Sand Animation

You all have probably seen this already--it made the rounds several months ago. I just rewatched it, and found it as moving and compelling as the first time I watched it. This young woman won the Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent" or "Britian's Got Talent"--won because of her beautiful storytelling through sand animation. This particular video shows the ravages of war on family and home.

What I love most of all about this is the grace and magic with which she tells the story. Through her magnificent artistry she makes the tragedy real and immediate, but also allows children to see and understand it. We don't see graphic bloody bodies, indeed, I don't think many children would even be scared by these 8 minutes. But, I dare say even a child could see the pathos in the story and be moved (and therefore wiser) after seeing it.

I think we'd all be surprised at what children can see and understand. With art like this we can help them to understand the darker harder parts of life.