Best Children's Art Books
Kids will be imagining their own humorous conversations with crayons and coloring a blue streak after sharing laughs with Drew Daywalt and New York Times bestseller Oliver Jeffers. This story is perfect as a back-to-school gift, for all budding artists, for fans of humorous books such as Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith, and for fans of Oliver Jeffers' Stuck , The Incredible Book Eating Boy , Lost and Found , and This Moose Belongs to Me. Praise for The Day the Crayons Quit Amazon’s 2013 Best Picture Book of the Year. Move over, Click, Clack, Moo ; we’ve got a new contender for the most successful picture-book strike.” – BCCB , starred review. * “This colorful title should make for an uproarious storytime.” – School Library Journal , starred review. * “These memorable personalities will leave readers glancing apprehensively at their own crayon boxes.” – Publishers Weekly , starred review. The conceit is an enticing one, and although the crayons’ complaints are not entirely unique (a preponderance centers around some variation of overuse), the artist’s indelible characterization contributes significant charm. A final spread sees all things right, as Duncan fills a page with bright, delightful imagery, addressing each of the crayons’ issues and forcing them into colorful cooperation.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"That's because I used them to light the fire used to heat all the food you dropped on the floor during dinner and then fed it to your little sister because, as you know, we don't waste food around here. No matter your age, you will identify with the characters, they will probably remind you of your family, your coworkers and your friends. In case you're wondering, some of my other favorites are: The Three Little Pigs, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Small Pig, Where the Wild Things Are, I Want My Hat Back, Pete The Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, We're Going on A Bear Hunt, The Cat in the Hat."
"She loves to have books read to her, but this is one of the only times my short-attention-span kid has asked for the same book twice in a row and the first time a book as inspired such a burst of creativity."
"Our older grandsons have a lot of fun voicing the letters written by "Red", who even has to work on holidays (i.e. coloring Santas, Valentines), "Purple" is going to "completely lose it" if Duncan doesn't start coloring inside of the lines soon, "Beige" (who is "BEIGE and PROUD!"). ), who claims to be very happy with his work, congratulates Duncan on his coloring career, but wants to inform him of the bickering between "Yellow" and "Orange" over who gets to be the color of the sun, with "Yellow" and "Orange" writing separate letters each stating their case along with documented proof, "Blue" is overworked and now just a stub who can't even see over the box railing any longer, "Pink" believes she's experiencing discrimination because she's "a girls' color", while "Peach" is completely unwrapped ("I don't even have any underwear!"). But the amazingly colorful picture Duncan creates - allowing each crayon to stretch beyond their typical usages - ends up earning him an A for coloring and an A+ for creativity!"
"My young one loves it and frequently asks for the "crayon book" but the humor is perfect for older kids and parents too."
"Great book."
"My 5 and 7 year old want to read this every night since we received it."
"My son would laugh 😂 every time I would read it to him."
"Probably not one I'd love to read out loud every single night but we really enjoy it from time to time."
Inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, this illustrated book is told from the point of view of Ivan himself. This paperback edition includes an author's note highlighting the differences between the fictional story and true events, a version of the author's Newbery Medal acceptance speech, Ivan's "signature," discussion questions, and more. Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews: "How Ivan confronts his harrowing past yet stays true to his nature exemplifies everything youngsters need to know about courage.”. Starred Review, School Library Journal: “The characters will capture readers’ hearts and never let go. "Discover an animal hero that will take his place with other courageous and beloved animals such as Babe, Mrs. Frisby, Charlotte and Wilbur. "Beautifully written, intelligent, and brave book…Quite simply, this story is life-changing.”. --Patricia MacLachlan, Newbery Medalist, Sarah, Plain and Tall. "The One and Only Ivan will break your heart--and then, against all odds, mend it again."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"When my 11-year-old finished reading this novel, his first statement was, “I LOVED that book!” With an endorsement like that and because it was the first instance where he ‘stopped time,’ I had to read the book too. In it, the author says,” We live in a world where children are bullied into despair and even suicide; where armed guards in a school hallway are considered desirable; where libraries are padlocked because of budget cuts; where breakfast and backpacks, for too many children are unaffordable luxuries.”. “What makes children better than the rest of us is that they are buoyant, unrepentant optimists.”. As a writer, reader, and lover of words, I make it a habit to ‘stop time’ whenever I come across sparkling phrases that deserve homage. A ‘stop time’ is where we stop whatever we are doing to read out loud and to listen; we listen to both the author’s words and to what made that phrase so meaningful to the reader. The first ‘stop time’ that my son called happened when Ivan makes an impossible promise to Ruby, the baby elephant."
