Reviews (10)

100% of kids are capable of centering clay
My name is Rosalie Waxman and I am fifteen years old. I have been going to Kevin's studio for about 10 years and I have succesfully learned how to center clay. The pictures and diagrams written in the book are on the walls of his studio as a helpful reminder to kids learning how to throw. I learned how to throw within a few weeks of starting classes, as did every other kid in the class who had a desire to learn. I started off centering a few pounds of clay and eventually worked up to about 20 pounds of clay as I got more comfortable throwing. ... This book is extremely helpful, and has some great ideas for ceramic projects.

This is an excellent book to inspire childrens' development!
This book replicates the exceptional environment that exists in the Kids 'N' Clay Pottery Studio. The opportunity for kids to explore their creative intelligence, problem solving capacity and social interaction skills is facilitated by the creative process as documented in this book. The book sets up the projects, learning scenarios and technical (easy) aspects of creating the same kind of nurturing child development environment in your home or classroom. HIGHLY recommended!

a great book to help teach
The book is full of great projects for kids on the wheel and handbuilders. Most importantly are the helpful instructions on how to teach the wheel thowing process. I gave copies of this book to several new after-school teacher's assistants so that they could understand the teaching process better. It definitely helped.

A great book for kids!
As a student of Kevin Nierman's for ten years, since the age of eight, I have had the good fortune to be exposed to his wonderful teaching style. Kevin has the natural ability bring each child's inner creativity to the surface. He has challenged teaching conventions by allowing young kids to do whatever they want with clay, including throwing on the wheel -- and he has proved that young children can succeed and have fun working on the wheel. More importantly, he knows how to make working with clay FUN!

The Kids 'N' Clay book brings Kevin's experience and natural teaching ability into a format accessible to all. This book is filled with tips and ideas, a wonderful aid for kids who have any kind of artistic inclination. Although it is not necessarily intended to be a beginner's manual, it can be an excellent supplement to any art classes your child may already be taking. It is a helpful and fun guide to the wonderful creative world of clay.

thank you
what a great book my child has created the greatest pieces and has seemed to access some wonderful part of himself. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Beautiful book
This book is truly marvelous. It provides an easy and accessible way to introduce young children to the world of art, while leaving room to develop their own ideas and concepts concerning "classical art". I think as children grow they will continue to appreciate the beauty of the works they first met in this book and will have a point of reference that helps them relate to the works in the book.

What a Wonderful Idea!
When I first looked through this book, I thought maybe they could have added some explanations to the artwork. Then, I realized that if they had, they would not be allowing the child to make up creative ideas about the art themselves.

Each piece is simply accompanied by a word or sentence. "Young and Old" is next to Dignity and Impudence by Edwin Landseer. A picture of a large and small dog.

Children Playing on the Beach by Mary Cassatt is explained by: "playing in the sand."

The simplicity of this book then becomes the beauty. Children will want to know more about the pictures and you can answer their questions and have a conversation about art.

There are over 100 paintings reproduced in gorgeous colors. You can teach colors and words as well as art appreciation. It might also be amusing to try to teach them the names of the paintings.

The art is divided up into sections. There is a note to parents and teachers. Then you can view art that focuses on:

The Family
At Home
In the Garden
Pets
Animals on the Farm
Wild Animals
Birds
Fruit
Things we Do
Action Words
Counting
Colors
Shapes
Opposites
The Seasons
The Weather
By the Sea
Faces
The Five Senses
Six Way to Travel
Let's Go by Boat
A Time to Work, Play, Eat, Sleep
A Time for Peace

The picture of fall is especially beautiful. While viewing this book, you might also want to play some classical music in the background.

This book is just delightful. You might also enjoy "A Child's Book of Lullabies" featuring art by Mary Cassatt.

I love this book!
It is my experience that one must sneak up on children with the love of great art. This book is the perfect resource for just that pleasure. It is my favorite baby gift for new parents and grandparents. Everyone loves it, even those who are not already "into" art.

Terrific educational book for many ages of kids!
This beautiful book teaches the basics (colors, animals) to little kids, and is a great intro to many styles of art through history for older kids. I love it! ... Read more

Book Description

In this book, eighteen dynamic paintings from around the world feature simple, colorful, child-friendly forms — animals, fruits, vegetables, flowers, birds, trees, boats, sunsets, insects, people, and more — to teach the concept of color. For example, to illustrate the color of blue, children see Vincent van Gogh's Vincent's House at Arles that shows a house with a blue sky backdrop as well as Ando Hiroshige's The Sea at Satta in Suruga Province that features a light blue sea.

