Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces

Some art books are too tough for kids without drawing skills, they can actually make kids cry in frustration with, "I don't get it, I can't do it". I have never had that problem with books from this artist, kids just love these! Ed Emberly has made some wonderful books for kids and grown-ups of any age that have no drawing skills, but want to learn a simple way. His books are the easiest books to get you started if you have no previous drawing skills. He doesn't talk down to you, he doesn't talk at all but uses his step by step method for you to follow. As a result, you can use these books for kids that have language issues. He starts with a step by step illustrated lesson to draw one simple item. First a simple straight line here, then insert a circle then, then another line, step by step along the way and before you know it you have a completed drawing that you can be really proud of. I teach Cub Scouts and this artist makes the perfect book for teaching a class when you are a volunteer yourself that is not an art pro. In this book, he shows us how to make different faces in drawings that when finished, you will be shocked it came from your pencil. The drawing process is simple, but looks complex when finished. Also see his book, "Make a World", and "The Big Green Drawing Book".

I love all of Emerbeley's books but this one was a particular favorite of mine. It goes into how to draw all sorts of faces from regular people to clowns, movie monsters, and animals.

If your child likes to draw, you can't beat Ed Emberley for his fun, creative, and best of all EASY drawing instructions. He provides simple, step-by-step pictorial guidelines which even young children can follow: if they can recognize and reproduce basic shapes, then they can draw the faces in this book. For each step of a particular drawing, there is a basic instruction such as "make a green triangle" or "add two squiggly lines." These instructions are accompanied by two sketches: a drawing of whatever it is to be added and a drawing of the face-in-progress as a whole, so children can easily see how the parts fit together. Not only does this book provide a fun play activity, but also it's great for helping school-aged kids to enhance book reports and other school projects. Even adults will appreciate both the ease at which this book helps them to produce a wide variety of silly faces and the author's humorous style. A great gift for pre-school and elementary school aged children.

The Ed Emberley series of books are excellent for teaching that drawing things can be easy when you look for the basic shapes that appear in the subject you are drawing. I use this book together with my preschoolers and my 7 year old, and their drawing abilities have noticably advanced. The pictures are rather small for the preschoolers to use on their own, but when we do it together they love it.

My kids age 8 and 10 loved all the tricks for drawing fun little characters. Very easy tips!!