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As many of you know by now, I have four children: two daughters under age 5 and two teenage stepsons (I’m both potty training and dealing with empty-nesting, it’s brutal.) Even though talking with me about art is far from my boys’ favorite subject they can understand why I get a kick out of Banksy shredding his art as soon as it was auctioned off.My girls on the other hand are a little more difficult to explain art to. They both love coloring (one more than the other, so I’m still hopeful one of my kids will grow up to be an artist like Mommy) with crayons; drawing with pencils, pens, and markers; painting with watercolors; and drawing with chalk. Pretty typical kids’ art stuff. But I don’t want to have to wait ten more years to be able to really share my love of art with them, and thankfully there are some fantastic books written for younger audiences that broach the subject in a way they can understand!
I not-so-secretly bought this for myself!
When I was pregnant with Emma, I picked up a "baby’s first 100 words" book to read to her, which featured words like “book,” “cup,” “crib,” “bath,” etc. So when I discovered there was a book of 100 ART words, I knew our household needed it! I wholeheartedly give this book a 5/5, and I even learned a few words myself when I first read this book to my girls! One of my favorite things about it is that it covers a wide range of creative fields instead of focusing on the stereotypical “painting.” It includes history, writing, color theory (oh yeah!), photography, theater, archaeology, music, and more! The illustrations are brightly colored and simple, with a happy little face on each item (which I also love, as I’m one of those people who says things like “where do the books live?”)
I love this book so much I've gifted it to other parents!
We have had this little board book for years now! We first got the scientist one and once again as soon as I found out there was an artist one… 😉 It features ten famous artists in a range of ethnicities and from a wide range of history as well. My favorite thing about this book is that the information has three levels to it – the stylized illustrations, a short rhyming blurb, and a few sentences explaining it a little bit further. Very young children can see the bright pictures, the rhymes are simple to understand, and when kids get a little bit older they can learn even more. The very last spread in the book lists 19 more artists (including YOU!), with the challenge of “Crayons, paper, paint or clay – what will you use to make art today?”
An excellent resource for explaining museums to young kids!
We not only read this one every night in preparation for our trip to the Sioux City Art Center earlier this year, but we also brought our copy with us to the gallery! This book features simple, bright illustrations – on the left page is an example of different artworks, and on the right is the rhyming text and a scene from Charlotte’s (the main character) trip to the museum. It follows a typical visit to a gallery, complete with a brochure and guide, drinks at a café, various sizes and types of artwork, and in the end encourages kids to become artists themselves: “I just have to work hard, be kind, and always follow my heart.”
Our copy has clearly been "loved" for years!
It’s not technically an art book, but it is about painting (the illustrations have SO much energy in them) and it’s definitely an entertaining read! The very first page starts off with a room covered in paint, “on the floor and the ceiling and the walls and the curtains and the door…” Literally everywhere EXCEPT the canvas on the easel (which is where the text is instead!) As the story continues, the main character makes himself a work of art by painting his own body – making the story useful in multiple ways – listing both colors and body parts until he runs out of both and ends up in the bathtub! It’s a relatable and fun book, and I thoroughly enjoy reading this one to my girls at bedtime.
Reading books after brushing teeth has been a staple of bedtime at our house since Emma was about 9 months old. Now that Alex is old enough to pick her own book out we read two books every night. Some I enjoy reading more than others, but art books are always welcome when Mommy does bedtime!
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