Get Into Art
Telling Stories: Discover Great Art and Create Your Own!
By Susie Brooks
Kingfisher. $14.99
Each page of this beautifully illustrated book will show a major piece of art, tell the story of the person who created it and, when you lift the flap, provide a project based on the featured artwork.
Before you get started the author also suggests what type of art supplies you might need. She suggests acrylic, tempera, oil or soft pastels and watercolors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use crayons, colored pencils or marking pens.
The suggested art project that accompanies each artwork is clearly explained and there are illustrated steps so that the task can be easily accomplished.
The dozen artists included in the book include Robert Delaunay, Edward Hopper, Diego Velazquez, Henri Matisse, Paolo Uccello and Diego Rivera.
This book would not only be an excellent resource for art teachers but also parents who are home schooling. Every school and public library should have a copy as well.
Dream Doodle Draw! — Farm Friends
By Hannah Eliot
Illustrated by Migy Blanco
Little Simon. $7.99
This coloring/activity book is all about life on a farm. There are cows and pigs to draw, barns and silos to color, farmers to lead through corn mazes and much, much more.
You’ll find instructions on each page that either suggest how to color the pictures or what the activity might be. For example, on one page you’ll be asked to spot the eight ladybugs in a corn field (you’ll also have to color the field), while on another page there are some newly hatched chicks that need names.
There are numerous mazes to find your way through, lots of animals to color and various types of pictures that need to be completed or require additions that will enable the use of one’s imagination.
The use of quality paper means that there shouldn’t be any colors soaking through to the opposite side and there are plenty of pages here so the activity book will keep a youngster busy for a while.
This is an excellent book to take along on a trip or keep handy if you are a grandparent and need some activities for your grandchild when he/she visits. It is also perfect for an indoor play afternoon or stay-in-bed situation!
Modern Art Adventures
By Maja Pitman and Jill Laidlaw
Chicago Review Press. $19.95
The 36 hands-on projects in this book are inspired by artists from Monet to Banksy. The book’s seven chapters cover a particular movement or category of modern art: Impressionism, Expressionism, Portraits, Abstract Art, Graphic Art, Pop Art, and Street Art Projects.
Each project begins with a picture of a featured work of art, such as Franz Marc’s “The Blue Horse”. There is material on the piece itself and some questions to get the young reader thinking about the piece.
This section is then followed by one or two projects. For example, accompanying the Marc work is one project that suggests the child make his/her own little blue horse with just his/her hands, some paint and some paper. You’ll find step-by-step instructions and some helpful tips on how to complete this project.
A second “blue horse” project involves making a stained-glass horse for a window. You’ll need colored tissue paper for this project.
All these projects use a wide range of media but they don’t require prior art experience, just enthusiasm for the subject and a willingness to learn how to use new techniques.
This is an excellent resource for home schoolers, families and art educators. Even older youngsters and adults will find this a fascinating book that will get the creative juices flowing.
Math at the Art Museum
By Group Majoongmul
Illustrated by Yun-ju Kim
Tan Tan Publishing. $16.95
Accompany a family as they explore paintings and other masterpieces at an art museum that apply math concepts. The first painting they encounter is Jasper Johns’ “O through 9” which works numerals into the colorful composition.
In other galleries the family finds geometric shapes used in works by Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Leger and Rene Magritte. While symmetry is a feature in some works, the use of odd angles in others make the art look quite different.
At the end of this unusual picture book you’ll also find a few exercises that apply math concepts to art. All in all, this is a different way of combining art and math while making it interesting for a young reader.
Pretty Ponies: Beautiful Ponies to Color
By Ann Kronheimer
Little Simon. $7.99
Featuring 96 one-sided pages on quality paper, this upscale coloring book will delight any child who loves ponies. Each page sports splashes of color that will inspire the young artists while leaving plenty of illustrations for them to color in.
Given the detail of the pictures probably color pencils or marking pens with fine points would be the best supplies to use here. And, yes, the finished pictures can be removed and displayed elsewhere.
The pictures range from various types of ponies to scenes showing them engaging in activities as different as jumping, running wild, and pulling wagons. There are other pictures of stable and riding gear as well as humans riding their ponies.
There is a lot of attention given to detail in this book so the child who receives it should have solid motor skills and be able to stay within the lines. That being said, “Pretty Ponies” will provide hours of enjoyment for the young artist who loves to create interesting color combinations and professional looking pictures.
There are probably a number of adults who would love to receive this book and who would find it a perfect diversion from more mundane concerns.