The simple text focuses attention almost entirely on the paintings, which range from the work of old masters to contemporary talents, and notes on the artwork can be found at the back of the book. ... Read more

Book Description

Whooo-ooo!Train's a' coming!James can't wait to get on board and go visit his uncle way up north in New York City. But he also just wishes he could take a little bit of home along with him-things like baseball games, and the special birthday cake Mama always makes. Will Uncle Romie, who's some kind of artist, know about things like that?

Young readers will feel as if they're discovering the city's wonders, and making an unexpected friend, right along with James in this vibrant story, expressively illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award winner Jerome Lagarrigue.

A how-to section on storytelling collages and a short biography of Romare Bearden are included. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Doesn't Do the Artist Justice
Maybe it's because I'd just read "Uncle Andy's"-- another children's book about a famous artist--that I so disliked this one. Where the former is light and hip and fun, the latter is heavy-handed, preachy and uninspiring. The tone is far too serious for the subject, and for the age range of its intended audience. The illustrations, while interesting to adults, don't seem vibrant enough to catch a child's attention.

Finally, there's a minor event in the story that could, and should have been omitted or changed to something else: in order to get the child narrator alone with his uncle Romare, the author uses the literary device of having Aunt Nettie receive a phone call that an old aunt has died and she has to go to the funeral. What a thoughtless detail that cannot possibly remain minor! This book, remember, is directed at four to eight year olds. At the latter end of that range, some children *might* be coming to an awareness of death--but it's not a given, and certainly not the case for a four-year-old. Just the word funeral is a show-stopper. You can be sure it won't be glossed over by any curious child, and so we're stopped in our tracks, diverted from the main story, while we veer off into a discussion of funerals and death. I'm not saying we need to avoid these discussions--far from it-- but in a book about an artist and the joy of art it's intrusive and inappropriate.

I bought this book, along with Uncle Andy's, for my two grandsons, aged 4 and 6. I'm not giving them this one, at least not yet. I don't want to spoil the fun of the Warhol book, and the death talk can wait until they're ready for it.

This Is The Perfect Book
When I bought this book for my kid, I didn't quite know what to expect. I was very excited to find that this is a book that I can enjoy with my child. This wonderful book with a heart-warming story and beautiful pictures was able to do something I thought no book could: teach something important to a child and allow the child to have fun. This book is good for kids of all ages and for parents of all ages too. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

A Great Resource for Staging Plays with Kids
This collection provides a good mix of large and small group plays, including The Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It might not be great theater, but it gave the elementary school kids I was working with a chance to perform a familiar story without a million rehearsals. The lines are manageable and the kids weren't put off by having to learn long speeches.

N ot impressed
Disappointing.Only a small portion of the book is devoted to plays that children can perform themselves.The handful of plays in this section provide a good example of the multiculturism fad in kids' books these days. The plays are identified as coming from several different countries.Butthis supposedly diverse group of plays is uniformly unentertaining, withlittle or no educational content. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

Ms. Hannah wears dresses made out of potholders and collects garbage instead of throwing it out. Plus she's making A.J. be partners with smelly Andrea. This is the worst art class ever!

Reviews (1)

Introduce Your Kids to Art - Great Book!
As a mom of a preschooler (and baby), I'm always looking for ways to expose my 3-year-old son to great art without boring him, and this book is perfect! I've bought other art-related kids books, and they were not captivating like this one is. The text has gentle rhyme, and my son really got into the different paintings. The "Biographical Notes" section has more information on the artists if you've forgotten your college Art History (like me!), and my son found it interesting, too. I really liked the message at the end of the book, "...And nobody sees the world like you." I plan on making this book my new gift for everyone -- for new babies, for my son's friends' birthday gifts, holidays, etc. It would be great for kids of all ages, really. You will love this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (7)

Excellent Way to Get More Acuainted with the Great Artists!
It was interesting to read about the eccentric personality characteristics of the great artists and how they found their specialty areas of creativity. I especially enjoyed learning more about Cassatt and O'Keefe and how they encountered a lot of criticism during their time and how they were not afraid to be themselves and BE GREAT! I will share this book with my son when he is ready for it. Right now he is only nine, and too much into sports(ha.)

