Courtesy Abrams BooksArt & PhotographyLightboxMaya Angelou and Basquiat made a book to help make life less frighteningOriginally published in 1993, this children’s book is still as relevant as it ever wasShareLink copied ✔️January 10, 2018Art & PhotographyLightboxTextAshleigh KaneLife Doesn’t Frighten Me6 Imagesview more + If, like me, life frightens the hell out of you, perhaps you’d benefit from knowing that Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat made a children’s book that summoned demons forward before yelling at them “LIFE DOESN’T FRIGHTEN ME AT ALL”. Originally released in 1993, the aptly titled Life Doesn’t Frighten Me combines a poem written by Angelou with art made by Basquiat to create a “brave, defiant” tale that “celebrates the courage within each of us, young and old”. For the 25th anniversary of its original publishing date, Life Doesn’t Frighten Me has been re-released by Abrams Books. While Angelou claimed that she wrote the poem “for all children who whistle in the dark and who refuse to admit that they’re frightened out of their wits”, its staying power over the past two-and-a-half decades proves it’s certainly relevant for any age. For added vibes, listen to Angelou read the book below. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me is available here Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MOREGuen Fiore’s tender portraits of girls in the flux of adolescenceCowboys! Eagles! Death! Georg Baselitz’s prints tell a shocking life storyZimmermannKindred spirits and psychedelic florals: Zimmermann heads to 70s Sydney Marina Abramović: ‘Everything new is always criticised’In pictures: Intimate encounters with strangers in US suburbiaThe dA-Zed guide to David WojnarowiczEnemy of the Sun confronts a Palestinian landscape under threatThis vibrant new show captures the dynamism of the male form Ray-Ban MetaWin pre-launch tickets to Paradigm Shift at 180 Studios This exhibition captures the hope and horror of life in GazaThe most loved photo stories from September 2025Dazed Club Spotlight: September 2025