two series: the Past Life Library and the Young Philosophers Series.
As a mum, reading my stories to my kids around the kitchen table, I found that they eagerly wanted to participate and create their own stories. So I made an additional series of activity books which prompt children with the questions of eternity, to eventually collect enough of their imaginations, and with gentle guidance, lead them to write books of their own.
I then created a place for all these books, creatures and songs to live called Everything-World ~ A Theme Park of the Mind where the questions of eternity are woven through each imaginary theme park ride. Everything-World is a place inside your head for wondering about ideas like... What if humans were once aliens from another world? What if we could change each other’s minds whenever we liked, to whatever we liked? How do we know when we truly know someone? And so on…
The rides inside Everything-World are alive and each one relates to a deep concept about life. Each ride correlates with one of my fictional books connected to that specific concept and also to an accompanying activity book of the same theme, so you too can keep the memories of your mind somewhere.
As the activity books guide you through the Bumper Cars of Everyone, The Mirror-Maze of Ourselves, The Lake of Meaning, The Ghost Train of Change, The Slippery Slide of Disappointment, Healing Mountain, The Wonder Wheel of Contradiction, The Rollercoaster of Social Order and much more, I hope that you will enjoy the wild ride of your children's imaginations.
And so at the kitchen table in the everydayness of your everyday, you may come to find, not only can you and your children read and write stories, but you can also read and write life through a pair of kaleidoscopic spectacles.
x
Clare-Rose Trevelyan
