The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola

The Indian paintbrush flower blooms in reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks throughout the Midwest as it does at the end of this story. There are many tales about where the flower came from, and Tomie dePaola’s retelling of The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush is an especially captivating one.

Little Gopher is not like the other boys in his tribe. He’d rather draw pictures on rocks than run or ride horses of shoot bows. One day, as he and the other boys his age are nearing manhood, Little Gopher goes to the top of the mountain to think about what it means to be a man. There, he has a vision: one day he will paint a picture with colors as bright as the sky at sunset.

Little Gopher mixes colors and paints picture after picture. He can’t seem to get the colors right. Finally, he is called back up the mountain where all the colors he has ever needed are waiting for him.

This is a beautiful story with illustrations to match. I highly recommend it.

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Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert is the author and illustrator of many lovely books for young children. You may remember reading about Leaf Man last fall. Perhaps you even made your own Leaf Man. In that book, Ehlert created the illustrations using different types of fall leaves. In her other books, she uses materials such as textured paper, cardboard, and cotton fluff.

What I really love about Ehlert’s picture books is that they are related to subjects that kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders learn about in school. At this age, you are learning about the changing leaves, weather, animals, and the life cycle of butterflies. Ehlert has written books on all of these subjects and more.

Waiting for Wings is the story of a group of caterpillars who disappear into chrysalises and emerge as beautiful butterflies. Ehlert’s simple, rhyming story walks you through the life cycle of the butterfly. Her cut paper illustrations feature colorful flowers and several types of butterflies. At the end of the book there is a guide to the types of flowers and the types of butterflies shown throughout the book.

Pie in the Sky is one of my favorites because it features so many different types of birds. Ehlert’s birds are gorgeous and tomorrow I’ll show you how to make your own. Pie in the Sky is the story of a pie tree. Have you ever seen pies growing on a tree? No? Neither had the speaker in this story. But the child soon finds that the tree grows a cherry feast for all the birds, a raccoon, and eventually for the family. And you’ll learn to make a cherry pie right along with the child in the story.

In honor of the snow day that many of us on the east coast are enjoying, check out Snowballs. The snow people and snow dog in this story are anything but ordinary.

Ehlert has written many more books worth reading. These are just a few of my favorites.

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Create Your Own Seussian Birthday Adventure

If you’re about to complete this project in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, you have read Happy Birthday to You!. So you know what Dr. Seuss would do on his birthday if he could do anything in the whole world. What would you do?

Supplies Needed:

White Paper
Pencil
Markers
Dr. Seuss’ picture book illustrations were completed in pen and ink, so let’s use markers for our illustrations. The result will be pretty close.

Think about what you would do if you lived in Katroo and could have any wish in the world on your birthday. I would have a party on a pair of hot air balloons.

Draw your birthday adventure. Remember, you can celebrate with imaginary creatures or travel to anyplace in your imagination. It’s all up to you.

When you’re happy with your drawing, color it in with marker. You’ll want to outline most things in black first. If you look at Dr. Seuss’ drawings, he outlines in black, too.
Finally, write a few rhyming lines about your birthday adventure.

If you and your friends each create a page, you can put them together into your own birthday book.

Happy Birthday to You!
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Don't forget to Create Your Own Cat in the Hat Summary Hat!

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Create Your Own Cat in the Hat Summary Hat

I guess I wouldn’t call this an art project. But it is an artistic way to present a summary. And it’s a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Monday.

Supplies Needed:

White Construction Paper
Red Construction Paper
Pencil
Glue Stick
Scissors

First, read Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. Write a sentence each about the beginning, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the conclusion. You’ll use this later when you write your summary.

Draw a funky hat on your sheet of white paper. When you like what you’ve drawn, cut it out. Turn your hat over to the clean side. You don’t want all those pencil lines to show.
Cut out five strips of red construction paper and lay them across your white hat in stripes. Glue down the left end of each strip. Remember to press down on the glued section for about ten seconds before you move on to the next strip. Trim the extra red paper.