"Bought it for my 4th grade nephew."
"Great read for kids!"
"This is a fun little book."
"My 11 year old son loved this book--it was hard for him to put it down."
"it was a gift for brothers who like to read."
"Touching, and based on a true story.. my 8 yo enjoyed it very much."
"Christmas gift - I'm sure he likes it cause he likes the author."
Kids can sew too! Best of all, this practical, attractive sewing book features finished projects that look like they were actually made by children.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Unfortunately, so much of the sewing kits, books, and supplies are geared towards girls. Not only is it full of beautiful photographs that help teach sewing steps, I was pleased to see how many boys were included in the photographs--sewing just like their female counterparts."
"My 7 year old daughter loves this book."
"My daughter loves it and is always planning new projects to make."
"Such a lovely book!"
"Some fun ideas."
"Nice book but grand didn't really use it much."
"good instructions for beginner sewer."
"The pictures and instructions are perfect for a tween girl to follow."
Best Children's Cartooning Books
Nothing satisfies anime artists more than creating original characters for comics and graphic novels—and bestselling author Christopher Hart helps them achieve this goal. Christopher Hart is the leading author of art instruction books in the US.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am a professional animator myself and this books reminds me of the things I learned while getting my fine arts degrees. And the images are large enough to trace with tracing paper so my daughter can begin to get a feel for the correct angles and proportions of the character's features."
"My teen daughter is super into drawing anime and manga characters, but always has issues with things like hands and eyes."
"My only suggestion is the author could provide a more detailed step by step on how to draw, but it's good enough for now."
"My daughters review because it was a gift for her: I love that it actually explains the steps on how to draw specific things; however I didn’t like that it didn’t explain how to draw the hands, eyes and heads thouroughly."
"I bought this as a gift to an aspiring artist and she was impressed as well as I at the attention to detail and how easy it was to learn from a book."
"I would say this is a decent good book but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners because the book doesn't completely go over the steps."
"I bought several of these kinds of books."
"According to the recipient, "It's cool"."
Best Children's Drawing Books
Filled with intricate illustrations and elaborate designs used in the making of the Harry Potter films, this book invites you to imbue the wizarding world with color in your own explorations of Hogwarts Castle, the Forbidden Forest, and much more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A good number of the designs are printed across two pages and merge into the bind (which is glued rather than sewn.). I did a count and this is what I came up with: 40 one page designs, 4 of which are “wallpaper” repeating patterns; 19 designs spread across two pages – 5 of which are wallpaper style designs. I tested my coloring tools: all markers bleed through though Staedler triplus fineliners merely left a shadow of color rather than full ink – but you could tell what the color was from the back of the page. Gel pens did not leak through but again, there was a very light shadow. In the end, the fact that ink could leak through and the pages were printed doubled sided was enough for me to take away a point."
"Coloring the pages is great fun for my teen son an it's a good stress-reliever/distraction."
"I would have given the book 5-stars had there be drawings and photos of Sirius Black and the scene of Mrs. Weasley killing Bellatrix."
"Favorite part about this coloring book is that they include pictures in the back to let you know what some of the colors are.For instance there's a page with the logo for the houses on it and while I know what colors they essentially make up I still needed to look and see which colors went where. There were a few things I didn't like about this coloring book, I've colored in a few different adult coloring books and this one by far has to be the hardest."
"I will be ordering the additional Harry Potter coloring books from Scholastic shortly."
"But let's face it, the familiar faces from the movies will appeal to a far larger audience). There are some color reference pages in the back - which includes completed artwork and screenshots from the movies. I briefly considered taking off a star for the "raven" on the Ravenclaw crest but decided that was probably a bit harsh for what is otherwise a great book that will bring me hours of enjoyment."
