In this first book Goldsworthy is at his most ephemeral; dandelions, ice, rubbed stones, leaves with frost on. The "sculptures" are more varied and less intensely imagined than some of the later ones; it's often more a case of "wow, fancy thinking of that" rather than "how beautiful". There are many things here any of us could do - but we didn't, it took the artist's extraordinary imagination.
In any great artist there is more of the child playing than the tortured spirit, and in Goldsworthy's work we see what happens when a fresh, unspoilt imagination is teamed with a sophisticated artist's intellect. The results are completely original and yet, like all artistic innovations, so blindingly obvious once someone else has done it.
Artists, sculptors, photographers and garden designers will all love this book. But I feel very strongly it has a lot to offer children, and every primary school teacher should have a copy. Show it to your children then encourage them to imitate it if you want to stimulate their imaginations while they are young and fresh.