November 1, 2008
Gr 2-4-These books are well organized, with clearly written sections on Tools of the Trade, 'Basic Elements, Composition, and Techniques, and several clever projects and exercises to practice putting all of these elements together. A Whats Next section explains how to care for the finished projects. The pages are crowded, and the font used is quite small. There is also repetition of text that is not always appropriate from one book to the other. For example, the section on Composition in "Drawing" is identical to that in "Collage", but none of the examples use collage technique. Otherwise these titles should have substantial child appeal.
Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2009
This compact book introduces sophisticated aspects of the visual arts (line, shape, compositional balance) and discusses specific techniques (hatching, stippling, ink wash). Six widely varied projects (some steps are illustrated) give young artists the opportunity to practice. A useful "tools of the trade" spread shows different media, and a final page encourages kids to preserve their drawings and to keep experimenting. Glos., ind.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)