Ansel Adams should have been included.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown Eyed Boy"

A New Way to Perceive the Lives of the Artists
Most people can name at least a couple famous artists and cite some examples of their best-known works. But have you ever wondered what's really behind all that painting, sculpting, and drawing? Kathleen Krull's book Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought) gives an in-depth view into the humor, tragedy, and mystery in twenty artists' lives, as well as the gossip inspired by their peculiar lifestyles. Carefully researched, this humorous biography travels throughout the centuries, offering basic facts along with interesting tidbits and anecdotes about artists from Leonardo Da Vinci to Georgia O'Keeffe and beyond. It also includes interesting backround information behind each one's artistic works as well as creative and eye-catching illustrations by Kathryn Hewitt. This entertaining book allows readers to get to know the world's greatest artists and their artworks through each one's unique and engaging story.
The book is well organized into chapters each focusing on the life of one individual artist. The author skillfully and humorously connects information about artists' personalities, preferences, and lifestyles with how they affected their most well known artworks. It recreates each one's position in history, telling how the artists were seen by the general population in their day, or even their reputation among curious or superstitious neighbors. Readers will be able to see for themselves that famous artists were real people who did mess up once in a while. The author explains a time when Leonardo Da Vinci decided to try out a new painting method, saying, "The technique resulted in disaster...(he hadn't read all the way through to the part that said "don't try this on walls")."
The author's voice helps compliment the content in several ways. Kathleen Krull's words strike a tone that is warm, chatty, and friendly, making you feel as if she were talking with you in the same room. Her gossip extends not only to the basic facts but also to many specific details abou the artists' lives. Showing the passion and tragedy in his life, she remarks about the artist Vincent van Gogh,"Van Gogh imposed a condition of near starvation on himself and would go for days without food so he could afford to buy art supplies." In addition, every sarcastic or humorous comment made on the part on the author helps readers to feel they are getting to know an actual person rather than a cold, vague historical figure.
The author also ensured that the book would appeal to an audience of both children and adults. The words and explanations are engaging and humorous and immediately capture your interest, yet the vocabularly is not too difficult for children. The full-page color illustrations are vivid, clever, and bring to life each artist for the young and old alike. Because the book gives more information about each artist than is generally known, it is sure to benefit and interest a wide range of audiences.
Readers of all ages will definitely become hooked on this fact-filled and entertaining biography. Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought) retells the one of a kind stories of each of the world's most famous artists, blending historical facts with humor and captivating details. Most importantly it allows readers to recognize each individual artist through an attractive mix of their achievements, lives, and unique personalities.

My six year old and I love this book!
Reading a chapter from this book has become a bedtime ritual for my daughter and me. My daughter happens to be very interested in art and this book gives her an idea of what it's like to actually be an artist. Both the illustrations and text bring these artists to life more than any other childrens or adult book I have ever seen. This is one of the few books that we both enjoy reading over and over again. I wish the authors would do another volume of artists. Meanwhile I'm ordering another book by this author/illustrator combination.

An Amazing Adventure into the Private Lives of Artists
This book would make an outstanding addition to the reading list of any art lover. If you love finding out the gossipy trivia about some well-known and should-be-well-known artists, that this is the book you MUST buy. Really gorgeous illustrations by a fantastically talented artist herself, Kathryn Hewitt

An interesting cross selection of artists
"It's not what an artist does that counts, but what he is" - Picasso, p. 56

The book contains 16 Chapters on the following 17 artists in birth year order: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Peter Bruegel (1525?-1569), Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625), Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Mary Cassatt (1845-1926), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), William H. Johnson (1901-1970), Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), Diego Rivera (1886-1957) & Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Andy Warhol (1928-1987).

It contains a variety of gossipy tidbits about the artists' lives. The cross selection of artists is an interesting combination. Krull introduced me to three artists of which I was not familiar (Anguissola, Kollwitz and Johnson). As a result Krull has whet my appetite and I will now seek out further information. Hewett"s illustrations are entertainly and cleverly done. I am especially particular to her rendition of Hokusai (he is wearing a kimino with both "The Wave" and "Mt. Fuji" on it).

I'm not convinced that the book is intended for young readers (ages 9-12). The gossip is on occasion adult in content. No actual prints of any of the artist's paintings are included, which was a surprise given the high cost of the book. This proves cruelly aggravating given that Krull references select paintings with accompanying notes.

Additional tidbits missing from the book: Dali did the dream sequence in Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound" starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. Chagall's "The Dead Man" was the inspiration for the title of the Broadway play "Fiddler on the roof." Rivera caused a scandal when he painted the portrait of Lenin in a Rockefeller Center mural in '33. In addition, he used his clout to enable Leon Trotsky to live in Mexico. Two years later Kahlo introduced Trotsky to her friend, a Stalinist agent, who killed him with an ice-axe. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

4 year old daugher loves this book!
I bought this book for my 4 year old daugter to help her to draw more than stick people and flowers. She loves it. She gets so excited when she can actually draw a barn, a pig, a horse.... She wants more books. Have fun with it and learn how to draw using simple directions.

THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL!
I just bought this book for my boys ages 4 and 3. And this book is great. It really teaches you step by step how to draw. I am very bad at drawing if it is anything other than stick people. But I am actually learning right along with the kids. It is great. It is full color, and you can reuse it many times with many children.

The best draw/write book that I ever bought for my sons.
I found this book about 18 months ago and I knew that this book will help my sons to draw. Chris is now 9 years old and Daniel is 6 years old. They both love these books ( book 1-6 ). They use these books most frequently for their projects. Ever since I have been buying these books for B-day presents, even sent them to Singapore !

best books available for teaching children how to draw
Finally! A beginning level drawing course that allows children to be successful! Hats off to authors Marie Hablitzel and Kim Stitzer for sharing Marie's classroom lessons in this delightful series of books. My children love working with these books! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Draw 50 Flowers, Trees and Other Plants
This is a great instructional book. It takes you step by step thru the process. I would reccommend it to anyone starting out in drawing. ... Read more

Book Description

Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The much anticipated follow-up to the award-winning Can You Find It?

In Can You Find It, Too? children approach art as detectives, browsing through 20 beautifully reproduced paintings in search of more than 150 details that are fun to find. With works from renowned institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and featuring art by renowned artists from all over the world, the search is on-for a musical horse, a nest of baby birds, even an artist's signature in worms! AUTHOR BIO: Judith Cressy has a degree in elementary art education and lives in New York City. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's leading cultural institutions, home to more than 2 million works of art. ... Read more

Book Description

The world of chivalry and sorcery comes to life under the familiar and prolific artistic guidance of Damon Reinagle.With his characteristically warm tone and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, Reinagle takes young artists on drawing adventures into the magical realm of elves, trolls, wizards, kings and fairies. Final drawings jump from the page with brilliant color to help inspire would-be knights and ladies to truly immerse themselves in creating their own fantastical worlds. Part of the Learn to Draw Series--Ideal for children 11-14 years old! From initial concept to finished art, the Learn to Draw series provides young and beginning artists with practical step-by-step instruction in a warm, friendly voice. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Step by Step Guide to transform imagination into reality
Step by step instructions help your budding young artist transform imagination into reality on paper. From organizing materials to tweaking the drawing with your own personal style, DRAW Magical Fantasies provides easy instructions and a light approach to drawing fantasy characters. A great follow-up to 1-2-3 Draw, another book in this series of art books. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Ideal for Pre-Teen and Beginning Artists


"DRAW 3-D" by Doug DuBosque is a friendly and painless introduction to the ABCs of perspective drawing. The text has a conversational feel and is easy to understand, using short words and simple explanations aided by 2-5 very clear illustrations (and an occasional photograph) on every single page.

I went through the whole book, practice-drawing as I read, in about a week, since it's only 63 pages and I was already familiar with some of the principles discussed thanks to the most excellent "How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way" by John Buscema & Stan Lee.

I think "DRAW 3-D" is easy enough for a kid of about 9 or older to understand most of it, and all of it if he or she has an older artist handy to explain and demonstrate (or to console and encourage, because it sure is exasperating when you forget which of those 20 straight lines goes where). It will not teach you to draw a perspective view from an object plan, or to draw a perfect square in perspective, but if you are completely new to perspective drawing and want a good introduction to the subject, this is the book for you.

Try it! If you reach the point where you don't need it anymore, and haven't become sentimentally attached to it in the meantime, it will make a great gift for anyone else interested in drawing.

Splendid!
I bought three beginning drawing books for my 9 year old, and this one was his favorite (one on how to draw cartoons was a close second). The first exercise, which is to spell out your name using 3-D letters, caught his interest right away, and he's been back to the book several times on his own initiative. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Nice pictures and graphics - but not the best beginner book
I got 3 books on chess for my 12th birthday. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, Chess For Juniors and Starting Chess. I give most of the stars because his book has great pictures and graphics. But, the amount that I learned from the written text was where this book was not so good. I do like this book a lot more that the Fischer Book, but my Chess For Juniors book was the absolute very best for a kid my age.

This Book Got My Son Interested in Chess
I began reading this book to my son when he was four. We started with the basics of how to set up the board and how the pieces move. Starting Chess helped peak my son's interest and learning in the game. He has now progressed to thinking about strategy and combinations as a result of Harriet Castor's excellent method for conveying the fundamentals found in book.

