Not only do I wholeheartedly believe this, but I would consider it to be a significant concept at the core of my approach to parenting. I've had kids' art books on my mind since last week, having chosen some to read on our "art" day during Mama's Spring Break Camp. For small children, I'm much more interested in storybooks that put the child in the position of artist than those that serve to "educate" children on who's who in the world of dead masters. I certainly believe those have a place, but I think they're best saved for children slightly older than my own. The following three books allow the child to envision him or herself as the artist in one way or another, and all are highly recommended by our little family.
Norman the Doorman:
Written by Don Freeman, of Corduroy
fame, this story, as far as I'm concerned, is at least as charming as his better-known works (which I do also enjoy.) Norman is a mouse who lives in the basement of a museum where he has set himself up with a home and studio inside of an old knight's helmet. He "works" as the doorman for mouse visitors to the museum who view the extras stored in the basement, but he's an artist by night. The story follows the adventures that ensue when he anonymously enters the museum's sculpture contest. Norman's position as both the underdog and an "unofficial" artist encourage the reader to identify with him.I Am An Artist
This simple picture book serves to expand our idea of what it means to be an artist. Each page begins with "I am an artist when..." followed by a statement such as "I look through a sun shower for a rainbow." Without explicitly saying so, it explores the possibility that being an artist is as much about perception and experience as it is about technical skill--an idea that holds much value for small children who simply don't have the coordination or practice to produce what might be considered "great" pieces of art. The style and color schemes of the images encourage repeated observation.Harold and the Purple Crayon
I almost feel silly even mentioning this book because I'm sure you're familiar with it, but who knows--I know even with all of my experience studying English, there are plenty of "classics" I've never read. Harold and the Purple Crayon is very special to me as it is a component of some of my favorite memories from elementary school. They happened not in the classroom, but in the library, sitting between the shelves reading whatever book had recently caught my attention. I distinctly remember looking over and over at this book--the simple purple line drawings are as vivid in my mind as they are on the page today. Harold, for the uninitiated, is a boy who draws the world of his imagination with a single purple crayon. What you may not know (I didn't until a couple of years ago) is that there are several other Harold stories as well, and they're available as a little anthology
.We have other stories that are art-related in some way, but none that quite do what I think these stories do. I'd love to add more to our list of favorites. What children's art-themed books do you recommend?
12 comments:
I stumbled on the Harold books completely by accident while I was shopping last year. In fact, I got the trilogy that you link to. I was so excited when I found a fourth story at our local library. The drawings are simple but they really make you use your imagination as the crayon zig-zags through the story. Love them!
John Lithgow's Micawber. It's about a squirrel who loves art and finally discovers one day that he can paint! The vocab is advanced, but we love it... and we got it for free in a Cheerios box one year :)
Jessica--That sounds like so much fun and definitely along the lines of my requirements! I'll check to see if your library has it. And I love that you got it for free, of course :).
Ish by Peter Renolds --about a child who loves to draw, but becomes discouraged when an older sibling critizes him, until he realizes (with another sibling's encouragement) that it's okay for his art not to look exactly like the thing he is drawing.
Also, a little different, but The Clever Stick is a nice book about how art can be used to express oneself.
Those first two books are new to me - I've just requested them from our library, since they sound lovely!
Harold was my favorite-ever book when I was a kid...I checked it out every time it was in the bookmobile (much to my mother's consternation...I don't know if she had issues with Harold in general, or if she just got sick of it). There are two more Harold books not in the anthology, Harold's Trip to the North Pole (a christmas story) and A Picture for Harold's Room, which is a fabulous introduction to the concept of "perspective."
I LOVED Norman the Doorman as a child, but totally forgot all about him...thanks for the reminder! I also loved Harold, of course. I'll be adding all 3 of these to my library :) I'll let you know if I come across any reader-as-artist books, too.
ish
the dot- both by peter reynolds
ART by patrick mcdonnell
tell me a picture-quentin blake
mousepaint- ellen walsh
little blue little yellow- leo lionni
matthew's dream-leo lionni (possibly my favorite lionni book ever the little mouse decides he wants to be an artist, despite his parents wishes for him to be a MD after he visits a museum and sees all the mouse-terpieces)
lines that wiggle-candace whitman
a day with no crayons-elizabeth rusch
Allison and regina--thanks for the suggestions! I'm so excited to look these up. I did forget about Mouse Paint though--that's a great one, and it also involves color mixing which is very fun.
Andrea--You have no idea how excited I am about those other Harold books. I should have looked to see if there were more than those I knew about. I will definitely be getting the North Pole one for a new advent book next year.
Jill-you knew of Norman?! I had never heard of him until we came across the book at the thrift store.
Wonderful post and great comments. We found inspiration by the first Olivia book this past year. There is a scene in the book where shes Jackson Pollock's Autumn Rhythm painting and decides to recreate it. We did as well.
We also enjoy Babar's Museum of Art. Mostly we like books with great illustraters like Lauren Child's version of Pippi Longstocking and try our own take on drawing the same versions. It was inpsired by this post
http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2010/03/book-copying.html
now, why do I live in Italy? ;-)
fantastic books, anyway.
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