The Creative Family Manifesto by Amanda Blake Soule

Amanda Blake Soule was one of the first bloggers I discovered and enjoyed reading back in 2005 (when I first started my own blog too!). She is a mother of five, blog and book writer, magazine editor, and maker of all kinds of things. On her blog, Soulemama, she shares tales of her family homesteading adventures from her old farmhouse in Western Maine.

She is the author of three books: The Creative Family, Handmade Home, and The Rhythm of Family. I have the first two and I admit they have influenced how I play with my own children. So I was excited to hear about her latest book – The Creative Family Manifesto: Encouraging Imagination and Nurturing Family Connections.

When you learn to awaken your family’s creativity, wonderful things will happen: you’ll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you–your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials–you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun!

This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children’s imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.

The book is divided into four chapters:

Part One: Gathering (Preparing Your Creative Mind, Gathering Materials, Being Resourceful)

Part Two: Playing (Encouraging Imagination, Supporting Your Young Artist, Sharing the Tradition of Handmade)

Part Three: Living (Exploring Through Nature, Capturing Moments, Everyday Rituals)

Part Four: Connecting (Celebrating Your Family, Handmade Holidays, Creative Connections)

The book is a really lovely book to dip in and out of. I’ve been reading it over the last few weeks and it’s a great way to spark and nurture your family’s creativity – a real guide for making creativity an intentional part of everyday life. There are some things we already do but lots to take on board and adopt for our family. I love making new family traditions but this book is more than that, it really is ideals to live by.

The Creative Family Manifesto by Amanda Blake Soule is published by Roost Books on the 10th October 2017. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy for the purpose of this review.