Best Children's Fashion Books
Kids can sew too! Best of all, this practical, attractive sewing book features finished projects that look like they were actually made by children.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Unfortunately, so much of the sewing kits, books, and supplies are geared towards girls. Not only is it full of beautiful photographs that help teach sewing steps, I was pleased to see how many boys were included in the photographs--sewing just like their female counterparts."
"My 7 year old daughter loves this book."
"My daughter loves it and is always planning new projects to make."
"Such a lovely book!"
"Some fun ideas."
"Nice book but grand didn't really use it much."
"good instructions for beginner sewer."
"The pictures and instructions are perfect for a tween girl to follow."
Best Children's Art History
Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, talented musician, and dedicated scientist and inventor, designing flying machines, submarines, and even helicopters. Roberta Edwards lives in New York, New York.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My second grade son LOVES these books."
"How great is it to just go to your phone and download a good kids book when you little one forgets to bring home their nightly reading from school?"
"These series are wonderful for my 9year old son."
"We were going to take our granddaughter to the Leonardo Museum in Salt Lake City, but wanted her to know a little about da Vinci before we went."
"Good book."
"They would read their own and then read other that they had heard of."
"I felt the story motivates and also encourages children to know that failure often means a way to success and to explore and do what you love, is a life worth living."
"While I w as on Amazon's website hunting for books for my 9 and 15 year old grandchildren to read before visiting Florence, Italy this summer, Amazon "linked" me to this book."
Best Children's Painting Books
For nothing is ever as it seems in Istvan Banyai's sleek, mysterious landscapes of pictures within pictures, which will tease and delight readers of all ages. PreSchool-Grade 3?This wordless picture book re-creates the effect of a camera lens zooming out. For example, one illustration shows a boy on a cruise ship, the next shows him from a distance, and the next reveals the whole ship.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My now 16 YO daughter and I loved this book when she was little."
"Laminated each sheet - put your team in a room."
"It is a great book that believes in "a good picture is worth thousands of words" and there is one good picture in every page of the book."
"Worked great for a staff meeting!!!!"
"But this second time, students need to also break themselves into self-styled "time periods.""
"We used Zoom in a Team Building excercise."
"a great book and I use it in class to develop communication skills."
"This was a great exercise."
Best Children's Sculpture Books
Find the sticker, peel the sticker, place the sticker. Workman Publishing Company has been producing award-winning calendars, cookbooks, parenting guides, and children’s titles, as well as gardening, humor, self-help, and business books, since 1968.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this book for my six-year-old hoping it would be an activity he could do independently."
"Stickers and pages are thick and good quality."
"This was one of my 9 year old son's favorite Christmas gifts."
"A lot of fun for kids and adults alike."
"Such a fun book for a kid that loves to paint, draw, lover of animals, anyone who loves stickers!"
"Bought this for my 6 year old daughter for Christmas."
"Grandkids (ages 6 and 3) love it."
Best Architectural Drafting & Presentation
With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark — and follow where it takes us. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. Once the child takes that very first stab at art, winningly and economically dramatized by Reynolds's fluid pen-and-ink, watercolor, and tea image of Vashti swooping down upon that vacant paper in a burst of red-orange energy, there's no stopping her. Everything about this little gem, from its unusual trim size to the author's hand-lettered text, from the dot-shaped cocoons of carefully chosen color that embrace each vignette of Vashti to her inventive negative-space masterpiece, speaks to them.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's such a inspiring book!"
"This story is amazing."
"Great story!"
"A fantastic book and super price!"
"My grandchild is creative but struggling with her interest in reading."
"The Dot gives reluctant artists confidence to take a risk and draw, create and, more importantly, love what was created!"
"One day I was reading my cousin's FB status and it read, "My seven year old Natalie said that a mistake can become a masterpiece ...she learned that in art class...her own thoughts on this was that sometimes you can make something that you don't like but everybody else loves it and that's because you tried your best ...out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom.""
"It masquerades as a children's book, though it has been read and been life affecting for this 58 year old guy time and time again."