Art with Children – Part II - Resources

Children can easily learn to enjoy, appreciate, and discover great art. They are so open to the world of imagination and creativity, and most are still quite confident in their own abilities to follow in the footsteps of famous artists.

On Monday I shared some tips for visiting the art museum with young children. Today I’d like to share some of the resources we have discovered used this year.

These resources have been a source of knowledge and inspiration for my children AND for me! It may surprise you to know that I am NOT an art major and I don’t have any real knowledge base for this pursuit. So don’t shy away because you “don’t know much about it”. Dive in and learn right along with your children!

The books listed here are only the tip of the iceberg . They include most of my favorites for my young children. Remember that at this age the goal is to introduce our children to artwork and help them to develop an appreciation for it. My kids get so excited when a painting that they recognize from a book appears in another book, or better yet, at the museum!

And let me assure you that YOU can teach your children to appreciate the arts much better than those Little Einsteins can. (as cute as they are…)

The Heinemann First Library series called, “The Life and Works of…” is one of the main resources I use for the FACTS! These are very easy to read non-fiction books about famous artists. Even my three year old enjoys listening and looking at the pictures. This series is easy enough for your young elementary school children to read with ease. (first grade level? second grade? I am not good at that.) It seems to be just the right amount of facts for the youngest of learners!

The other series I enjoy is the “Getting to know the world’s greatest…” series by Mike Venezia. These books are written at a more advanced than the Heinemann series, but still appropriate for elementary school age reading levels. They have more information in them, so they aren’t always as enjoyable for my preschooler.

The Mike Venezia series is the one that I usually read on my own to acquire some good information before our museum trip. It is a quick read for me and full of great information.

(Slightly more appropriate for me and your older elementary children/middle school would be the books by Diane Stanley, like this one on Michaelangelo.)

My seven year old has read a few of Mike Venezia’s, but it is clear at her age that she enjoys the previous series because it has less information. Both my five and seven year old daughters will sit and listen if I am reading this series out loud. Sometimes I read it word for word, and other times I skim it while we discuss and enjoy the pictures.

Now for the less information driven books…

One of my all time favorite authors of children’s books about art is Lucy Micklethwait. Her books are fun, usually challenging the reader to look for specific items in a variety of artwork.

The “Spot A ____” series are wonderful. The reader must find the one item to spot in every painting in the book. I often discover a piece of art that has the animal (or object) that I would not have noticed at all if I wasn’t looking for it. She selects a wonderful variety of artwork to enjoy!

She has another series called, “I spy ____ in art”. There is no mystery there. It is exactly how it sounds. On each page you are challenged to spy something in the artwork. We have used, “I spy shapes in art” and have been able to reinforce the shapes with my preschooler while engaging the older two girls in the artwork as well!

She also wrote, “Discover Great Paintings”. This was the first ever book art book for kids that I stumbled upon. We love to get out our magnifying glasses to answer the questions about the paintings in this book because the pictures are printed wonderfully large! With the information about each painting, there is a child standing next to the “actual size” of the original painting. It was fun to see that some were very small pieces and some were much taller than the children!

The “Come Look With Me” series is a great introduction to artwork. (not pictured) This series covers everything from landscapes to portraits. My kids aren’t as attracted to this one as some of the others, but it is a good one. Give it a try for sure. We haven’t bought any in this series, but have enjoyed them from the library.

Another fun find was the Art Fraud Detective! This one is an art mystery book! You have to find the fraudulent pieces of artwork and then determine what mistakes were made in the copy by comparing it to the original. Without a doubt, your children will learn famous pieces of artwork because they are staring at them to find mistakes. It is a great way to study and talk about different pieces.

Oh I love the books by Laurence Anholt ! Books such as, “Degas and the little dancer” are in our home library now! We have enjoyed so many of them and have started collecting them one at a time. I particularly love this one about Degas because the famous “little dancer” that he sculpted has a replica located here in Baltimore. We love to go visit “Marie” at the museum.

The books by James Mayhew are another group of books that I adore! His main character, Katie, is an adorable little girl who goes to the museums with her grandmother. Every time they visit she hops in various pieces of artwork for some fun adventures. These stories are delightful and memorable! We own this one and I just bought this one. I want them all, so if you need a gift idea…*wink.

So read some with your kids. Enjoy the artwork and learn together.

And visit your local art museum this summer on one of those “it’s too hot to go outside” days in August!