Flip up the first red strip and neatly copy your sentence about the beginning of the story. Then flip up the second red strip and copy your sentence about the rising action. Continue, in order, to write your summary sentences under the red strips.
Write the title of the book and the author's name on the brim of the hat.

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Dr. Seuss

Wow. It’s Thursday already, huh? How’d your week go?

In celebration of his upcoming birthday (Monday), this week’s illustrator is Dr. Seuss. I have to assume that you have read some of his books or, at the very least, seen some of the movies made from his stories. So instead of reviewing a bunch of his books, I’m going to tell you a few fun facts about him, and then say a little about two books that will be used for the projects I’ll post tomorrow.

Dr. Seuss wasn’t always Dr. Seuss. He was born Theodor Seuss Geisel. In 1921 he went to Dartmouth College, where he wrote for the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, the College’s humor magazine. He got into some trouble and, as punishment, the school told him that he could no longer work on the magazine. Well, Theodor didn’t like that option. He continued to write for the magazine under a new pen name—Seuss. The “Dr.” was added after he graduated.

In 1954, a study showed that children weren’t learning to read in school because they thought the books they were reading were boring. Dr. Seuss and his editor came up with a list of the most important words for kids to know how to read and Dr. Seuss wrote a rhyming story using only those words. He had written quite a few books that were well-liked and popular before this, but The Cat in the Hat was special. And kids liked it. It was a book they wanted to read again and again.

Interestingly, Dr. Seuss, though one of the most-beloved and well-known children’s book authors, never won a Caldecott Medal. Three of his books—McElligot’s Pool, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and If I Ran the Zoo—were runners up, what we now call Caldecott Honor books.
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Since Monday is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, is there really a better book to read than his Happy Birthday to You!? This is the story of a place called Katroo where people can do as they wish on their birthdays. The Great Birthday Bird swoops into your home and takes you on a full-day birthday adventure. In Katroo, on your birthday, you can do anything you want. You can eat any food, make a mess, take home an exotic pet, and stay up all night at your birthday party where there are fireworks and a boat-sized birthday cake. Sounds like a great birthday to me!

The second project tomorrow will feature The Cat in the Hat. The story begins with two bored children on a rainy day. When the Cat in the Hat strolls into their home, he turns a boring day into a fun-filled adventure. But the cat’s antics create a huge mess that the children worry will never be cleaned up before their mom gets home.

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Graeme Base

Graeme Base is one of those illustrators who covers every millimeter of page with color. Every time you read a book by Graeme Base you will discover something new in the illustrations. I have not, unfortunately, had the pleasure of reading every book Graeme Base has ever written, but I have read quite a few. Today, I’d like to share a few of my favorites.

Uno’s Garden tells the story of a man named Uno who moves into the forest and builds a small house. When he arrives, there are all kinds of amazing animals, created and named by Graeme Base. There are Moopaloops, and Lumpybums, Snagglebites and Flipperflaps, and one completely ordinary Snortlepig. But over time, people move into the forest and put up buildings. The plants and animals slowly disappear until there are none left. Eventually the people realize their mistake—they have thrown off the balance between humans and nature. Over generations, they put the forest back in order so the plants and animals can return.

Not only is this a wonderful story with fantastic illustrations, but it teaches about environmental issues as well as natural and manmade resources. Furthermore, in the upper right corner of each page is a tally. Each tally tells, in pictures and numbers, how many of each animal, plant, and building can found in the forest and on the page. The animals increase by one each page, the plants are always the number of animals squared (2 X 2, 3 X 3, etc.), and the buildings double. Would you like a little math with your story book? The tallies turn every page into a seek-and-find. Those are always fun.

