By Nick Cave (author) , Nick Cave (illustrator)
"The Little Thing is a book about identity and belonging which will introduce its very young readers to perhaps the biggest question that we can all ask of ourselves - What am I?"
Hardback Not Available
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December 2021 Debut of the Month
Anyone familiar with the works of the book’s author Nick Cave will know this question is one explored extensively in his song-writing, mostly through characters responding to some form of turmoil. In The Little Thing this is also the case as we follow a tiny being who is frustrated and even distressed by the process of trying to understand what it is.
Cave’s drawings are simple and vibrant alongside dialogue from those trying to help on this journey of self-discovery. In the end what is discovered is that it’s OK to simply accept yourself for what you are, even if exactly what that is remains a mystery! What is more important is who you are, how that feels, and what a wonderful thing it is to find kindred spirits and simply be.
This is a lovely and intelligent book to share with your own little things that is sure to reassure, spark discussion and encourage acceptance and inclusion, written by a man who wouldn’t know how it felt to ‘fit in’.
The Little Thing will be available exclusively via Cave Things, Nick Cave’s online shop : cavethings.com/products/the-little-thing
Written and illustrated by legendary music artist and writer Nick Cave for his young neighbour, The Little Thing poses a huge question to its young readers – “what am I?”, and celebrates curiosity, friendship, self-acceptance and self-celebration.
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Nick Cave has been performing music for more than forty years and is best known as the songwriter and lead singer of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, whose latest album Ghosteen was widely received as their best work ever. Cave's body of work also covers a wider range of media and modes of expression including film score composition and writing of novels. His recent Conversations events and Red Hand Files website have seen Cave exploring deeper and more direct relationships with his fans.
Nick Cave on Cave Things:
I am essentially a songwriter. Yet, people who understand my stuff know that it doesn’t end there. There has always been a strong, even obsessive, visual component to the process—a compulsive rendering of the lyric as a thing to be seen, to be touched, to be examined. I have always done this—basically drawn my songs—for as long as I’ve been writing them. Cave Things is an attempt to bring these visual ideas to the world. Cave Things is situated beyond merchandise but stops before art. I have no interest in making art—rather Cave Things are the incidental residue of an over-stimulated mind.
Song writing is largely performed in a state of deep unease that needs its points of reprieve. This is the purpose of Cave Things—when the pressure of song writing gets too much, well, I draw a cute animal or a naked woman or a religious icon or a mythological creature or something. Or I take a Polaroid or make something out of clay. I do a collage, or write a child’s poem and date stamp and sticker it, or do some granny-art with a set of watercolour paints. Cave Things is a shop that sells playful, therapeutic, mysterious, subversive objects that sits in a place entirely of its own.
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Written and illustrated by legendary music artist and writer Nick Cave for his young neighbour, The Little Thing poses a huge question to its young readers – “what am I?”, and celebrates curiosity, friendship, self-acceptance and self-celebration. The Little Thing will be available exclusively via Cave Things, Nick Cave’s online shop : cavethings.com/products/the-little-thing
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Little Thing and determined it is suitable for children aged 0-6 years old
The Little Thing features in the following genres: Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Stories about Family and Friends, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 3+ readers, Featured Books for 5+ readers, Gift Books, Children’s / Teenage stationery and miscellaneous items, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Books for Babies and Toddlers
Hardback. Not Available.
The Little Thing was written by Nick Cave and published by Cave Things
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