I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for books targeted to children that promote and encourage the arts. Kid Artists, by David Stabler, is an anthology of sixteen famous artist biographies written for middle grade (and younger) readers.
While it is unlikely that students will know all these artists (some won’t know any of the artists), hopefully some students who find this interesting will look into the artists a little more (or perhaps some teachers will take the opportunity to teach a little more art). But what will really capture a youngsters attention here is that each of these famous artists were once children, students like themselves, who were teased and mocked and picked upon but who also found solace in drawing and painting and sculpting.
One thing that definitely struck me was how supportive the famous artists’ parents tended to be.
Artist Doogie Horner illustrates the book with a youthful cartoon likeness of the artists.
This is a clever book (part of a series) that reminds the reader that people who have gone on to achieve fame in some way, were once children who did many of the same things we did as children. The ultimate goal here: to remind our youth that anything is possible – they can be whatever they want to be.
This book contains the following mini biographies:
Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvelous Medusa Shield
Vincent van Gogh: The Boy Who Loved Bugs
Beatrix Potter: Nature Girl
Emily Carr: Out of the Woods
Georgia O’Keefe: Born a Rebel
Louise Nevelson: Coming to America
Dr. Seuss: And to Think That He Saw It on Mulberry Street
Jackson Pollock: Boy on the Move
Charles Schulz: The Shy Guy
Yoko Ono: Reversal of Fortune
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Anatomy Lesson
Claude Monet: Impress to Success
Pablo Picasso: Problem Child Makes Good
Frida Kahlo: Like Father, Like Daughter
Jacob Lawrence: Little Kid, Great Migration
Andy Warhol: Mother Knows Best
Keith Haring: Through a Kid’s Eyes
Looking for a good book? Kid Artists, by David Stabler, is the perfect book to encourage the young artists by showing them that the famous artists started out as children, too.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Kid Artists: True Tales of Childhood from Creative Legends
author: David Stabler
artist: Doogie Horner
publisher: Quirk Books
ISBN: 1594748969
hardcover, 208 pages
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