The Water Hole also deals with natural resources. In the wilderness there is a large water hole that all the animals want to drink from. First, one rhino drinks from the water hole. He is soon joined by two tigers, then three toucans. Soon, there are hundreds of animals drinking from the water hole. But as the animals drink from the hole, it becomes smaller and smaller (and the dye cut circle in the center of Graeme Base’s genius illustrations becomes smaller and smaller, too).

I especially love the way Graeme Base shows the animals talking. He writes out the noises they make and then translates them in parentheses!

And finally, the very first Graeme Base book I ever read, The Worst Band in the Universe. This book will always hold a special place in my heart. It is much longer than the other two books I talked about today and it is recommended for kids aged 9-12.

On the planet Blipp, no one is allowed to create new music. They can only play ancient music. But Sprocc longs to create and perform new songs.

One day Sprocc plays a new song and the Musical Inquisitor becomes enraged. Sprocc knows that if he cannot create new music on Blipp then it is not the place for him. He leaves his home for a new planet, one where he can play his own music.

On this planet, called Squaag, he finds a contest that seeks the worst band in the universe. He is told that on Squaag it is better to be the worst band than the best, that here the meanings are reversed. As Sprocc soon discovers, though, it’s all a trap.

You’ll have to read the book yourself, though. I don’t want to ruin all the twists of this clever rhyming story. The wacky and aliens and their foreign instruments make the illustrations this book perfectly suited to older children.

There are many more great books by Graeme Base. Among his most beloved are Animalia and Eleventh Hour. Check out any of his books and you will certainly be delighted.

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P.S.

I love when you all do my job for me! First Michelle with the project, then, this morning, my mom sent me a link to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. If you live in Massachusetts, check it out. I'd love to read comments from anyone who has ever been to this museum.

Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle

I am a big fan of Eric Carle. The illustrations in his books, made with hand-painted tissue paper, are always bright and lively. His beautifully simple stories possess depth, making them enjoyable for children and adults.

Draw Me a Star is no exception. The story begins when a young artist is asked to draw a star. The artist goes on to draw a sun and a tree, a man and a woman, until he has drawn an entire world. Finally he takes hold of a star and sails away into the heavens. This is the story of creation with an artist as the creator.

I recommend this story highly, though I should warn you that the man and woman in the story appear naked. In my opinion, it is very tasteful; however, I encourage parents to preview the book and then make your decision about whether to share the story with your children.

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Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew

James Mayhew’s Katie Meets the Impressionists is a nice introduction to Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas for children 4 to 6 years old.

It’s Katie’s grandmother’s birthday and Katie wants to give her grandma a gift. The two visit the museum and as Katie explores, she finds the perfect thing: a lovely bouquet of flowers. Katie closes her eyes and finds herself in Monet’s The Luncheon. She paints a picture in Monet’s studio and then picks a bunch of flowers for her grandmother.

But when Katie leaves the painting, the flowers begin to wilt. She can’t give her grandmother wilting flowers! She enters Renoir’s Girl with a Watering Can and picks new flowers but she is chased from the painting, flowers scattering into the museum. Next she finds herself in Monet’s Field of Poppies, then Renoir’s Her First Evening Out, and finally Degas’ Blue Dancers, all in search of the perfect bouquet of flowers.

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Seen Art? by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Seen Art? by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith is a fun story about a boy who is trying to find his friend in New York City. The confusion starts when the boy asks a passerby, “seen Art?” You see, the boy’s friend’s name is Art! The boy heads into the Museum of Modern Art to look for him and he finds art, just not the Art he was looking for.

Jon Scieszka always writes with a humor that boys love. This book would make a great gift for that kindergarten or first grade art lover on your list. Bundle it with art supplies and maybe some instructions for art projects that you found here at Art Smarts 4 Kids!

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Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland

Dinner at Magritte’s, by Michael Garland, is a great introduction to Surrealism, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali.

Pierre lives in the country outside of Paris. He is very bored because there are no other children to play with. One day he goes to visit his neighbor, Rene Magritte, and the evening is anything but boring!

