My students' favorite class is always art. I love hearing this! I am a firm believer that the arts (including music) add to a child's overall development. It is so disheartening to hear of school districts cutting their funding for art programs before others. Some people don't see the value.
My daughter loves art above all else in school. We were lucky to go to Washington, D.C. this past summer for our family vacation and we visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was amazed by the different forms - we could have spent hours there!
We recently reviewed two books in the Touch the Art Series - "Find King Henry's Treasure" and "Count Monet's Lilies". These interactive art books were written by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo. Their creative concept was developed when Julie's daughter was a student in Amy's kindergarten class, which consisted of a strong arts curriculum. Julie's daughter fell in love with visual art. Julie approached Amy at the end of the year and suggested they create an interactive art program. "One afternoon, while thinking out loud, Julie mentioned to Amy how much fun it would be if you could brush Mona Lisa’s hair and voila! Touch the Art, and its first title Brush Mona Lisa’s Hair, were born!"
More about the series:
"The importance of art in a child’s education is undeniable. However, with formal art instruction on the decline, it’s often up to parents to act as art educators. What better time to initiate and develop a lifelong love of art than in the preschool years? Touch the Art is an original, interactive series that gives kids the chance to discover the world’s most revered masterpieces through their fingertips: with fun, textured touch spaces, kids can tug, snap, lift and pull their way through art history!
The brand new titles in the series, Count Monet’s Lilies and Find King Henry’s Treasure, offer families the chance to explore Impressionist art and sixteenth century art and artifacts. There is no combination more magical than a curious child, a loving parent and an engaging teaching tool. Touch the Art makes the circle complete. Exhibited art in museums all over the world can be now found within your lap".
I had never seen this series before and I absolutely love the concept. My kids have loved books where they can feel different textures. These books are large board books, which make them sturdy for the little ones. I wondered whether my daughter would question whether she was too old to look at a board book. However, she was so enthralled with looking at the pictures of art and reading the story that the thought never crossed her mind.
My daughter and I read "Find King Henry's Treasure" first. This book incorporates famous art into a story about people in the kingdom worrying about the treasure being stolen by a dragon. My daughter loved not only looking at the beautiful pictures of art, but also seeing how the authors tied them into the story. She loved feeling the knight's fluffy shoes and the duchess's feathered hat.
My daughter and I then took turns reading "Count Monet's Lilies" to my son. It is a rhyming book that includes artwork by Monet, Degas, and van Gogh to name a few. My son, who is almost 7 months old, loved feeling the pictures, especially the lily petals in the Monet picture. The story was brief enough that my daughter loved reading the entire book over and over to my son. In the picture below, I am reading the story to my son while I was waiting for dinner to cook (My son is fascinated by camera flashes, that's why he's staring at my daughter :)
These books are so creative. What a great concept! Check them out!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment