Art Books

Tomfoolery

April 3, 2024 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product Tomfoolery! through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

I don’t know about you, but part of fun of a good picture book are the illustrations contained therein. They either help tell the story, stimulate the imagination, or both. 🙂 Did you know that children’s books didn’t always have illustrations that did that? Books contained pictures with posed figures, that were static. Along came Randolph Caldecott. A boy, turned into a man, who developed his artistic flair filled with action. Action that flows off the pages and across the edges. Action that helps bring stories for children into abundant life. Come along, learn Caldecott’s story in Tomfoolery!

The Basic Details for Tomfoolery

Title: Tomfoolery! Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children’s Books.
Author: Michelle Markel
Illustrator: Barbara McClintock
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Pages: 37
Intended Audience: kindergarten to grade 3
Genre: biography, historical biography, libraries and reading, children’s books
Available formats: Kindle, Hardcover
Received: Hardcover with fly
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

About the Author and Book

Written by Michelle Markel who hails from California with her hubby and cat! She’s loved writing since she was young, and has loved reading biographies. She started writing for children when her children were young.

About Tomfoolery!

Get ready to meet Randolph Caldecott, the man who redefined illustrations for children’s books. He transformed the reading experience with fun, active images bringing stories to life!

Talking about Tomfoolery!

Tomfoolery is a children’s picture book that teaches about the life of Randolph Caldecott and his journey to becoming a children’s book illustrator. I happen to adore children’s literature that tells the story of a person’s life in an engaging manner, and Tomfoolery fits the bill. Follow his journey starting with doodles in grade school through to adventures with a variety of art forms until he discovers his calling in children’s literature. All those steps built a path to his eventual success.

Bright images flood the pages, helping children (and their adults) see the life the Caldecott lives. Teaching not only the history of children’s books, but the joy in the present and curiousity about the future. Gone are the days of stiff and/or pretty poses.

Caldecott needed to explore art in many different ways, and not always in ways that some would expect. He, as any artist would, wanted to do art in a way that pleased him. Showing active life brings delight!

It’s rather funny. I’m seeing some of the pics in this biography of Caldecott and it brings back memories. Memories of brilliant images flashing across the page, sparking my imagination, and setting up me to chatter away at my mom. I still love books with lots of pictures and talking points, and Caldecott helped to inspire generations to tell stories better!

Final Thoughts

Tomfoolery!: Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children’s Books is a wonderful book. Showing determination to do art the way he wants to even if he takes a round-about way getting there, he’s a source of inspiration for young artists. Read this book to remember for yourself, read this book to inspire your children on in their determination to be what they need to be. Enjoy the pictures and learn Caldecott’s story. You won’t regret doing so. 🙂

Art is Life

April 17, 2021 By Annette1 4 Comments

Free Product received from Raincoast books for my review. Affiliate links will be used in this review. No added cost to you, but it does help pay the bills. 🙂

Art is Life tells the story of the life of artist Keith Haring. A vibrant active man with a huge love for art and the expression of it. This is a picture book that helps to tell part of his story. Come see!

48 pages round-out this art biography of Keith Haring. Keith believed that art is life, and life is art, and he wanted everyone to experience the joy of it. Author Tami Lewis Brown helped us see his vibrancy and drive to do art. Illustrator Keith Negley brought that vibrancy and drive to life! We got to see Keith’s work brought to the forefront while Mr. Negley helped us see him live his life. Thoughtfully produced for 4-7 year olds by Farrar Straus Giroux.

My Review of Art is Life is on behalf of Raincoast Books.

Every artist portrays the world that he sees differently. Keith started from the time he was young, showing his view of the world in bright colours and bold lines.

You’ll find the font an excellent size for reading with a child at your side, or to a group of children gathered in close. Wouldn’t it be fun to read it and then have children practice doing art like Keith?

Throughout the pages of Art is Life you’ll find references to Keith’s desire to share art with the world. In some ways, it makes the rest of the book seem less bright. In reality though, the artwork throughout compliments nicely. One can see the darkness of the subway, the lightness of chalk on dark panels. Children also learn that sometimes… doing art without permission has consequences.

Should you get Art is Life?

I always like, when I’m reviewing a biographical picture book, when the author includes a fuller biography of the individual. In doing so, a fuller presentation of the individual is given. This book left me with the complete picture.

The author and illustrator did an excellent job of conveying the enthusiasm that Keith Haring had for life. Everything he did showed how much he wanted others to enjoy art as well. If you want to inspire the love of sharing art with others, Keith Haring’s story will do that!

This book would be great as part of a series on artists, what drives their passions, and how they inspired others. The harder details about Keith Haring’s life are explained in the author’s note.

Would you like a quick intro to Keith Haring? I found this youtube video on him.

Children’s Craft Books

January 25, 2021 By Annette1 4 Comments

It is wintertime and therefore the time to spend time with friends and family indoors, or to broaden one’s studies with making crafts to round out your studies. I thought it was about time for me to share with you some of the children’s craft books we have used and/or reviewed over the years.

Affiliate links will be used.

Children’s Craft Books from My Shelves

Over the years, I have collected arts and crafts books from all over the place. Thrift stores, yard sales, gifts from friends and families. I simply adore many of the OLD arts/crafts books as they don’t tend to require specialty items. Don’t you just adore crafts that you can simply from what you have at hand?

I have a great collection of come to me used books. Papercraft, woodcrafts, gifts to make, and lots of eclectic books.

The oldest book I have is this McCalls Golden book called “Do it Book”. It has probably seen the most use in our house. Old crafts that are just interesting to do. From cities to build, to bears to sew and stuff, to projects to paint. Masks to make, circuses to create, with templates and ideas galore. When I got it you could tell how well-loved it was, I had to scratch away some paint! 🙂 Imagine my surprise when I found it on amazon yet!

Most of my books are not that old though. The complete book of arts and crafts is probably one of the youngest books and is great for children 5-9 years old. Paper, painting, wood, nature, holidays, toys and sewing. All sorts of activities to inspire the creative mind.

Specialty books like Geography, woodcraft and papercraft help to enhance skills or knowledge in a given area.

Adventures in Art has a wide variety of art projects that we used in our worldwide explorations.

Review Books you shouldn’t miss

What makes a review book on arts and crafts stand out for me and make it to my art shelf?

Needs to contain at least one of the following, preferrably more.

encourage thinking outside the box and not merely be about copying the idea presented
teach necessary skills
to be somewhat out of the box (such as using duct tape)
provide variety

Books that have met that criteria. I have linked them to my review.

Doll Crafts. I used this in a doll making class.
Global Art. So much fun making minion inspired art!
Fine Art Adventures.
Hands-on Art. Made hieroglyphs!
Get Into Art Places.
Geography Through Art. We’ve used a fair bit.
Duct Tape Engineer. Just a very cool book to use. 🙂
642 Things to Draw. Sheer inspiration value.
Draw Paint Print. used a lot in art co-op classes
Art Play. Another good co-op book.
Illustration Workshop.

What about You?

How about you? What children’s craft books would you recommend? Do you have favourites or special things you watch for in your craft books for your children?

The Illustration Idea Book

January 8, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

Just think for a minute how helpful it would be to have a guide walking you through the types of illustrations you need for a your book, or project. Today I reviewing a helpful book called The illustration idea Book. A fascinating look into the why and how of illustrations from around the world.

What I am Reviewing

The illustration idea book: inspiration from 50 masters serves as an introduction to the key elements of good illustration. This simply done up book presents 50 different approaches by illustration masters from all over the world.

Seven themes covered include creating characters, symbol and metaphor, illustrated lettering, inventing worlds, and caricature. This results in an accessible, inspiring guide helping you to use professional techniques to illustrate your materials.

Put together by Steven Heiler and Gail Anderson, The illustration idea book: inspiration from 50 Masters is a trade paperback of 128 pages. This book design guide helps you gain skills to help you in illustration and graphic design. Published by Laurence King Publishing, I am reviewing it on behalf of Raincoast Books.

The Details about The Illustration Idea Book

The Illustration Idea Book contains seven themes.

Play with Lettering (six examples)
Create Characters (nine examples)
Invent new Worlds (seven examples)
Experiment with Caricature (seven examples)
Transform Cliches (seven examples)
Use symbol and metaphor (ten examples)
Visualize Data (four examples)

Each new theme is introduced by blue pages that list the theme and the masters that you’ll be learning from. There is no explanation about what each of these sections concerns beyond what you can infer from the title.

Each lesson by a master includes a one page write up with an illustration to go with it. In the write up the master will give an explanation about the illustration provided. The master will then explain why it was created and what the illustration is all about.