While Pierre watches Magritte paint, Magritte teaches him about how he paints and why he paints the things he does. Pierre, Magritte, and Salvador Dali play croquet, eat dinner, and play charades. Sounds like an ordinary evening but nothing the Surrealists do is ordinary.

In the illustrations, you’ll notice pieces from paintings by Magritte and Dali. Every ordinary activity is shown in surrealistic glory. At one point, Pierre races through the rain as cats and dogs fall from the sky all around him. Later, Salvador Dali joins them for dinner which features flying fish soup with real flying fish.

You’ll discover something new and surprising in the illustrations every time you read this book. And you’ll want to read it over and over.

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My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

39030 / 50000 words. 78% done!

Look What I Did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi

Welcome to Fantastic Nonfiction Friday!

Last fall, when the leaves began to change colors, I posted about Lois Ehlert’s Leaf Man and I showed you how to create your own leaf man. I also showed you how to press leaves between wax paper and suggested a few ways to use those pressed leaves.

Today’s book teaches you how to make animals out of leaves. It does a much better job than I could ever do. I recommend it highly.

Morteza E. Sohi’s Look What I Did with a Leaf does more than just show you how to create an elephant, a peacock, a fox, a frog, a rooster, and many more animals using leaves. This book also teaches about the life cycle of a leaf and includes a field guide to many types of leaves that are found throughout the United States.

When learning about the life cycle of a leaf, what kid wouldn’t love taking a leaf walk and creating his or her own leaf animal?

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12073 / 50000 words. 24% done!
I didn't write a single word yesterday...
But I'm still ahead of schedule going
into the second weekend!

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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Leonard and the Flying Boy by Laurence Anholt

Welcome to Fantastic Fiction Friday!

Today’s pick is Leonard and the Flying Boy by Laurence Anholt, another book in the Anholt’s Artists series.

Zoro is a dutiful student of Leonardo da Vinci. He mixes paints and cleans brushes for Leonardo. Salai, another student, is not so well-behaved. He steals, cheats, and lies, but Leonardo loves him anyway.

While Leonardo is painting the Mona Lisa, Salai steals his flying machine and convinces Zoro to test it out. The boys take the flying machine to the top of a tall mountain and strap Zoro in for his flight.

Anholt’s illustrations are mixed with Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches and paintings. This allows readers to see Leonardo’s own designs for the flying machine, as well as designs for some of his other inventions.

I had chosen a different book for this week’s Fantastic Fiction Friday but today I had the pleasure of reading Leonardo and the Flying Boy with a group of 2nd graders. They loved it as much as I did. The book also inspired us to think of inventions of our own, just like Leonardo da Vinci did. The students drew pictures of their inventions and then shared their ideas. Maybe Leonardo and the Flying Boy with inspire you, too.

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Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail by Laurence Anholt

Welcome to another Fantastic Fiction Friday! (Yes, I finally thought of a decent name for it.) Two things before we get to the book:

Happy Birthday, Mom!! Check out these artist palette birthday cakes!

AND

One more cool link (in case yesterday’s link madness wasn’t enough). This one is really fun. At Mr. Picasso Head, you can create your own Picasso-inspired portrait.
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I have recommended Laurence Anholt to you before. Remember The Magical Garden of Claude Monet? Today, I’d like to tell you about another book in the same series: Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail. This book is also based on a true story.

Sylvette is a shy girl whose neighbor happens to be Pablo Picasso. When Picasso sees Sylvette he decides that he must paint her. He loves her face and her ponytail and thinks Sylvette would be a beautiful subject. She agrees to pose and Picasso creates many paintings and sculptures of his lovely neighbor. When the artwork becomes famous, Sylvette must really put aside her shyness. Eventually, Sylvette is able to achieve her own dream.

But you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out what that dream is.

I love Anholt’s illustrations in this book. He did a great job of showing the way Picasso’s artwork changed over time.

