Here Comes Ingo!
... knows that children thrive when they create, experiment and discover things they enjoy. This is a special visual story for mindful parents and inventive children to bond over open end and creative experiences by adding to the story via painting, drawing and writing ON the page thus encouraging kids to appreciate and include process art in their daily lives in order to search for and create new meaning, test their comfort zone and take risks.
This detail packed illustrated picture book presents the multi-layered tale of Ingo, a scarlet macaw who bored sitting on her eggs drifts off to sleep and dreams of flying into the lush tropical rain forest she calls home. Ingo's dream reveals a new world of possibilities full of surreal and unexpected encounters. With every turn of the page, charming collages filled with minute details amount to surprising compositions which show kids that the inspiration they need to add to Ingo's story and make this book their own is the willingness to tap into their creativity and let the imagination soar.
Generally speaking, art is a way to encourage the process of thinking in an innovative way and art-related activities have been proven to boost a child’s self-image by instilling a sense of pride on the self-directed project. When it comes to Here Comes Ingo, minutes that stretch into hours spent drawing, painting and coloring ON the page give children an opportunity to switch seats with the artist. How (?!) Each page of the book is meant to serve as the starting point for a new "picture story" via process-oriented art, art that is based on exploration and allows different outcomes, rather than emulating a preconceived finished product. What if Ingo were to wear a hat? Wouldn't it be great to have another macaw keep company to Ingo? How about spotting all the animals from last visit at the zoo?
Inviting children to participate in the story is more than a simple time-filler. It offers them an unparalleled sense of agency which in turn encourages exploration, self expression, logical thinking, imagination, and creativity - all valuable skills in their future adult lives when it would be more important to think in innovative ways than be able to follow directions. There is no better way to reinforce this than to make Here Comes Ingo as well as other wordless picture books a part of your children's book collection. Dripping in Disney-like colors, a solitary wolf wrapped in a rainbow, a shark who eats cupcakes with gusto and a merry band of birds& frogs piggybacking on a fish are only a few of 32 pages of this kind of seamless picture storytelling which bursts with the power of visuals excitement while inviting young readers to experience a new kind of adventure by examining the pictures and come to their own conclusion about the story being told.
In order to enjoy Here Comes Ingo, no fancy craft items are required. On the contrary, because children learn visually before they learn textually only the simplest materials are required to foster creativity. Paint brushes, water colors and colorful glitter glue are welcome but crayons and stickers do the job as well. All children need to make this book their own is their genuine interest in developing the story based on how they view their world.
It doesn't hurt that many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children.
Interacting with Here Comes Ingo's colorful illustrations indirectly helps with language development as well. Toddlers learn words for colors, shapes and actions by "reading" each page. Older children can discuss their own creations using descriptive words to open up about their own feelings, concerns, experiences thus developing skills of self-reflection in trying to bring the story to life.
As with the best of books, at the conclusion of the story, the journey is not over inviting readers to visit again and again in order to nurture their imagination.