When I Colored in the World by Ahmadreza Ahmadi illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi translated by Azita Rassi

 

I rubbed out the word ... and wrote the word ... 

Begin with this video from Tiny Owl which is an animation of this book

• desert becomes roses with the red crayon
• darkness becomes light with the yellow crayon
• boredom becomes playing with the sky blue crayon

Book Depository blurb: With a box of colored crayons and an eraser to rub things out, one child sets out to transform the world. By rubbing out 'hunger' and coloring in 'wheat', the world can be fed. By rubbing out 'crying' and coloring 'laughter', the world gets to sing, dance and be joyful. Told with poetic simplicity, this book shows how creative imagination - through the use of color and imagery - can change the world from bad to good. An unusual and deceptively simple picture book that imagines a world without discrimination, poverty or inequality.

The text in this book comes from a poet - Ahmadreza Ahmadi is an Iranian poet and screenwriter. The history of Persian modern poetry calls him the founder of New Wave Poetry in Iran. Ahmadi was born in 1940 in Kerman, Iran. He moved to Tehran in 1948.  

I am not exactly sure how I discovered the Iranian illustrator Ehsan Abdollahi but when I saw the cover and later some inside pages of When I Colored in the World which was originally written in Persian,  I knew I wanted to take a close look at this book and also a closer look at other books by this illustrator. (see below).

It is a message throughout that offers opportunities for discussion at each turn of the page with endless possibilities for children to use their own colours to create their own worlds of hope and a kinder place to be. English Association UK

In this video you can see Ehsan at work. Here is an interview with Ehsan where he shares his thoughts about the importance of libraries! 

Ehsan Abdollahi’s work is inspired by the environment and the patterned fabrics of South Iran. Picture Books in ELT