Children’s / Teenage general interest: Art and artists

Book Synopsis'I don't need paint or paper. I can make art anywhere. My imagination is all I need.' This appealing book inspires kids to create their own anywhere art!   In spare, delightful text and illustrations, an exuberant young artist looks deeply at the world around her and make art from found objects. This sprightly book celebrates creativity and will inspire readers to find art all around them, unleash their imaginations, and invent their own artistic creations.  An ideal book for young artists and nature-lovers in search of outdoor activities.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe wall of the title belongs to a city building, its expanse broken only by a straggling vine, some graffiti, and a torn poster for some long-ago event. A boy addresses it: “Maybe once you were full of style,/ but no one has taken care of you./ You are nothing to look at.” In textural, mural-like paintings by Parra (Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos), friendly-looking, folk-art-style children play on matte pages. Though the landscape is bleak (“We cheer for the tiny flowers pushing through the cracks in the sidewalk”), the neighborhood’s families—of all colors—eat, dance, and laugh together (“there is love; there is joy”). The boy realizes that if something is to be done about the wall’s uncared-for expanse, it’s up to him: “I’ve got my pencil,/ I’ve got my paints,/ I’ve got my dreams.” The boy organizes his neighbors, and with paint, ladders, and smiles, they create a beautiful mural. This story of urban renewal sends a welcome double message by Verde (The Water Princess): neighbors and neighborhoods are more than the way they look, and ordinary people can band together to transform big things. -- Publishers Weekly * July 7, 2018 *Verde’s unique style and simple yet increasingly important messages of peace, mindfulness, and community make her stories a must-share! This title is no different. Turning the first page, readers see the big wall referenced in the title, but also the bustling city street and sidewalks, and a boy—pondering the surface and wondering how he can make this empty wall something special that represents his life and his community. The boy walks children through the seasons, and they see that the wall is unchanged and unadorned as the city lives and breathes around it. The boy decides to take matters into his own hands, and with the power of art and community, he breathes life back into the wall, so it pulses and dances just like the people and neighbors it now represents. The final page shows the transformation and the simple words, Hey, Wall! Both the author and illustrator notes are instrumental in sharing this picture book as a read-aloud with students and will spark the necessary conversation of change and community, and how art can support both. ­VERDICT A must-purchase for elementary libraries that could easily support art curriculums covering topics of graffiti, street art, and using art to spark social change. -- School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW"Walls do not just create barriers and divide spaces. They can be canvases for artmaking; opportunities to shape a community. A little-boy protagonist directly addresses the neglected wall that faces his house: “You are nothing to look at. / You are cold, / old, / empty.” In a community whose better economic days seem past (the boy’s grandma “talks of a time when our neighborhood was beautiful”), where the children “cheer for the tiny flowers pushing through the / cracks in the sidewalk, reaching for sunlight,” the boy decides to take action. “I am a writer, a creator / a game changer, / a wall changer,” he declares, which sparks a community effort to turn the wall into a public mural. “Now you tell the real story of us.” Parra’s acrylic illustrations are in a similar palette to and display the same warmth as his work in Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos (rev. 3/18). A range of skin tones is represented; the children’s clothing is shown in deep reds, greens, and oranges; and the wall itself evokes the texture of bricks that have been painted over with a shade of cornflower-blue. Author and illustrator endnotes explain the impetus for the story and place murals within a larger context of art history, public art, and activism." -- The Horn Book -- The Horn Book"This book tells the story of how one voice, one child, truly can make a difference. Told in simple, brief statements, a young boy speaks to the plain blue wall of lonely concrete on the street of his community that otherwise goes unnoticed. Indoor festivities in the community include delicious cooking and eating, colorful stories resulting in belly laughs, and exuberant salsa dancing. Outside, however, the wall stands in bleak contrast. The boy decides to take this matter to the streets. With art supplies in hand, he announces with confidence that he is a writer, creator, and wall changer. Joined by his friends, the wall is transformed from a blank blue canvas into a lively depiction of their loving community. Illustrated with a blue background throughout, Parra’s soft acrylics harmoniously detail the children designing the mural, then painting on ladders, and finally bringing the wall to life. Back matter by both author and illustrator includes the distinction between graffiti and street art as well as a description of where their love of street art comes from. This is an excellent choice to inspire classroom, school-wide, or even community art projects. Highly recommended.: School Library Connection -- School Library Connection * November / December 2018 *

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Book SynopsisLearn all about artists who changed history in this engaging and colorful board book perfect for creators-in-training!Painting, shaping, making art. With creative joy, hands, and heart. Little artists have great big imaginations. In this follow up to This Little President, This Little Explorer, This Little Trailblazer, and This Little Scientist now even the youngest readers can learn all about great and empowering artists in history! Highlighting ten memorable artists who paved the way, parents and little ones alike will love this creativity primer full of fun, age-appropriate facts and bold illustrations.

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Book SynopsisCut-paper wizard Nikki McClure is a brilliant steward for the words of a pioneering environmentalist in this wondrous ode to clouds—and the scientific “language of the sky.”Rachel Carson once wrote, “It is not half so important to know as to feel.” What do we know about clouds? There are three basic types: stratus, cumulus, and cirrus. Some are fleecy and fair-weathered while others portend storms. But clouds are more than pretty or ominous backdrops. They’re the vehicle of water between sea and land, land and sea, in a cycle without end or beginning. They are the writing of the wind on the sky, a language all their own. An illustrator note explains the origins of Rachel Carson’s shimmering essay—previously unpublished in its entirety—and the process of adapting it to picture book format, as well as how the author of Silent Spring forever changed the way we think about science and progress. Bringi

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Book SynopsisColor with stickers! Creative kids will love to color with stickers in this exciting sticker-activity series! Features more than 125 stickers, 10 pull-out pages to complete, and fun facts about each featured dinosaur on the back of the page.Children can color with stickers as they place the numbered stickers, found on the sticker pages at the back of the book, on the corresponding number on each page to complete the picture. Fans of dinosaurs will love this sticker-activity book, which features more 125 stickers, dozens of fun facts, and perforated pages. Young readers can learn which dinosaur could run as fast as an Olympic sprinter; whose tail spikes were as long as an umbrella; who was one of the slowest dinosaurs; what other creatures existed alongside the dinosaurs; and much more! Welcome to a world of coloring with stickers! Children can create pictures by matching the numbered stickers in the back of the book to the numbers on each picture. Each book in the Color with Stickers series includes more than 125 stickers to create exciting scenes!

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