Art Books for Kids

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today we are going to look at books that teach kids about art and artists. The books range for ages 4 to young adult. We will go in order of age. The first is Dancing Through Fields of Color: The Story of Helen Frankenthaler by Elizabeth Brown and illustrations by Aimee Sicuro. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

This book tells a simple form of the story of Helen Frankenthaler. Helen Frankenthaler is a female artist from the 1950s. She dreamed in color and dreamed of sharing the colors she saw in her head with the world, but the art world was telling her to paint in a certain way.

I love how the pictures illustrate the thoughts and work of Helen Frankenthaler. The story is not very detailed but is perfect for this age group to be introduced to this artist. It is a fun book!

Our next book looks like a board book, but it isn't. It is recommended for ages 6+ and is by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is I (Heart) Art. 

This book shares many pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in different categories like I Heart Art, I Heart Sports, I Heart Reading, Writing and Drawing, I Heart the City and more. Each category is full of artwork that fits into it. 

Each piece of art is presented with information about it and the artist who created it. The art varies from paintings to sculptures and more. It is almost like a visit to the museum while sitting at home, but of course the work is in much smaller of a size.

Our next book is about another female artist. It is The Bluest of Blues: Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs by Fiona Robinson. It is recommended for ages 6 to 9.

Anna Children lived in the 1800s and was brought up by her father. Her father is a scientist and teaches Anna about plants and insects. She begins a collection of nature--plants, shells and more--similar to her father's insect collection. She draws pictures of them and labels them with their scientific names. As she becomes an adult she becomes a botanist. She eventually marries John Pelly Atkins. 

Anna goes on to having a collection of over 1,500 examples in her herbarium. This is far too many to illustrate, but she wants to share it with the world. She is not allowed in The Society, so she cannot share with the scientific community. Then her father gives her a gift--one of the first cameras ever made.  I love how most of the book is blue and white like her original photographs. She eventually creates sun photos of her plant samples. A wonderful project to go with this book would be doing sun prints! You can purchase sunprint paper and kits in many different places including Amazon. 

Our next book is Leonardo's Art Workshop: Invent, Create, and Make STEAM Projects Like a Genius by Amy Leidtke. It is recommended for ages 10+. 

Now we all know Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist as well as an inventor and scientist. This book draws on his name and introduces STEAM projects to learn more about aspects of art. 

Each section gives the science behind the project and then has detailed instructions for the project. The photographs are amazing and the instructions are easy to follow. 

As you can see the project has steps listed and photographed. I love the details of this book. It teaches and gives the reader things to do to learn and see on his or her own. It is a wonderful book to check out!! I could see using it in the summer for keeping kids entertained!!

Our final book for today is recommended for young adults. It is Draw Like an Artist: A Self-Portrait Sketchbook by Patricia Geis. 

This book introduces readers to various artists and shares one of their self portraits. Then it provides a place for the reader to draw his or her own self portrait similar to the artist. Some of these places are blank pages like this one for Frida Kahlo. 

Each artist's self portrait has an explanation about it and a question to inspire the reader in his or her own self portrait. The artists in this book range from classical artists to modern artists and everything in between. Some of the inspirations are not really questions but more learning a style like this one with the Van Gogh self portrait.  

What a fun book to explore artists and self portraits as well as to learn a bit about different types of art and how to draw and paint. 

Each of these books teaches different things about art and artists. I hope you will check them out!