Today’s Fantastic Fiction for Kids post comes courtesy of writer and artist Sallie Wolf. Her contribution today is extra special (apart from it being on a great topic) because I “met” Sallie as a result of the first ever Fantastic Fiction for Kids here on Playing by the book – Lynn from Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile had selected one of Sallie’s books (Truck Stuck), and Sallie got in touch via the comments on that post. So now things have come full circle and Sallie is here with a wonderful list of book for us today, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her contribution:

My [Sallie's] all time favorite picture book is called ARTISTS’ HELPERS ENJOY THE EVENINGS, written and illustrated by M.B. Goffstein, who is a fabulous illustrator. It’s a picture book in four chapters (a chapter picture book?), with a very wry sense of humor and beautifully designed pages. The characters are artist’s Conté crayons named Blanc, Noir, Gris, Bistre, and Sanguine. They live in Paris and enjoy their evenings. I wonder if this book would get published today, with its very subtle humor and lack of action or suspense. I fell in love with the simplicity of the drawings and the language and the love of art that shines through. [Book cover image courtesy of Sallie]

Another favorite is THE DOT, by Peter H. Reynolds. It is about Vashti, a young girl who feels she cannot draw. Her art teacher suggests she, “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.” And when Vashti stabs her paper with a dot, her teacher says, “Now sign it.” With humor and sensitivity, this book portrays Vashti’s journey to becoming an artist.

THE COLOR KITTENS, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, is another classic, one of the original Golden Books, which is still in print. A pair of kittens learn to mix colors and paint their world. It would be a fun book to read and then experiment with mixing your own colors in watercolor paints.

Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the Mutts comic strip, has written an ode to ART, a cute rhyming picture book about a young artist who’s name is Art. There are nods to HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, which is another classic, not to be missed. I first discovered the principles of perspective in HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON. Have you forgotten the wonderful interplay between word and drawing in HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, also present in ART? [Note from Zoe: my own review of Art by Patrick McDonnell is here]

With another little boy named Art, ART’S SUPPLIES, written and illustrated by Chris Tougas, is a rambunctious exploration of various art materials, full of word play and visual and verbal puns and jokes.(“The markers all agreed that they FELT great.”) This book would inspire anyone to make a creative mess.

John Burningham, COME AWAY FROM THE WATER SHIRLEY and many others. I love his scratchy mixed media techniques.

Anything by Douglas Florian, a wonderful poet. I especially like the illustrations in his most recent books, DINOTHESAURUS; COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS: SPACE POEMS AND PAINTINGS; and ZOO’S WHO. He has a wonderful website featuring his art, as well, http://www.douglasflorian.com/.

Pauline Baynes was the original illustrator of the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Her work inspired my own love of art.

And lastly I will mention my own book, THE ROBIN MAKES A LAUGHING SOUND: A BIRDER’S JOURNAL. Based on my personal observations of bird activity in my back yard and surroundings, this book is designed (by Micah Bornstein) to resemble a journal/sketchbook or scrapbook. All the drawings come from my journals and sketchbooks, drawn from life.

5 Responses to “Fantastic Ficiton for Kids – Art”

1. Andi
   February 3rd, 2010 @ 1:26 am

   “Ish” also by Peter H. Reyonolds, is an excellent book, especially for young artists who get frustrated when their drawings don’t look “right.”

2. vanessa@silly eagle books
   February 4th, 2010 @ 3:23 am

   Another great post! I LOVE art books, so this has given me some new titles to look for. I am especially intrigued by the Color Kittens.

   A great website to check out is http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org
   for a huge selection of arts and crafts projects for kids.

   We also love Ish by Peter Reynolds and Eric Carle’s Draw Me a Star.

3. Lynn
   February 4th, 2010 @ 4:55 am

   What a fantastic list. Almost all are new titles to us, and I look forward to checking them out.

4. Tania McCartney
   February 11th, 2010 @ 1:07 am

   What a fantastic collection. The Color Kittens is one of my fave books of all time, so lovely to see it represented.

5. Peter H. Reynolds
   February 14th, 2010 @ 2:46 pm

   Thanks for the spotlight on my book, “The Dot.” And thank you, Andi, for the shout out for “Ish” which was designed to go hand-in-hand with “The Dot.” I am honored to be in the company the other wonderful titles on your list.

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