Enjoying Art with Children

I used to be afraid of art until I bought this book and shared it with my 5-year-old daughter. I thought fine art was for the sophisticated -- certainly not for a regular person like me. "Come Look with Me: Enjoying Art with Children" introduces kids to great works of art in a very gentle way. The whole point of beginning to enjoy art is simply to start looking at it. Each two-page spread covers one piece of art. On the left page is the print, nearly filling the page, with information about the artist, name of the piece, date, and where it is located (such as a gallery or private collection). The right-hand page has a few questions the parent can ask the child and discuss together, such as, "What do you think the child is looking at? What makes you think so?" and, "The artist used a lot of different lines in this painting. Find a straight line. ..." There are no wrong answers. The questions are designed to get the children looking -- really looking -- at the art. Then at the bottom is a brief narrative about the artwork and the artist, explaining what is happening in the picture or how and why the artist created it. Each spread is an art appreciation lesson, without it ever feeling like a lesson. It's even easy for someone like me with no prior art background. I like that this book starts author Gladys Blizzard's series of books with pictures of children, as it's easy for children to get into paintings of kids their own ages. Now that I'm not afraid to look at art and take it all in, it's fun to explore it further. My daughter and I are able to talk about artwork we see. We talk about how it was created, what the artist might have been feeling, and we compare it to other art we have seen. I wish I had been exposed to art like this when I was 5 years old! We started with this book and I have already purchased couple more in the series. Some things we have done at home to extend the learning from this book: I bought an inexpensive table-top easel and set the book up in our living room, opened to the artwork we studied that week. Every time we walk by we can appreciate it even more and even notice new things. We add the artist's birth-death dates in a timeline we keep for history and geography. Once my daughter wanted to try to recreate one of the paintings, so we sketched it ourselves. One of my favorite moments as a homeschooling mother was when our family had the chance to go to the Art Institute of Chicago and see one of the paintings. We were able to enjoy it and talk about it intelligently. My daughter was not bored at the art gallery as I would have been at her age. She was fascinated, all thanks to "Come Look with Me!"

The artwork is accompanied by questions to get the viewer thinking. It works great with homeschool or for anytime.

This is a good book for adults and children. There is a picture on one page and on the next page there is a little bit of information about the picture and some questions to inspire thinking about the picture. Examples of questions might be- what are the childrenn in this painting feeling? What makes you think so? What is the father in this painting thinking about? This book inspires young children to look at pictures in a different way. It inspires them to put the story to the painting and to explore what the painting is trying to 'say'. Because of this it is a good introduction to art for young children. Enjoy.

We just started "looking" at Ms Blizzard's book, and it has already opened a whole new world for my children to discover. The format (full page color pictures accompanied by historical reference and discussion questions) is as enjoyable for the children as it is for adults. As a homeschool mother I appreciate the opportunity it provides to take a moment and wonder what the artist may have had in mind when they created their work. I also thank the author for the corresponding list of open ended discussion questions she provides. Take a moment to really look at a picture and let the child interpret it. You may be surprized at how they respond. I know I was. It has become especially popular with my 3 year old who considers the children her friends. We look at it daily and can't wait to add to our collection with another edition of the authors works. A wonderful introduction to art appreciation for all ages. Thank you Ms. Blizzard for a wonderful book! This series is sure to be a hit with all who appreciate art.