Miriam Elia is a visual artist and surreal comedy writer whose diverse work spans illustrated books, prints, drawings, short films, and animations. Her creations often delve into the absurdity of everyday life, exploring themes of human interaction and the perception of reality. Frequently collaborating with her brother Ezra Elia, she crafts unique and humorous pieces that play with audience expectations. Elia's work is characterized by its distinctive style and unconventional approach to comedy, offering a fresh perspective on familiar situations.
Have you taken children to a gallery recently? Did you struggle to explain the work to them in plain , simple English? With this new Dung Beetle book, both parents and young children can learn about contemporary art, and understand many of its key themes. Join John and Susan on their exciting journey through the art exhibition, where, with Mummy's help, they will discover the real meaning of all the contemporary art works from empty rooms, to vagina paintings or giant inflatable dogs.
Are you struggling to pay the bills and keep your children entertained in a cost of living crisis? Or are you simply worried that your children are spending too much time glued to numerous screens, watching endless asinine nonsense? Dung Beetle provide an answer, with a book that can keep children and adults happily and rewardingly occupied for many hours, using simple inexpensive and readily available materials. We present a set of 20 thought provoking toys that can be made from simple objects around the house. Cardboard boxes, matchsticks, old covid tests etc. are all magically transformed into a plethora of exciting toys. From a doom scroller to a home-made toy bedsit, there's plenty to keep you and your children occupied.
Wednesday, May 7th Two of them came today, dragged me out of my cage and put me in some kind of improvised maze made out of books and old toilet tubes. A labyrinth with no escape. They were treating it like some kind of game, laughing and squealing as I desperately scrabbled from blind alley to blind alley, but I knew it was no game. They're trying to crush my will, to grind me down. They can take my freedom, but they will never take my soul. My name is Edward, and I AM A HAMSTER. Published in memory of Poet, Thinker and noted rodent Edward the Hamster (1990-1990), this delightfully gothic hardback edition of his personal journals constitutes a celebration of his (very) short life. It's also very funny ('Eight months old today. Oh, the things I've seen. The Wheel. The Tray. The Ball. The Whe- no, I forget.'). Complete with illustrations of our hard-smoking existential hero, this is both a book for anyone who has loved and lost a beloved pet -- and a moving essay on the nature of suffering and the hamster condition.
In series 2a of the latest Dung Beetle guide, Mummy, John and Susan go through an indefinite period of self isolation at home during the Lockdown. In this solitary time, the children will be forcibly adapted to the 'new normal', where they have no real life fiends, no purpose, and are conditioned to see their peers as portable germ vessels. Dung Beetle is doing this for the benefit and care of the terminally ill.
With full colour illustrations and simple text: this book tells the well loved ancient folklore story of Marina, a simple traditional forest dwelling Yugoslavian mother of many children, who led a double life as a misunderstood radical performance artist. This book was commissioned for a specially curated shop by artist, Marina Abramovic as part of her forthcoming solo exhibition at the Royal Academy from Sept 2023 - Jan 2024. This is the first ever solo show by a female artist in the main galleries of this historic institution since opening in 1768. This title will tour with Marina's show for 5 years, internationally.
We see the sights follows Mummy, Susan and John on a jolly sightseeing trip of
post covid London. As our family re-emerge from two years of lockdown into the
heart of their city, things have subtly changed. This book is a humorous
reflection on a society pretending to function normally.
In We Learn at Home , Miriam Elia's follow-up to last year's hit We Go to the Gallery , Mummy takes John and Susan out of their local school to be reeducated at home--though not before tagging the walls of St. James' Primary with the words "Fascist Scum." In order to introduce their young minds to a new, alternative worldview, Mummy will ground all learning in a feelings-based outlook, free of any actual facts or skills, and reevaluate core subjects such as mathematics, religion, philosophy and art. John and Susan burn the Union Jack, debate and learn to paint their inner children. Key vocabulary for young readers includes terms such as "Marx" and "Buddha." Pocket-sized, printed in bold colors and written in clear, simple English, the Dung Beetle Learning series pays tribute to and skewers the much-loved British Ladybird early learning children's books of the 1960s, with our child protagonists learning about contemporary art and politics rather than helping their parents around the house. In We Go to the Gallery , Susan found that the decay of Western civilization smells like rubbish, John learned that some toys are only for venture capitalists and the siblings discovered that God is dead. What new lessons will Mummy teach?
In We Go Out , Mummy takes Susan and John out for an exciting day trip in London as part of their new reeducation program. Looking, thinking and reevaluating the world around them is a crucial part of any child's core development, and John and Susan are no exception. A simple stroll down the local high street is magically illuminated by Mummy's insights into the nature of society, religion, art and the various other forms of hierarchal or patriarchal oppression. In this volume, John and Susan--and their readers following along at home--learn about gender, homelessness, public sculpture, luxury redevelopments and property values, among many other valuable life lessons for today. Impeccably dressed and well behaved, Mummy and her children have been ripped from their comfortable middle-class midcentury environment and deposited into the contemporary world, still speaking in the polite vocabulary that characterized the popular Ladybird series. The caricature is so pitch-perfect that the 2014 limited edition of We Go to the Gallery was threatened with a lawsuit by Penguin UK (owners of the Ladybird imprint), which was withdrawn following a change in UK copyright law allowing for parody and satire.
In book 1d of the Dung Beetle Learning series, Mummy, John and Susan are taken on a thrilling Christmas adventure. By interrogating Santa Claus and exposing his 'vicious programme of indoctrination,' Mummy proceeds to strip Christmas of all its magic and meaning, for the benefit of mankind. Originally based on the Private Eye Christmas special, this book will joyfully ruin the Yuletide festival period for children and adults alike.
Montag. Mein Name ist Edward, und ich bin ein Hamster.
Dienstag. Heute kam der Tierarzt. Er hat mich angefasst. Offenbar bin ich eine Frau.
Mittwoch. Doch keine Frau. Ich habe nachgesehen.
Donnerstag. Habe heute beschlossen, das Rad nicht mehr zu benutzen.
Freitag. Sie können mir die Freiheit nehmen, aber niemals die Seele …
In seinem erschütternden Tagebuch beschreibt Edward sein Dasein zwischen Käfigstäben und Futternapf – wie er plötzlich dem Hamsterrad entkommt und sich auf das Abenteuer Leben einlässt … Ein Ereignis!