This picture book has a lot of text and takes about 15 or 20 minutes to read aloud.

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Museum 1 2 3 and Museum Shapes

Welcome to Art Book Friday! I’ve already told you about a great board book that uses art to teach colors. Today I want to share two picture books with you: one that teaches numbers and one that teaches shapes.

Museum 1 2 3 was created by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The reader looks at a painting and then counts how many of a particular item are shown. “How many red buses rush through busy city streets,” the book asks. When you turn the page, you find the answer is 3. The book illustrates each number (from 1 to 10) with 5 paintings.

Museum Shapes, also created by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is set up the same way. Shapes range from common circles to crescents and arches. There are 10 shapes in all, each illustrated by 5 paintings.

I love these books because the paintings shown are not always familiar ones. You will find Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas but you will also find many artists you’ve never heard of before. Also, the art comes from all time periods and from all over the world.

These are both great read alouds for young children.

Have a fantastic weekend!

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The Paper Crane by Molly Bang

You learned yesterday that the Japanese consider paper cranes to be lucky. In The Paper Crane, Molly Bang tells a wonderful story a one family who experiences the luck of a paper crane.

The family’s once successful restaurant is not doing well. A highway has been built very near the restaurant and now cars just drive by. People don’t come in to eat anymore. One day a stranger comes in and the restaurant owner serves him a meal. To repay the owner for his kindness, the stranger folds a paper crane out of a napkin. When the crane comes to life the restaurant is suddenly very popular. Everyone wants to see the paper crane that has come to life!

The illustrations are perfect for the book. Molly Bang created paper collages and then photographed them. These images became the illustrations.

I hope you enjoy this picture book as much as I do!

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The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola is the story of a boy who loves to draw. He goes to school, excited to begin art class, and finds that his art teacher expects the students to copy her drawings off the board. Tommy wants to be creative! He wants to use his brand new birthday crayons, not the powdery school paints! You’ll have to read the story to find out how Tommy deals with this problem.

This story is somewhat autobiographical. Tomie dePaola is, of course, an author and illustrator of children’s books. It’s inspiring to read the story of a boy who grows up to do exactly what he always wanted to do.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to draw.

I’d love to hear your opinions about this book. Please feel free to leave comments.

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The Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt

From now on (actually from last week on), Fridays will be book review days here at Art Smarts 4 Kids. If you have read the book, please feel free to comment on whether you liked or disliked it (but please be nice).

Today’s book is The Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt. This is a beautiful picture book that is a perfect read-aloud bedtime story.

Julie lives in Paris with her mother, a painter. She wishes she had a garden so her mother decides to take her to visit Claude Monet in his garden outside the city. They take a train to Monet’s huge garden and Julie is taken for a tour by the artist, himself.

The illustrations were inspired by Monet’s paintings but Anholt has put some of his own style into the pictures.

The book is based on a story about the daughter of Berthe Morisot. I have not yet written about Morisot, but I will tell you about her and her art next week.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Dr. Seuss

I need a break from color field painters. Dr. Seuss is just the thing, don’t you think?

I’m sure you’ve heard of Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator of more than 40 picture books including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Lorax (my favorite). You’ve probably read at least a few of his books. But did you know that he created works of art that were never meant to be used in his books?

At night, when he wasn’t working on his books, Dr. Seuss loved to paint and sculpt. He created this art only for himself. He didn’t mean for others to see it, though he probably knew that eventually people would. I love Dr. Seuss’ illustrations and I was thrilled to find that there were more pictures to look at.

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is a collection of Dr. Seuss’ artwork. Some of you may be interested to read the introduction which was written by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are. The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is full of the wacky characters you’d expect from Dr. Seuss. There are lots of cats, of course, and many creatures not found in nature. I think my favorite piece in the book is the Impractical Marshmallow-Toasting Device. You’ll have to check out the book for yourself to see what that device looks like!

I hope you enjoy this discovery as much as I did. Have a great weekend!

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