Thoughts/Recommendations

The Illustration Idea Book encourages graphic designer to think outside the box (and sometimes within it) in order to create just the right image. It’s not really for the beginner student, more for the advanced student who has some skill but needs to refine them. There are no direct walk-throughs, you’ll find explanations as to the why behind each illustration.

I personally think it’s very interesting reading about the hows and whys, seeing the thought behind the creation. It is difficult to say how helpful it would be to illustrators though.

I would suggest that it’s at least worth a look through. It’s good to be inspired by the thoughts and creations of others Seeing where that will take you is such an interesting process. How it will influence your future efforts, I really couldn’t tell you. 🙂

Meet the Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

December 4, 2019 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright? Patricia Geis has produced an fun, interactive book to introduce us to the works of this interesting man. Meet the Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright is an engaging, hardcover book sure to please.

Meet the Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright review

What I am Reviewing

Part of the series, Meet the Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright is an interactive book with lift-the-flap, cutouts, pull tabs and more to introduce you the works of this innovative man. Be inspired by the delights you will find in this 16 page, hardcover book. It’s oversized at 8 inches wide and 11 inches long. The pages lay flat when you open them which makes it all the easier to enjoy the interactive page elements. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, it is geared to youth 9-12, but will delight anyone. I am reviewing this book for Raincoast Books.

Biography, Achitecture, American History, History, Art, Interactive books,

Who is Frank Lloyd Wright?

Wright was a architect who I have heard about as I watch architect type shows on Netflix. An interior designer and architect, he designed over 1000 buildings and actually built over 500 of them. He followed a principal call organic architecture. Organic architecture is where structures are in harmony with humanity and its environment.

He is known for building houses in the prairie style, and his most famous build is called FallingWater. His tumultuous personal life cost him business. The Imperial Hotel he built in Tokyo withstood a major earthquake and showed his mastery of his art.

Details of this Patricia Geis Book

Patricia Geis has written other Meet the Architect books. In this one she introduces us to Frank Lloyd Wright. She does this by first introducing us to the man. Then using well written text, she uses various interactive elements to keep the reader involved.

Text sample from Meet the Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

The sixteen pages in this book are entitled

Getting Started (introduction to Mr. Wright
The Unit (how using Froebel’s games was instrument in Wright’s childhood)
The Grid (Music is like a grid for notes, part of his design features)
The Landscape (introduction to organic architecture)
Materials (FallingWater build)
The Client (the house should fit the occupant)
The City (Designing a museum)
In Addition (components for a do it yourself project)

You will find the following interactive features: Pop ups, lift the flap, fold overs, and pull-tabs. I was so tempted to show them all, but then where’s the fun in that? 🙂 After all, I want you to have the enjoyment of exploring as well.

You will find each page is printed on heavy duty paper that can withstand lots of use. The build it yourself elements are printed on a less heavy duty paper so I would recommend care with those. Four sheets with varied colours and designs are included in this pack.

Recommendation

Easy text, laid out in the format that an architect would need to think in, all draws you into the life of Frank Lloyd Wright. Just as I enjoyed the book on Leonardo Da Vinci, I think you will enjoy this one as well.

Meet the Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright would be an excellent addition to your home. It’s a great way to engage your children in the life of one of America’s best architects.

Others in this Series

I could not find others in this exact series, but they are laid out in a similiar manner to the Meet the Artist series.

In this series you would meet Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci. My affiliate links follow:

Sticker Mosaics: Exotic Animals

November 13, 2019 By Annette1 2 Comments

You know those adult colouring books you can get? How relaxing it is to just sit and colour? It’s a fun way to keep your hands busy as your mind wanders. At least I find it so. 🙂 Sometimes it a great way to just be “busy” when you need to stop and think for a while on something. As much as I enjoy my colouring books, I’ve also discovered the joy of sticker books. Not the kid kind … but ones where I can recreate a work of art, or buildings, or in the case of today’s review: Sticker Mosaics Exotic Animals.

Being able to keep my hands busy without having to juggle pencil crayons or markers… HUGE! Why huge? Well, imagine you are killing time at a doctor’s office, sitting in a car or on public transit, attending a lecture that busy hands helps you focus on better, or whatever. Not having to mess around with paper and colouring instruments is important.

