Counting with Wayne Thiebaud

I posted about Wayne Thiebaud (Tee-Bow) and his tasty food paintings awhile back. I also recommended using the National Gallery of Art's website to teach fractions with Thiebaud's paintings. Today’s book, Counting with Wayne Thiebaud by Susan Goldman Rubin, brings Thiebaud’s art to an even younger audience: those just beginning to count.

This board book makes counting to ten enjoyable and delicious as kids count pieces of pie, ice-cream clowns, candied apples, hot dogs, and many more treats, illustrated with Thiebaud’s paintings.

If you liked Susan Goldman Rubin’s Andy Warhol’s Colors, you’ll like Counting with Wayne Thiebaud, too.

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My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

25149 / 50000 words. 50% done!
Past the halfway point a little ahead
of schedule!

Fantastic Fiction Friday: Andy Warhol

This week’s Fantastic Fiction Friday post features Andy Warhol. You may remember that I had some difficulty finding Andy Warhol books. Jeremy, who writes a great blog at Scholastic, recommended the two I will share with you today. Thanks, Jeremy!

That’s right. It’s a double-feature.

First up is Andy Warhol’s Colors by Susan Goldman Rubin. This is nice board book illustrated with the oddly colored animals that Andy Warhol created. There is a green cat, a purple horse, and rows of pink cows. The simple, rhyming text has the perfect rhythm for repeated read alouds.

Today’s second selection is Uncle Andy’s: A faabbbulous visit with Andy Warhol by James Warhola. This book would make a great read-aloud for 2nd or 3rd graders.

James Warhola is Andy Warhol’s nephew. In this story, Warhola recalls a trip he took with his large family to visit Andy Warhol in New York City. Andy’s home is full of art. Some of it reminds James of the junk his father brings home from the junk yard and James loves it all.

I recommend this book highly if you want to experience a side of Andy Warhol you don’t often get to see.

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Book Recommendation: Mini Masters Boxed Set by Merberg and Bober

I would love to review this entire boxed set of board books by Julie Merberg and Susan Bober, but I've only had the chance to read one of the books. It was great though and I'm confident in the entire collection.

The Mini Masters Boxed Set includes four small but sturdy board books: In the Garden with Van Gogh, A Picnic with Monet, Dancing with Degas, and A Magical Day with Matisse. If you click through to Amazon.com you'll notice that there are several more board books in the series that are not included in the set.

I have had the great pleasure to read In the Garden with Van Gogh. In fun rhymed lines, Merberg and Bober tell the story of a wheat harvest. The book is illustrated with van Gogh's paintings of wheat in all its stages of growth and harvest. And, of course, a connection is drawn between the growing wheat and growing children (who sleep beneath a starry night).

My opinion is that you can never have too many books, especially books about art. You can buy each of these board books individually but if you plan to buy two or more, it's less expensive to pick up the boxed set. Pretty good deal for an art education.

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Book Review: Windows to Color by Julie Aigner-Clark

A couple that I’m friends with is getting ready for the arrival of their first child. You’ve probably noticed that I like art and that I think it’s important for kids to learn about art so, me being me, I set out to create the perfect gift basket of art for this baby-to-be. In my search, I came across a fantastic board book that I thought might be of interest to some of you readers.

If you’ve had a baby recently, are preparing to have a child, are an older brother or sister to a baby, or know someone with a young child, you’ve probably seen the “Baby Einstein” products put out by Disney. For that matter, if you’ve watched T.V. lately you’re probably seen commercials for “Baby Einstein” products. I am very impressed. I must tell you about this book I found called Windows to Color written by Julie Aigner-Clark and illustrated by Nadeem Zaidi. It introduces kids 9 months and older to color, using master works of art as examples.

First you see the painting, then you turn the page and find the name of the color written in large letters with examples of objects that are that color. There is a little window (the shape of which varies throughout the book—a star, a heart, a circle, etc.) through which you can see where the featured color is used in the painting.

Van Gogh’s fields of yellow wheat are shown opposite yellow ducklings. A Degas painting, along with a basketball, illustrate orange. Many of the most known and loved artists, from Marc Chagall to Gustave Klimt, are represented in this fantastic board book.

When I was shopping at the book store (where I bought a few more artsy board books that I’ll tell you about next week), the woman who helped me said that a lot of people seemed to be buying books as baby shower gifts. That comment was very uplifting. After all, what is more important than mind and spirit? Just a thought…

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