From photography to painting; sewing to sculpture, these books celebrate creativity
Art From Nature: ABC’s With Leaf Collage Instructions
Author: Chris Gluck
Illustrator: Chris Gluck
Publisher: Studio Acanto
Recommended Age Range: 2 to Adult
Beautiful Oops
Author: Barney Saltzberg
Illustrator: Barney Saltzberg
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Recommended Age Range: 3+
There are no mistakes in art, there’s just new art waiting to happen. This is the idea behind Beautiful Oops and what a wonderful one it is. Whether a tear, spill, bend, smudge, and all the other wonderful “mistakes” that turn one thing into another, this book takes creativity to a whole new level! Don’t miss it!
Awards: 2010 NAPPA Gold Award; 2010 PAL Award (Play Advances Language) for promoting language development; 2010 Teacher’s Choice Award for The Family
Hands: growing up to be an artist
Author: Lois Ehlert
Illustrator: Lois Ehlert
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
A terrific book that shows children the importance of doing what you love. Following in her parent’s creative footsteps, we watch the author grow from a budding young artist to a writer and illustrator of some of our most beloved children’s books.
Mr Matisse and His Cutouts
Author: Annemarie van Haeringen (trans. By Jan Michael)
Illustrator: Annemarie van Haeringen
Publisher: NorthSouth Books
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Seen Art?
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Viking Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Waiting for his friend Art, a boy asks, “Have you seen Art?” In a wonderful misunderstanding, he ends up at the MoMa learning all about, well…art!
Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art
Author: Thomas Locker
Illustrator: Thomas Locker
Publisher: HarperTrophy, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Through beautiful paintings of one tree, the author shows each of the seasons and the weather it brings. Simple poetic language accompanies each image along with questions about how each picture makes the reader feel.
Awards: American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children (NSTA)
The Book of Mistakes
Author: Corinna Luyken
Illustrator: Corinna Luyken
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin Young Readers Group
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Awards: Golden Kite Award
the Scraps book: Notes from a colorful life
Author: Lois Ehlert
Illustrator: Lois Ehlert
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 10
Lois Ehlert’s the Scraps book: Notes from a colorful life is a creative autobiography that not only shares the author’s artistic life, but why she loves making books. Through photographs; pages from many of her stories; and drawings, the author takes the reader on her literary and imaginative journey. A wonderful story that will surely encourage the next “Lois Ehlert.”
Awards: NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book; NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts; Texas Bluebonnet Award 2015-2016; ALA Notable Books for Children 2015, All Ages; School Library Journal Best Books 2014, Nonfiction; CLA Notable Children’s Books in the English Language Arts; Capitol Choices 2015; A Junior Library Guild Selection; Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year Selection Title; CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Council); Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI); IRA Teachers’ Choices; Jefferson Cup Overfloweth Title; Kansas State Reading Circle List Primary Title; MSTA Reading Circle List; Wisconsin State Reading Association’s Reading List
What if…
Author: Samantha Berger
Illustrator: Mike Curato
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Celebrate the power of perseverance to create…no matter what. Based on the author’s real-life experience, this story is as creative as it is inspired.
Awards: Chicago Public Library’s “Best Picture Books of 2018;” Nerdie Book Club’s “Fiction Picture Book Selection;” Texas Library Association’s “2019 2×2 Reading List;” Bank Street College of Education’s “Best Children’s Books of the Year 2019;” International Literacy Association & Children’s Book Council’s “2019 Children’s Choices Reading List”
When Pencil Met Eraser
Author: Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos, Jr.
Illustrator: German Blanco
Publisher: Imprint, Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 6
Awards: Named one of the “Best Children’s Books of 2019” by Parents Magazine