What I am Reviewing

Sticker Mosaics: Exotic Animals.
Silvio Rebelo.
Castle Point Books/St. Martin’s Press.
80 pages, Stiff paperback with flaps, Notebook size
8+ years
1252 stickers in total.

Meditation, relaxation, sticker books, exotic animals,

Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

Unbelievable animals come to life with easy sticker masterpieces.
Take your coloring to the next level by doing it with stickers instead of pencils! Each one of the 12 designs in this book has spaces for mosaic shapes that you fill in using the pages of different colored stickers in the back, allowing you to create one-of-a-kind mosaic designs. Color-by-sticker is a fun new way to express creativity and explore color, and this series gives readers the freedom to create their own unique designs, no artistic ability required.

Details of Sticker Mosaics

Silvio Rebelo has created a wonderful book! It’s notebook size makes it easy to transport anywhere. Sticker Mosaics: Exotic Animals offers 12 different animals to color by sticker. Choose from bobact, butterfly, chameleon, leopard, macaw, monkey, penguin, scorpion, toucan, elephant, flamingo or a frog. Each a bright colourful animal for you to enjoy creating.

It’s easy to find the stickers that you need, each two page sticker spread has a small image of page you are working on in the top right corner. The stickers and their colours are unique for each animal. This allows you to create a truly unique work of art that any animal lover will adore. All told you’ll find more than 1200 stickers to place.

They vary in range of difficulty. Some would be easily completed by most, others would take a more experienced hand. I would have loved for the creators to put them in order of difficulty in the book so you could work your way up. 🙂

For the difficult ones I would recommend using a tweezer to accurately place the stickers. Once placed, they stick. I was browsing the reviews on Amazon and one person said the stickers come off again, they don’t. A tweezer will give you the control and distance you need to place them well.

Do take your time and place them carefully. Most of mine I did well, but messed up just a bit. Still looks good from a distance.

The perforated sheets means you can later display them if you would like, or could send along for friends and family to enjoy. A gift perhaps?

Should you get it?

Of course you should make Sticker Mosaics: Exotic Animals part of your relaxation time. You’ll like the heavy paper and the vibrant colours of each sticker, and you’ll find that they stick well. Find the sticker, place the sticker, and ease your mind. Let your busy hands and quiet thoughts bring some relaxation in your life.

Born to Draw Comics

June 26, 2019 By Annette1 4 Comments

Who doesn’t love Snoopy and Charlie Brown and all those little people in Peanuts? Want to meet the author behind these wonderful characters? Born To Draw Comics is the Story of Charles Schultz.

What I Am Reviewing

Born to Draw Comics: The story of Charles Schultz.
Ginger Wadsworth
Craig Orback (illustrator)
Christy Ottaviano Books
Received: softcover ARC
History, Biography, Comics, Children, Art, Children’s Art, picture book
40 Pages, full colour
Ages 4-8
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

As a child, Charles split his free time between adventures outdoors with his friends and dog Spike, and daydreams and doodles inspired by the comics he loved to read. He longed to become a professional cartoonist, but saw his dreams deferred by unexpected challenges that laid ahead: military deployment to the European front of World War II, and the heartbreak of a family tragedy back home. Even so, Charles never lost sight of the hopeful joy of his early years and his love for Spike, both of which inspired PEANUTS. The comic strip went on to become the most popular and influential in comics history.

The Details

Even though this book is geared to students in grades 1 & 2, I would have no hesitation recommending it to any student interested in the life of Charles Schultz. The mixed panel format along with full colour images and a good storyline makes for an informative read.

Interspersed throughout are individual images and scenes that “Sparky” Schultz drew. The text was well done, drawing us into the life of Charles as a child.

You will find yourself drawn into his story, relishing the details of what made his life what it was. It was not always an easy life, but he had a boyhood filled with delights! He shared those delights in his comic strip Peanuts.

Should you Get it?

I really liked this book, delving into the life of Charles Schultz. It was a joy to see his love of drawing and his wide circle of activities. Drawing wasn’t the only thing he had going on his life, but as he put “he was born to draw comic strips”. Born to Draw Comics is an excellent introduction into his life for sure.

If you are studying Charles “Sparky” Shultz, or interested in learning about comic strips and their creators, Born to Draw Comics would be a good addition to your study.

Art Books

Tomfoolery

The Basic Details for Tomfoolery