Young Collectors' Summer Show

At the library where a while back I showed you a terrific elephant collection in the glass case, today there were two collections, all done earnestly and with great seriousness by the young collectors, and shown in the cases near the checkout, so that they get a lot of attention from other kids and adults like me.

One is the keychain collection of an eleven year old girl,



I think crafted by her from those standard keychain things, great fun, kids waiting to check out books, picking out their favorites and so on,

and the other is a fearsome exhibit of Wild Things put together by a seven year old boy. It looks like the natural history version of paper dolls, where you pop out and build the shapes to make various interesting things.

He had three shelves, showing his versatility!

The Great Barrier Reef,



Ancient Earth



and the Amazon Jungle.




I had just been reading magazines, total luxury, on my respite time at the libe, looking at interior design things full of artful whimsy and witty little ideas, the kind that if a decorator does it it's witty, and if a civilian does it it's more like what the heck is that thing? anyway, all very self conscious, especially the playful stuff.

So what a treat it was to see this simple, serious presentation of stuff with no irony intended at all, just the enthusiasm of a young collector or two. So I thought I'd share.