Art’s Supplies by Chris Tougas

Enter the wild and wonderful world of Art’s room, filled with paint, markers, chalk, and anything else you would need to have a party with a pad of paper.  This book captures the joy of creation, the fun of art and the release of imagination.  As Art uses each type of art supply, they comment with silly puns and laugh-out-loud jokes, adding to the hilarity and pace of the book.

Tougas’ art is wonderful, each page capturing the medium being used and the differing feel and techniques.  Children will immediately be drawn in to the explosion of art and inspired to create their own messy party.

Recommended not only to encourage art in children, but also to instruct on the variety of media that can be used.  An inspiring and fun look at the diversity of art.

Mattland by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert, art by Dusan Petricic.

Matt has moved three times with his family and now they have moved to a place filled with mud and water and no trees.  So when Matt picks up a stick, he is tempted to break it or throw it, but instead he starts to draw in the mud.  And as he draws, a world appears before him filled with lakes, rivers, mountains of rock, roads and houses.  The closed doors of the other houses begin to open and an outsider joins him in building his land.  When disaster strikes the tiny world, Matt’s own world has expanded enough for lots of hands to be there to help.

This book is about the power of creativity, the strength of play and the formation of connections without trying.  The illustrations are a large part of the book with their skillful and restrained use of color to show where imagination has touched the dirt and changed it.  The text is wonderfully bristly at the beginning, filled with Matt’s anxiety.  By the end, it has transformed to be eager and free-flowing.  The amount of text on each page make this book appeal to a slightly older audience, so it will be appreciated by elementary art classes as well as teachers and librarians looking to get children thinking creatively.

Highly recommended, this book will get you feeling free and easy too as you survey what may be your muddy and rocky place and find imaginative ways to make it magical and friendly.