Children's Art Books Reviewed, Part 2

At some point I'm going to write about my kids' art, because I have the privilege of watching a tiny artist grow up to be an even bigger artist in my daughter, Emma (no pressure, toots.) My four year old, however, says she wants to be an artist but has no patience or desire to actually make art.*

*Disclaimer: We may not have found her medium yet, but she definitely does not enjoy drawing and coloring. Her preschool teacher even told us, "Alex doesn't like to sit down and color." And we replied, "I know."

Back to the point; as an artist and mother, I talk a lot about art to my kids. They see me actively working on art. They also see me writing (for example, Emma is watching me type this out and asked me "Is that about me or a different Emma?") Sorry Jon, but we are an art family now. And what better way to keep kids interested in art than through children's books? 

The first one, and one of my favorites, really, is the Draw With Mom! collaborative sketchbook. It also comes in other versions like Draw With Dad! etc., which makes me love it even more! Each page has a kid-specific prompt on it, and the next facing page has suggestions for the grown up to add to the child's drawing. Once you've completed the book it becomes an instant memento to be cherished!

Art & Max, by David Weisner, was given to us as a gift. My husband isn't as much a fan of it as I am as the story is mostly told visually, rather than through the text. It's all dialogue between two characters, which makes it easy to make up voices for them, which my girls love. The story is about some lizards in the desert, one of which gets into a mess and ends up being artistically deconstructed (down to his outline and then unraveled in a not-scary sort of way) and then remade again. The illustrations are stunning visually, and I'll be happy to keep Art & Max on the shelf in my studio long after my girls grow up.

Mini Masters is a set of four small books but I believe there are more in the series. In the Garden with Van Gogh is one of them. The illustrations are all paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. The authors picked a series of his art and created a short rhyming story to connect them all. Alex's favorite Mini Masters book is Dancing with Degas, which focuses on Edgar Degas' ballerina series. She loves it because she has also been a dancer on stage with her dance class. I like the exposure to famous works of art, as well as the quick read at bedtime.

We have had Alan Baker's White Rabbit's Colors for years now (note the well-loved cover and spine - yes, that is a picture of our actual copy) and my girls still pick it for bedtime! The illustrations are simple and clear to understand and the text explains both color mixing of the primary colors (as the rabbit jumps into different pails of paint) but also touches on warm and cool colors. 

My girls have outgrown it now, but as a bonus book I also want to mention the Watch Me Paint baby book! It's a soft, puffy, water paint book (as the pages get wet, the art appears). It has images by Georgia O'Keefe, Leonardo Da Vinci, Johannes Vermeer, and more! This one is great for the tiniest of artists, with its waterproof pages being great for gum-chewing on. 

Interested in more children's books about or related to art? Check out my first blog post reviewing kids' art books here!