SMMARTideas

TIME-OUT FOR TIDBITS: ART MASTERWORKS INTRO

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Little minds are so capable! They can correctly name every dinosaur they see, match the princesses with their princes, and quote lines from their favorite movies.

...And...they can absolutely recognize famous artworks and their artists!

These are some great series and books I've come across to introduce my children to art masterworks.

"The Mini-Masters Series", by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober, tells a rhyming story on its hard pages as each book highlights individual artists like Gaugin, Monet, Degas, Seurat...

Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo's "Touch The Art Series" engages your child's interest with interaction on every hard page. Tug on braids or feel a fuzzy peach. Each book showcases several artists from different genres.

I also like to cut out masterworks I find in magazines or the newspaper, laminate the picture with contact paper and keep them in a pocket near the other artbooks.

Two other books on our shelf:

I Spy: An Alphabet in Art, Lucy Micklethwait (Series includes Shapes, Colors, Animals, Numbers in Art...and some others)

Usborne The Children's Book of Art (Internet Linked), Rosie Dickins, Carrie Armstrong, and Uwe Mayer (Showcases many well-known artists and their lives, many different styles, glossary, some nudity-Michelangelo,Botticelli...)

Two other books on my wish list:

Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters, MaryAnn F. Kohl

Usborne Art Treasury, Rosie Dickins and Nicola Butler

Besides reading these books to your child, keep these resources in easy reach for your child to look at whenever it strikes her fancy. Lay a book on your child's bed or desk to encourage little eyes and hands to peruse.

Not only will your child come to appreciate different genre and learn the names of the works and artists...you will enjoy heightening your own art awareness!

What are your SMMART ideas for introducing your child to the art masters?

Lisa