Beautiful Useful Things

Recommended by Holly:

One of our favourite things on Henry Street is a doorknob. It is about two doors up from the bookshop, and it guards an old mint green door. Into the doorknob is carved the face of a lion. He has a rather large nose, and a frown sure to warn off intruders. Though small and tucked away, we notice it every time we walk down the street. This is a beautiful useful thing.

William Morris was a creator of beautiful useful things. He looked at the world and thought that if we were to surround ourselves with objects essential to our day-to-day lives, they should be beautiful. They should be well-made. They should have art and care etched into their surfaces.

‘Beautiful Useful Things’ tells this story - of a boy who grew up in a world filled with beautiful things, and, concerned by the mass production of goods and pollution of the environment following the Industrial Revolution, decided to make sure handmade goods and art were seen as essential.

About Beautiful Useful Things:

William Morris is best known for his colorful wallpapers and textiles, inspired by the English forests and wild foliage where he grew up. But did you know this icon of the Arts and Crafts Movement was also a poet, a painter, a preservationist, an activist, an environmentalist, and a maker of many other beautiful useful things, like books?

Author: Beth Kephart
Illustrator: Melodie Stacey
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 40
Imprint: Cameron Kids
Publication Date: 07 Apr 2022
ISBN: 9781951836337