Signals from the Child
Jean Coles
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Emba House
ISBN: 0972352929

Learn to read the secrets of children's drawings & refrigerator art.

Would you like to know the meaning hidden in your child's drawing?
Would it help you to understand what is troubling your student?
How valuable would it be to see what your grandchild is actually saying in the artwork on your refrigerator?

Once upon a time I was a Children's Advocate for a domestic violence prevention agency. The resident therapist always used the children's love of drawing to draw out of them insights into their world. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, & when working with children, images are so much easier for them to portray than sentences.

What you will learn from Signals from the Child is:
•  the basic symbols we draw no matter where on earth we dwell & how to interpret them.
•  what is the significance of numbers.
•  why the placement of the drawing on the page matters.
•  what is the significance of drawing the sun.
•  who is the most important figure in a drawing.
•  what are the stages of a child's ability to draw.
•  how to recognize signals of distress &/or depression, & so much more.

I do like Jean Coles' style: It is engaging, informative & ties together what she has to teach us. & what that is is fascinating. I learnt a lot about the way children of all ages draw, what the symbols mean, & when a drawing is simply a drawing!

There was a little game we girls played in my English childhood, questions we asked of a new girl:
If money was no problem what kind of house would you want?
•  Where would it be - town or country?
•  Near what kind of water? We did, after all, live on an island.
•  What kinds of trees would you grow?
•  Who would live with you?
•  What animals would you have?
•  How many rooms, windows? etc., etc., etc.
Supposedly, you could understand who the person was by their answers: loyalty, aloofness, yearnings, & such. Reading Signals from the Child often reminded me of this wise little game.

Jean Coles' Signals from the Child is a valuable tool for anyone who works with children, professionally or privately. Certainly a book for grandparents, parents, teachers, day care centers, medical clinics, religious schools & aunts & uncles & babysitters & nannies.

Do catch my Interview with Jean Coles, you will be informed & amused.
(01/18/04)

Rebecca