Where Children Sleep

February 25, 2011

Oh man. If you need a shift in perspective, take a look at this beautifully designed book called Where Children Sleep. James Mollison takes photographs of children and their bedrooms, all over the world. You can read it online. The images and stories are fascinating and sometimes harrowing — totally safe for work, but they might break your heart. This book has my brain buzzing.

Link sent in by Emily C. K.

Share and Enjoy:

{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }

1 elisabeth*itsyfactor February 25, 2011 at 5:13 am

Is it a book you would recommend sharing with children? Mine are only 3 and 20 months, but I think my three-year-old might appreciate gaining perspective on other children’s lives. What do you think?

2 KarinS February 25, 2011 at 5:16 am

It certainly puts a lot of things into perspective doesn’t it? Thanks for sharing this. I will be thinking about it a lot today.

3 stephanie smirnov February 25, 2011 at 5:30 am

Like Elisabeth in the comment above, I’d love to share this with my son. He’s 8 and we’ve just started a daily gratitude ritual (well, it’s a ritual for me–he just thinks he’s answering the question “What are five things that made you happy today?”) Seeing how some kids live in other parts of the world sounds like a great way for him to understand more viscerally how fortunate he is. Thanks for bringing this book to our attention.

4 Katherine February 25, 2011 at 6:10 am

Thank you for posting this. I find engaged photo essays like this fascinating. I would love for my son to look at this with me.

5 Chris February 25, 2011 at 6:12 am

Wow. I just read the entire book. Chilling and beautiful and fascinating. What a beautifully composed and designed book. The most remarkable project I have seen in a long time. Just incredible.

6 christy February 25, 2011 at 6:21 am

This gives me chills. I think I’ll buy it for our family for Christmas this year and read it together as a family.

7 Romantic Crafts February 25, 2011 at 7:46 am

Hi,

I want that book! By the way, your site is great!

Betty

8 Carla February 25, 2011 at 10:01 am

Absolutely fascinating!

9 Melissa February 25, 2011 at 10:02 am

This would be so great to show our kids, we have it SO good! I love photo books like this.

10 Kim February 25, 2011 at 10:06 am

Just incredible. I will buy this book and read it with my children for many years to come. It really makes you feel how fortunate some of us are. Thanks for the great post.

11 Heather Bailey February 25, 2011 at 10:07 am

Fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation.

12 Damaris @Kitchen Corners February 25, 2011 at 10:07 am

Woah that’s incredible. it makes me want to go back and get a PhD in anthropology and study this topic.

13 Melissa February 25, 2011 at 10:16 am

THANK YOU! Just yesterday I was thinking that my 5-year-old could use some perspective, to learn just how fortunate she is. I can’t wait to share it with her.

14 Lindsey Whitney February 25, 2011 at 10:16 am

Wow, looks like a great book!

15 barkingkel February 25, 2011 at 10:31 am

WOW! I don’t think I will be sharing this with my children, 8 & 4, for a couple of years though. Thank you so much for introducing me to this. It has already changed me.

16 Kayla February 25, 2011 at 10:34 am

and to think my biggest concern yesterday was finding the perfect pillow for my daughter’s bedroom. shift in perspective indeed! thanks for the link to the book that reminded me how much we have [safety, food and warmth] and how much we don’t need.

17 Allison February 25, 2011 at 10:40 am

Wow. Reminds me of the book (or article?) that came out about two years ago that photographed families with what they ate for a week. Really does show perspective and culture differences.

18 Paulina J! February 25, 2011 at 11:51 am

This was amazing. I don’t have children, but will share it with them once I do. I plan to share it with a lot of people. It has definitely made me think. Thanks for sharing!

19 Angela February 25, 2011 at 11:59 am

I was struck that this was a book with a political and social statement. Each child’s ‘struggle’ was identified – poverty, AIDS, displacement – or in the Americans’ case the struggle they chose to highlight was ‘excess’. It provides a huge spectrum of experiences, but certainly does not profess to communicate any particular child’s complex family, social and political life.

20 Molly February 25, 2011 at 12:24 pm

A few months ago browsing at our local bookstore I picked this up and was shocked, because I was expecting nursery pics and sadened when I opened it up and saw the family living on the road side. It is a beautiful and thoughtful book.

21 Michelle Mitton February 25, 2011 at 1:51 pm

Reading that was like a horrible, real-life version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, complete with Violet Beauregard, Mike TV, Veruca Salt and more . . .

Hideous in so many ways.

22 Erin February 26, 2011 at 4:17 pm: Took the words out of my mouth. The juxtaposition of rich-poor even in the same country really brought that to attention.

Reply

23 stacyj February 25, 2011 at 4:41 pm

Gabrielle,
This is a phenomenal book. Thank you so much for posting information about this. Now if I could just find it to purchase!

24 Emily February 25, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Yay :)
Thanks for sharing the link, I know you can reach a lot more people than I ever could.

25 erika February 25, 2011 at 9:14 pm

thank you for posting the link! i just looked at it online and will be getting it in hardcopy for my daughter to read. i think it will be eye-opening for her…

26 Seth Adores Jai February 25, 2011 at 11:43 pm

Heart breaking indeed and definitely a reminder to count my blessings.

27 Tarin Raffferty Inspired February 26, 2011 at 3:27 pm

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing, eye opening.

28 ~Karen St. February 26, 2011 at 8:41 pm

I just read the whole book. It was amazing. Thank you for posting that.

29 bdaiss February 26, 2011 at 10:11 pm

What an amazing, wonderful, thought provoking book. Thank you for sharing it with us.

30 Hannah S February 27, 2011 at 9:02 am

Wow. This is haunting. I showed my children and they didn’t know what to think, they didn’t believe me when I said the little boy really slept outside. Eye opening, thank you.

31 doodle dandy February 28, 2011 at 3:40 am

This really impacted me today, thank you for posting this -

32 Cynthia I February 28, 2011 at 8:17 am

Wow. Very humbling. It puts things into perspective. Time to simplify and have more gratitude. Thank you for sharing.

33 Terri February 28, 2011 at 8:47 am

Wow… now I want to see the rest of the book. It does put things in perspective.

34 Gisela March 1, 2011 at 1:24 am

Harrowing indeed. The haves, the have-nots. The perspective. The faces. Their eyes! ….. The 14 year old girl, pregnant for the 3rd time living in a favela in Brazil, is seared in my min forever. So is the American boy with the penthouse apartment and stock portfolio. What contrasts this world has. Powerfully eye-opening.
I’ll be sharing this book with my family. And thinking about it a LOT.

35 Patricia Intriago February 16, 2012 at 4:54 pm

I love this book. It is similar to the great books produced by Peter Menzel: http://www.randomhouse.com/author/55026/peter-menzel?sort=best_13wk_3month

Where Children Sleep

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