Keri Smith's wildly popular interactive journals—Wreck This Journal (the expanded edition), This Is Not a Book, and Mess—are now available in one box set.
Smith invites you to reimagine what a book can be (a secret message, a recording device, an instrument). Poke holes in the pages. Paint them with coffee. Bring the book in the shower. Let loose and make a mess.
And now you can even wreck the box.
Wreck this Journal (Expanded Ed.)
For anyone who's ever had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or
sketchbook comes this expanded edition of Wreck This Journal, an illustrated
book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster
up their best mistake and mess-making abilities and to fill the pages of the
book (or destroy them). Through a series of creatively and quirkily illustrated
prompts, acclaimed artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in
“destructive” acts–poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing
them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more–in
order to experience the true creative process. With Smith's unique sensibility,
readers are introduced to a new way of art and journal making, discovering novel
ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative
process.
This is not a Book
In this uniquely skewed look at the purpose and function of “a book,” Keri
Smith offers an illustrated guide that asks readers to creatively examine all
the different ways This Is Not a Book can be used. With intriguing prompts,
readers will discover that the book can be:
A secret message—tear out a page, write a note on it for a stranger, and
leave it in a public place. A recording device—have everyone you contact
today write their name in the book.
An instrument—create as many sounds as you can using the book, like flipping
the pages fast or slapping the cover. This Is Not a Book will engage readers by
having them define everything a book can be by asking, “If it’s not a book,
what is it then?”—with a kaleidoscope of possible answers.
Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes
Your whole life you've been taught to avoid making a mess: Try to keep
everything under control, color inside the lines, make it perfect, and at all
costs, avoid contact with things that stain. This book asks you to do the
opposite of what you have been taught. Think of it as your own personal rumpus
room. A place to let loose, to trash, to spew, to do the things you are not
allowed to do in the “real world.” It's time to make a mess.
The only three rules you'll find in this book:
- Do not try to make something beautiful.
- Do not think too much. (There is no “wrong.”)
- Continue under all circumstances.
About the Author
Keri Smith is a bestselling author, illustrator, and thinker. Her books
demonstrate a ‘learn by doing approach’, and are being used in school
curriculums all over the world as a way of fostering non-traditional methods of
exploration. She also teaches and conducts workshops based on her
non-traditional techniques across North America. Her books include: Wreck this
Journal, How to Be an Explorer of the World, Mess – A Manual of Accidents
and Mistakes, and Finish This Book. She enjoys spending time with her husband,
experimental musician Jefferson Pitcher, and two children Tilden and Ida.