BOOK REVIEW: Things I Have Drawn at the Zoo by Dom, Al & Tom Curtis

Stephanie O'Connell | 18 January 2018 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: Things I Have Drawn at the Zoo by Dom, Al & Tom Curtis

Trapeze
December 2017
Hardcover, $24.99
Reviewed by Steph O’Connell

Humour / Photography / Animals

8/10

Hilarious and strange images from the global instagram sensation; the world brought to life through the eyes of a child.

KIDS’ DRAWINGS HILARIOUSLY BROUGHT TO LIFE.

Have you ever wondered what the world would look like if children’s drawings were real? Well, wonder no more. Global Instagram sensation THINGS I HAVE DRAWN does just that – and the results are AMAZING.

8-year-old Dom and 6-year-old Al are brothers who love to doodle, and then Dad Tom painstakingly transforms their creations into photorealistic scenes. In this book, join the family on a trip to the zoo and laugh your socks off at all of the weird and wonderful creatures, including a gurning goat, a terrifying polar bear and a rather smug looking flamingo.

Spectacularly funny and disturbing, this book is packed with previously unseen material and the brilliant before and after images that have made @thingsihavedrawn such a cult hit.

There are so many feelings to unpack while reading this book, those that fans of the @thingsihavedrawn instagram will be well familiar with.

The images contained are funny, endearing, and yes, a little disturbing at times, but no matter how you feel about it, there’s no denying this is a fantastic concept; Tom Curtis has taken his son’s drawings and turned them into photorealistic versions of these creatures.

These unique versions of the animal are often shown in the same frame as the original critter, which helps readers to instantly recognise what animal they are looking at.

But by far my favourite images in this collection are those in which our augmented being is shown in its natural habitat among a large group of originals. Sometimes it’s quite a beautiful result.

And sometimes it can take a lot longer than you might like to admit to spot the augmented beast.

The drawings, pre-photorealism, are also featured, so readers can see the progression (and just how to true to the drawing the final result is), as well a rhyming narrative of their trip to the zoo.

All in all this is a cute collection of images that are bound to make you laugh, though it is a little smaller than I was expecting for the $24.99 price tag.