Inspiration For Little Art Lovers

Do you have the next Picasso at your house? After your little art lover has put paint, paper, brushes and pencils all over the house how about introducing them to a range of different artists and artwork? This list of stunning art books will get you started. The perfect inspiration for another artistic frenzy!

A History of Pictures for Children by David Hockney, Martin Gayford

A History of Pictures for Children takes readers on a journey through art history, from early art drawn on cave walls to the images we make today on our computers and phone cameras. Based on the bestselling book for adults, this children’s edition of A History of Pictures is told through conversations between the artist David Hockney and the author Martin Gayford, who talk about art with inspiring simplicity and clarity. Rose Blake’s illustrations illuminate the narratives of both authors to bring the history of art alive for a young audience.

Frida Kahlo: Little People, Big Dreams by Isabel Sanchez Vegara

In this new series, discover the lives of outstanding people from designers and artists to scientists. All of them went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. The second book follows Frida Kahlo, whose desire to study medicine was destroyed by a childhood accident. Frida began painting from her bedside and produced over 140 works, culminating in a solo exhibition in America. This inspiring and informative little biography comes with extra facts about Frida’s life at the back.

The Stories of Famous Artworks by By Stepanka Sekaninova

Would you like to know more about the beautiful Mona Lisa, muscular David, the giant Buddha, Jesus Christ on high, the Little Mermaid, or delight in the splendour of sunflowers in bloom

Join Mina the cat and her twins Anna and Lana on their journey around the world to see some of the most famous pictures and sculptures in history. Learn how they were made and meet the artists who created them. Discover nuggets of information about a wide variety of art techniques and styles. After you finish reading this book, there’s a good chance that you’ll want to become an artist. Just put on a painter’s smock, grab a palette and you’ll be ready to go!

This Book Thinks You’re an Artist by Harriet Russell

Filled with creative, playful activities, This Book Thinks You’re an Artist asks budding artists to imagine their eccentric- artist alter ego before working through seven key topics: observation, drawing, color pattern, design, sculpture, and, crucially, how to steal ideas (Be inspired! Offend the viewer!). Each spread offers a different project–everything you need to make your own work of art inspired by a famous artist or movement in a lighthearted and playful tone. Activities include making a Bruegel circus, playing a Surrealist game, selling a scribble for a million dollars, and painting your face like a Russian Futurist. A section of paper-based crafts at the end of the book even includes a kit to build a viewfinder and make a mini-manifesto book.

Art Workshops for Children by Herve Tullet

This is a guide for adults (parents, teachers, etc.) to organize and execute artistic workshops for children in the spirit of the workshops Hervé Tullet has run to great success all over the world.

Each workshop offers a list of materials needed, a step-by-step guide and Hervé Tullet’s special tips for running successful workshops, as well as illustrated examples of outcomes and a photo album showcasing these workshops in progress.

With the Hervé Tullet Workshops, it’s not about artistic ability as much as about the unexpected magic that can happen when people are given the freedom to be spontaneous and to create as a group.