Deep Space Sparkle Art Lessons for Kids
I went to my local Indie bookstore a while back searching for a book to tie-in with my Valentine’s Day themed art lessons. I gravitated towards the sea of pink and red and searched for an appropriate book for my first and second graders. I was disappointed with the selection but to be fair, I [...]
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Arlo Needs Glasses by Barney Saltzberg is about as cute as you can get when it comes to interactive picture books. My group of Kinders LOVED this book. We read the book before we created our own Arlo dogs. Because the book is interactive, it is difficult to expect the children to stay seated. They [...]
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Children’s books add so much to an art room. Not only do they provide wonderful inspiration for great art lessons but reading a book for 5 minutes can calm the children and create a lovely transition into an art lesson. Here are a few titles that will be transformed into art lessons soon…. 1. The [...]
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While searching for a literature tie-in for my Apple Art Lesson, I found Nikki McClure’s exquisite book Apple. The story takes on you in a visual journey of the life cycle of an apple; from apple picking time to composting and re-birth. The children had fun anticipating what would become of the bright red apple. [...]
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A summer day without any specific plans turned into a delightful stroll along Santa Barbara’s State Street with my daughter, Elly. First stop? The Santa Barbara Museum of Art bookstore. I love this place. It’s a treasure trove of delightful inspiration, not to mention the best selection of art books in Santa Barbara. I have [...]
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I’m always on the hunt for engaging picture books for the art room. Of course, I love all books, but if I can find a story about a famous artist then I’m thrilled! A trip to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s bookstore produced a bounty of beautiful picture books, including this little beauty… Bijou [...]
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Color mixing is one of the most rewarding paint experiences in art class. Children love to squish, mingle and mix paint until there is nothing left but a big blob of muddy brown. We remedy that by teaching how to make secondary colors and that by adding white paint, they can achieve a myriad of [...]
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George Rodrigue was born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana. What a colorful character he must be to produce such wonderful pieces of expressive art! His personal website is filled with his paintings and all the things he cares about, like the George Rodrigue Foundation in which he promotes and supports art education. He is famous [...]
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I’m always on the lookout for great picture books to tie-in with my art class. Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! practically jumped out at me, begging me to peer inside it’s glorious front cover. The illustrations, created by the talented and super nice Megan Halsey are spot-on fabulous. Sometimes it’s tricky to find truck illustrations for an [...]
I’ve been on a bit of a creative quest lately to find inspiring picture books. My children are well past the picture book stage but I can’t seem to stay away from them. Thank heavens I still have an audience of little ones in my art class. I happened across We All Went on Safari by [...]
On my recent visit to New York City, I picked up a few picture books to inspire some new art lessons. Barefoot Books had a great representation at FAO Schwarz. If you don’t know about Barefoot Books, look for them during your next visit to your local bookstore. I love their non-fiction picture books. Color, [...]
A while ago, I stumbled across the most adorable children’s books. Do You Have a Hat? written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Geraldo Valerio features the hats of some very famous individuals: Goya, Lincoln, Carmen Miranda to name a few. It’s a great read for the classroom; funny, brief, historical and visually dynamic. Since the [...]
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My bookshelves look a bit different lately. My beloved young adult novels are making room for their more mature cousins…illustrated art books. Perhaps it’s because my creative endeavors have switched in recent months. I no longer reserve blocks of my week to my middle-grade novel aspirations, instead, I devote much of my free-time to Deep [...]
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Barbara Jean Hicks is a beloved children’s book author from Port Hueneme, California. If you visit Barbara’s website, you’ll discover that she is not only a writer, but a lover of cats! I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Barbara recently and as a tribute to her adorable book Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli my first graders created some [...]
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Children’s picture books make the best art projects. Sometimes I use the illustrations for inspiration, other times, I read the book to the class and create an art lesson around it. If I read a book, it’s mostly fiction, but every now and again, a non-fiction book makes a perfect read-aloud. Here are my favorites [...]
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