HPL
Teen Territory Blog

Somewhere in the midst of Internet link-clicking, I stumbled upon this beautiful set of photos of children with their toys from around the world. Taken by photographer Gabriele Galimberti, these photos depict kids with the toys they treasure most from countries like the USA, Italy, Iceland, Botswana, Costa Rica, India, Australia, and many others. Ultimately, I think it reminds us that kids are kind of the same anywhere you go, but according to the photographer, the way each of the children played revealed a lot about their countries. “The richest children were more possessive,” he said, “At the beginning, they wouldn’t want me to touch their toys, and I would need more time before they would let me play with them. In poor countries, it was much easier. Even if they only had two or three toys, they didn’t really care. In Africa, the kids would mostly play with their friends outside.”

This got me thinking about my most prized toys as a kid. I grew up in Long Island, New York in the 80's and early 90's. There were a few clear standouts: Magic Nursery Babies, Care Bears, Puppy Surprise, Maple Town figurines, Littlest Pet Shop, and Yum Yums. Were these toys important to any other kids of my generation? What were your most favorite childhood possessions?

You've got to see this! Artist Joshua Allen Harris has created amazing street art right in New York City, using only plastic garbage bags and a lot of creativity.

In keeping with the "creepy and artistic" theme, here is a video that is NOT by Tim Burton, but is honestly just as awesome as something he would do. It's creepy though, so bewarned if you're easily creeped. It's been called "equal parts Pixar and The Twilight Zone." Here is Alma, by Rodrigo Blaas.

Happy New Year!!!! I don't mean to be an advertisement for the Museum of Modern of Art or anything, but last week I saw the Tim Burton exhibit there and it was AWESOME.

From the MoMA website:

"This exhibition explores the full range of [Tim Burton's] creative work, tracing the current of his visual imagination from early childhood drawings through his mature work in film. It brings together over seven hundred examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, moving image works, concept art, storyboards, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera from such films as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, and Beetlejuice, and from unrealized and little-known personal projects that reveal his talent as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer working in the spirit of Pop Surrealism."

The exhibit is there until April 26, and is totally worth the short wait in line if you don't have a timed ticket (which I didn't). Apparently they are required on weekends, and you can buy them with your ticket, which you can buy online here.

Seriously I'm not trying to advertise MoMA but this exhibit was just so good.

-Ms. Laura, librarian

P.S. If you're interested, you should reserve this biography on Tim Burton!