From the Publisher
Here is a book of words and pictures unlike any other. More than 100 paintings are exquisitely reproduced to illustrate a child's first words. Beautiful paintings and prints illustrate concepts such as numbers, shapes, and opposites, as well as categories such as animals and transportation. As a child looks at a blue Monet sea or a red room by Matisse, he or she will learn about color as well as enjoy a painting. By becoming familiar with the pictures in this book, children will take the first step toward art appreciation.
Publishers Weekly
``It is never too early to introduce children to art,'' Micklethwait declares in her introductory note to parents and teachers. The carefully selected roundup of stunning art collected in this large-format volume--ranging from a detail from an Egyptian tomb painting that dates to 2550 B.C. to David Hockney's Le Plongeur , created in 1978 with paint and molded paper pulp--proves her point easily. Micklethwait wisely includes an abundance of paintings featuring children, action scenes and vibrant colors--all elements guaranteed to snare a youngster's attention. The thematic arrangement of the works of art places them in contexts familiar to kids (family, pets, colors, opposites, work and play), and words or basic phrases accompanying each painting (sisters, in the kitchen, playing in the sand, on the grass) will enable beginning readers to practice their new skills. Also noteworthy are the publisher's trademark exceptionally clean book design and the superb quality of the reproductions. Ages 2-up. (Dec.)
Children's Literature
Children reaching out to learning will find plenty of special books brimming with tremendous ideas. One of the ways to hook young learners is to give them books that engage them in active learning. One of the most glorious concept books ever is Lucy Micklethwait's A Child's Book of Art: Great Pictures, First Words. Children can learn color, pets, seasons, senses, and later the alphabet from the art of masters from all over the world.
Children's Literature
Art appreciation begins from the moment babies notice the world around them. From mobiles above their cribs to wall paintings in their rooms, they respond to color and design. Lucy Mickelthwait has compiled a collection of world famous paintings and arranged them by broad themes. This is a family book. Children will respond to the colors, clothes, and the settings of the paintings that span the ages to the present time.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-A picture gallery with oversized pages filled with fine-art reproductions with simplistic labels, e.g., ``bedroom,'' ``two boys,'' ``rainy,'' etc. Micklethwait writes in her ``Note to Parents and Teachers'' that they are to treat these paintings as they would ``those in any other picture book.'' By this she means to experience them for their representational or emotional content and not to be inhibited by the ``fine art'' halo that too often surrounds such works. And the author merits a special ``Bravo!'' for her refusal to include sculpture because it ``would lose too much of its magic on the printed page.'' There are more than 100 pictures here, sometimes three or four to a page, sometimes with a full page to themselves. They come from ancient Egypt and modern Europe, from Africa and Central America. It's an extensive collection with the majority from the Western world of the past 600 years. Surprisingly, there are only three female artists represented. The subjects also vary, e.g., ``Six Ways to Travel,'' ``More Colors,'' and ``A Time to Sleep.'' The reproductions are all printed with great clarity and with considerable white space around them to facilitate individual attention. Full information about the original art objects is appended.- Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
BookList
Micklethwait expands the idea she used so successfully in her "I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art" in this combination concept and word book. The layout is spacious, and the reproductions are beautiful, with some large enough to be used effectively in class. Heavy on Western art, the selection also includes a sampling of work from Asian and other cultures, and while there could have been more contemporary examples, the works pictured still range widely--from a Greek vase painting and a detail from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling (no fig leaves, thank you) to paintings by modernist David Hockney. The pictures are grouped to illustrate broad subjects or concepts--work, boats, play, opposites, numbers--and each illustration is accompanied by a key word or phrase to guide the child who's looking at it. Although kids will see a rabbit instead of a "hare" and a turtle instead of a "tortoise," the word (the words aren't all "first words" in the traditional sense) and picture combinations work well. It's the opportunity to see paintings so different in technique side by side that is the book's crowning feature. The juxtaposition gives kids a wonderful chance to begin discovering their likes and dislikes as well as to see the many and beautiful ways art has evolved in other places and other times.
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