-UPDATED: October 15th, 11:50 AM We received an update from the publisher of Koide’s book that says it does give credit to Adele Enersen. Also, the images in this post are from fans sharing their own creations online, not from Koide herself. We are hoping to received some sample images from her book from the publisher soon, and we’ll let you know with a new update.-
Nuno can barely talk or walk, but already she’s a sensation in the art world. Well, at least in Nezo Art, or Sleeping Posture Art, thanks to her mother’s best-selling book Nezo Art no Hon (“The Book of Sleeping Posture Art”). And for a lot of Japanese mothers, this has sparked their creativity and started a Nezo Art craze.
Instead of just resting and doing other chores, cartoonist Mami Koide has turned her downtime while little Nuno is sleeping into a literal work of art by creating fantastic scenarios around the form of the sleeping baby. The book contains 90 of her creative works, as well as practical and inventive tips for mothers (and maybe even fathers?) to create their own Nezo Art.
Although she did not mention it in her book, Koide was probably inspired by Mila’s Daydreams, a photo blog by Adele Enersen, a Finnish former ad copywriter showing off the “dreams” her daughter has while sleeping, which were of course whimsically created by Adele herself. The blog became hugely popular in 2010, and so Enersen compiled the photos into a book called Mila’s Daydreams.
Now, it’s Japan’s turn to go crazy over these dreaming babies artworks. A daytime TV variety show featured the book and the publisher themselves sponsored a photo contest. Now whether Nuno (or all those other babies) will appreciate her unconscious star status someday is still something Koide is doubtful of, but at least her mother is having a blast now.
