What’s in your art literature library? I love finding books appropriate for any age that encourage art masterpiece exposure for students. Here are some of my favorite books on my bookshelf:
Books to Encourage Observing
I Spy art books are ideal to encourage the skill of observing masterpieces and artwork. I’ve found some that are more simple and others that you really have to hunt for the details. These books are a great resource to have in an art bookshelf. Here’s a list of the books:
- Spot the Differences Art Masterpiece Mysteries Volume 1 (Dover Kids Activity Books)
- Spot the Differences Art Masterpiece Mysteries Volume 2 (Dover Kids Activity Books)
- Spot the Differences Art Masterpiece Mysteries Volume 3 (Dover Kids Activity Books)
- Spot the Differences Art Masterpiece Mysteries Volume 4 (Dover Kids Activity Books)
- I SPY Animals in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY Numbers in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY Colors in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY Transportation in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY An Alphabet in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- I SPY a Lion – Animals in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
- Look-Alikes by Joan Steiner
- Look-Alikes Jr. by Joan Steiner
- Look-Alikes Around the World by Joan Steiner
- Look-Alikes Christmas by Joan Steiner
- The Great Art Treasure Hunt – I Spy Red, Yellow, and Blue by Doris Kutschbach
- The Art Treasure Hunt I Spy with My Little Eye by Doris Kutschbach
- Art Detective – Spot the Difference! by Doris Kutschbach
- 3-D ABC A Sculptural Alphabet by Bob Raczka
- Spot-the-Difference Masterpieces – 40 Eye-Bending Fine-Art Puzzles by Puzzlewright Press
- Spot The Differences – 100 Challenging Photo Puzzles by George Eastman House
- Extreme Spot the Difference Wonders of the World – 40 High-Resolution Photo Puzzles by Richard W Galland
- Food Landscapes by Carl Warner
Getting To Know Artists Series
Scholastic published a fantastic series of books about individual artists. When I have younger students who have refused to do an art project, I give them the option of reading about the artist we’re using for our project inspiration. These books are also great if you need to make a simple book report for students. I have twenty-two in my set. You can find these books here:
- Mary Cassatt – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Leonardo DaVinci – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Edgar Degas – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Francisco Goya – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Frida Kahlo – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Paul Klee – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Roy Lichtenstein – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Grandma Moses – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Georgia O’Keeffe – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Pablo Picasso – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Jackson Pollock – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Diego Rivera – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Norman Rockwell – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- George Seurat – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Vincent van Gogh – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
- Andy Warhol – Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists by Scholastic
Connecting With Artists
All the books by Bob Raczka are fantastic for students to learn interesting facts about masterpieces and artists. They are easy to read with large pictures. For students who love cats, any of these books by Nia Gould will keep their interest and there is a cat application to famous works of art with characteristics of the artist. (I edited one page at the end of A Young Cat for younger viewers by putting a large sticker over the top.) Here’s the list of books pictured:
- Here’s Looking at Me by Bob Raczka
- Vermeer Interviews by Bob Raczka
- Unlikely Pairs by Bob Raczka
- Art Is… by Bob Raczka
- No One Saw by Bob Raczka
- Before THEY were FAMOUS by Bob Raczka
- Artful Reading by Bob Raczka
- More Than Meets the Eye by Bob Raczka
- A Day at the Gallery by Nia Gould
- A History of Art in 21 Cats by Nia Gould
- A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Cat by Nia Gould
Labeling Books
How do you group your books? I label them by adding a rectangular coding sticker to keep types of books or books for different grades together. The labels are stickers, but I find they often peel off, so I add a bit of 3M Book Tape over the top, and they stay for years. (Hot Pink for books about artists. See the Scholastic set above.)
Editing Images in Books for Students
If you come across a page that needs something covered, there are a couple of options. You can use a black Sharpie and block it out but that can bleed through the page. I like to place a double sticky Post-it-Notes with an entire sticky back. You can cut them to size, and they stay stuck without ruining the original page. You still need to monitor students because they can be peeled off, but the ones I’ve put in place have been left there.