As an Usborne book, I knew this would probably be a great tool to teach the game since the company designs interactive reading to compete with television and video games. The puzzles and great graphics throughout helped to stimulate my son's (and now my younger daughter's) interest. They are both really enjoying the game, and we play often.

Highly recommended!

PS "Chess For Children" by Ted Nottingham is an excellent follow on book to continue developing young kid's passion for Chess.

Great book for kids
I've been reading this book to two kids in the family, ages 7 and 9, and they love it. Also we have a 3-year-old who likes the pictures and has slept with this book under his arm--what other endorsement do you need?

The drawings are fun, with lots of animated characters. Chess notation is described but not required for learning the moves (drawings are shown instead). The book covers all the basics for each piece, discusses exchanges (and points per piece), special moves (castling, en passant), opening moves and tricks, and endgames. Plus there's some chess history and simple puzzles. High recommended.

Excellent beginners book on chess fundamentals.
Originally found this in the library. I knew some chess, but wanted to get back to the basics. The color art and thinness of the book (not a lot of long explanations to bog me down) attracted me to it, and I got quite a lot out of the simple, to-the-point concepts and explanations. I am now referring it to a friend of mine who is visually-impaired and wants to learn chess. The large print is good for his reading, and the simple explanations help him to understand chess without drowning in complicated teaching. ... Read more

Book Description

"When every kid on the block wanted to become a policeman or fireman, I wanted to be an artist. It was the first thing that I was good at, the first thing that really made me special. I had skills the other kids didn't have. Art saved my life." These are the words of Chuck Close, one of America's most celebrated artists and the subject of this inspiring and thought-provoking book. Through interviews conducted with Close as well as an analysis of his technique, acclaimed authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan explore the ways in which an artist's life and work intertwine. Close's remarkable larger-than-life portraits are the result of a carefully constructed system that finds its roots in both his struggle to overcome severe learning difficulties as a child and immense physical challenges later in life.With full-color reproductions of Close's work as well as additional material on portraits and portraiture, plus a glossary and bibliography, this is an engaging and accessible study of an extraordinary artist, the subject of over one hundred one-man shows, including a retrospective exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

it's a pretty good intro
Greenberg and Jordan's book is a pretty good introduction to the work of one of our modern masters, Chuck Close. Chuck Close is a phenomenal painter, both before the onset of his disease and even more so after. You won't find many books on him, or many that contain his work. Until something a bit more 'adult' or comprehensive comes out, this is a good selection. It discusses his life and work. There is also a brief chapter on what is a portrait. They finish it off with a list of museums that have some of Chuck Close's work. It's a nice intro to a great artist.

Buy this BEFORE some adult version!
Both elementary and high school readers get something from this book. The straightforward prose coveys this artist's powerful talent, humanity and relevance without being sappy. My students like to be read to when they work - its great to see them process and internalize this information as they struggle with these skills and concepts. Clean design and beautiful photos lay it all out simply. If more art history grad students would get to the point this well and this fast, I could coach art history as a sport.

Great Book for Intro to Gridded Portraiture in HS Art
I'm an artist and art teacher, and I recently read this book tomy high school art students as an introduction to gridded portraiture.Don't let the age 9-12 reading level put you off--my high schoolstudents really enjoyed learning about Chuck Close, and were impressedby his work and his life story. In addition to having some greatpictures of Close's work, the book has a lot to say about the artist'sability to develop strategies to deal with his learning disabilities,and his perseverance to continue to work despite an injury that lefthim paralyzed from the neck down. Many of the students could relateto Close's learning differences, and viewed his story as veryinspirational. I like this book so much, in fact, that I'mrecommending it on my website where I have a detailed lesson planbased on teaching kids portraiture via a similar gridded method! END

this is
This is a clear and inspiring story of the life and art of a great american artist. (and not as expensive and art speaky as a catalogue raisonne) Good for children and adults. I highly recommend it!!!!!! ... Read more

Book Description

Send children on a search for tiny details hidden in full-color reproductions of some of the world's most celebrated works of art. Lift-the-flap keys reveal the solutions to each puzzle and the fascinating stories behind the works that helped art develop throughout the ages. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great beginning art book for young children
This book was reviewed in Parents magazine and I thought I would give it a try.
It is wonderful. It is an I Spy type book with copies of famous paintings spanning hundreds of years and there are 12 small circles that are on each page and you and your child need to try to find each of the small areas in the larger picture. My 5 year old son loves this book. ... Read more