The table has been completed and the seres of books which sit around the top of the table have been made so the book is ready to be written into.
This is a voluntary project and if you are willing for your community to contribute to the circle book of childhood stories, by writing, illustrating and reading childhood stories please contact Debbie ( debbieqadri@hotmail.com) and she will arrange a time to visit you with the book.
Above: special clips have been placed underneath each tabletop to hold the sections together. And in this photo you can also see the screw-on legs.
above: here is the table as it is when not assembled. It has been designed with the assistance of my wonderful friends Michelle and Glen, so that it can be taken to pieces and placed in the back of my stationwagon.
Here are Michelle and Tyson the Wonderdog, posing in front of the finished table set up in Michelle and Glen's driveway.
Above and below: I took the table home and books were constructed that covered all of the tabletops. These were made with a mixture of recycled books, recycled papers and new paper.On each table-top were instructions as to which table-top joined where, what the number of the table top is and where the books on top go. Its all very complicated of course and also took a few weeks to make all of the books that go around the top.
Here I am setting it up in the backyard one day to make sure that all of the books fit around the top correctly. Unfortunately it all looks a bit wobbly in my backyard because the ground is uneven!
Ahhhhaaaa! but it fits and looks good to me.
Tyson the wonderdog has inspected the table legs, and now all we need to do is fill the circle book of childhood stories with stories and pictures.
‘There is no way by which the events of the world can be directly transmitted or recorded in our brain. They are experienced and constructed in a highly subjective way. Our only truth is a narrative truth. The stories we tell each other and ourselves, the stories we continually re-categorise and define . . . ‘
Oliver Sacks The New York Review of Books February 21, 2013.
The circle book of childhood stories
is a large circular book 3 metres in diameter where everyone can share their childhood stories.
The book travels to different community groups, schools and places where people can:
read what others have written,
illustrate the stories of others,
or join in with the storytelling.
The circle of childhood is a giant circular book in which everyone can participate in writing, illustrating and reading stories of childhood. The book travels to different schools and communities where people add stories about their childhoods that they want to share and read the stories that other people have written. Through writing, reading and illustrating the stories we can share our own experiences and learn about the experiences of others.
The circular book is actually a series of ten books that fit together, and sit on a matching doughnut shaped table. The table is three metres in diameter. The inside of the circle is empty and makes room for people to go inside the book to write draw or read. The book is only 40cm in depth which allows a diameter of 220cm for people to access the inside the circle. Being able to access the inside and the outside of the book makes it possible for a number of people to work on the book and read the book at the same time.
The book and table are in sections and can be easily dismantled and moved. Thus the book can tour to different schools, communities, places and events to be gradually filled up with stories and shared.
How it will be used:
The idea is that many people will contribute to the book by writing their stories of childhood, and that it will tell a broad range of stories about childhood, which will enable people to write their own memories but also to read and have some insight into the experiences of others.
There are vast differences between childhoods depending on generations, places and family circumstances. We all have a story to tell and the book will provide learning about other people’s lives and experiences across the world and over several decades. The book will tour community groups, places and events so that people can write their stories, draw pictures to illustrate the stories of others, or simply read the book.
The idea of the circle is that the stories can be written all around the circle, or in depth over pages like a normal book. Pages will be numbered so that people can say for example ‘this story continues to the right on page 20’ or they can give directions to someone to find their story for example Book 7, page 23.
The book is a series of books opened out around the circle and extended so that their pages meet each other. The pages of each book can be turned independently but because they meet each other, stories can be written across the books right around the circle. The stories can be written across the books or deep into the books, as we normally write stories over consecutive pages. Themes might develop at certain places, some peoples stories will remind people about a story that they have to tell. People will work out their own interesting ways to use the book. Because each book is numbered and likewise the pages, it will be possible to direct people to different parts of the book, so you can also write a ‘choose your own adventure story’.
One of the table sections has wheels so that it can slide out quite easily allowing people to go in and out of the inside of the book. The removable table will have a book section on it that matches its edges.
The Circle Book of Childhood stories sits at the height of a standard desk which will allow access for people who need to be seated to work on the book and should be accessible for most school aged children if they are standing, and also is accessible for wheelchairs with the appropriate height and width standards. This book enables accessibility for a range of people with different abilities and provide fun and entertainment for its users.
(ariel view apart from the person to the left who must be lying on the floor! Perhaps playing dead fish.)
Above: sketches for the special part of the table that can be removed
The purpose of this book
To book provides a place for telling stories of childhood. I have some good stories to tell and I imagine that others would also like to share their stories. If we all tell our stories of childhood we might find out some things about each other about the differences in our childhoods and the similarities.
I have also made a smaller circle book and wanted to find a way of making a larger book which could be worked on by many people.
I think that childhood comes around again and again. Its memories are used to tell ourselves stories about our lives. We sometimes remember childhood as the shaping and making of who we are today. This book shares the childhood stories of many, some written from within childhood and others from beyond childhood, who look back, dip in and retell. With many people telling their stories I hope this book tells of other childhoods and of stories that bear resemblance to each other in themes and circumstances. The book will be a forum for learning about other people’s childhoods, for finding similarities and differences in the stories of others, towards a deeper understanding and empathy of the experiences of other people.
Stages of the book
Early construction: Debbie will beginwriting and drawing in the circle book with different schools and communities who are interested in telling their childhood stories.
People might work on the book by making backgrounds and colouring the book with paint, or writing stories, or illustrating the stories of others.
The books tours: The book is taken to more schools, communities and events to have stories added to it, illustrated and read.
Sound bites: A series of sound bites are made to go with the book to make it more accessible to people. Audio clips of people reading their own or other people stories will be recorded and put onto the internet and cds, so that people can listen to them.
The book returns: Later in its progress the book returns to communities who were involved in its progress, so that the people can see how what has happened since they first worked on it.
The book could make appearances at literary festivals, community events, galleries and conferences.
Care with how stories are written into the book
There will be some restrictions in what can be told in the book, and something similar to the following will be placed near the book so that people have a good understanding about the meaning and use of the book.
We are making a big book of childhood stories. The book is a place to read the stories of others and to write and share your own childhood stories. Please make sure your stories are suitable for children to read and enjoy. We ask that you do not use last names in your stories so that the people in the stories are not easily identified.
We ask that you write stories with children in mind and do not write anything that children may find distressing to read. We reserve the right to edit the stories.
If you write your story in this book it will be read by other people. It may be illustrated and it could be made into a voice recording so that people can listen to it. This book and your story may be placed on the internet. If you are not happy with any of these things, please do not place your story in the book.
But if you are happy to share your story in this project, we look forward to reading it!
