We were looking for a family movie tonight and Netflix recommended The Secret of Kells. I had only a vague familiarity with the movie, but the reviews and info looked good, so we gave it a go. It turned out to be a beautiful little movie, in a unique 2-d animated style, relating a story around the Book of Kells, an illuminated copy of the four Gospels created by Celtic monks in the 7th century. Neat movie.

That took us to the Book of Kells iPad application, which I had gotten months ago when it was a freebie but had never really looked at. The girls were suddenly intent to look at the pictures, try to understand the text (whoops! it’s Latin!) and KP (age 4) even pulled out a Bible then to find the book of John after she found out it was part of the Book.

[caption width=“460” align=“aligncenter”] An Illustration from the Book of Kells, courtesy of Wikipedia[/caption]

But the fun doesn’t end there. Shortly thereafter, using their Christmas notebooks and glitter pens, they started on their own Kells-inspired artwork. (Click on each to see it full-size.)

From KP:

From AG, age 7:

From Laura, age 9:

Across the centuries, art inspires art. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.