How Artists See Animals: Mammal, Fish, Bird, Reptile

by Colleen Carroll

Overview

One of the first two volumes in a relaunch of the best-selling series that encourages children to learn about the world by looking at art, and about art by looking at the world

How Artists See is a series of interactive, inquiry-based books designed to teach children the art of observation and increase their visual literacy. Each volume presents eighteen diverse works of art, all devoted to a subject that children know from personal experience. Author Colleen Carroll’s friendly, conversational text is filled with thought-provoking questions that promote exploration, self-expression, and fun.

In this revised and redesigned edition of the classic How Artists See Animals, more than half the artworks are newly selected—and they range from contemporary street art to an ancient Greek coin. Children will discover how Andy Warhol’s rhinoceros resembles a prehistoric cave painting, how Frank Gehry turned a fish’s sleek aquatic shape into architecture, and how Georgia O’Keefe captured a bird in flight using just a few curving lines.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789213488
Publisher:	Abbeville Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Series:	Abbeville Kids
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 12 Years

About the Author

Colleen Carroll has been involved in education for nearly three decades as a classroom teacher, curriculum writer, and literacy specialist. She lives in the New York City area, where she writes and teaches reading.

Read an Excerpt

NOTE TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS

As an elementary school teacher I had the opportunity to show my students many examples of great art. I was always amazed by their enthusiastic responses to the colors, shapes, subjects, and fascinating stories of the artists' lives. It wasn't uncommon for us to spend an entire class period looking at and talking about just one work of art. By asking challenging questions, I prompted the children to examine and think very carefully about the art, and then quite naturally they would begin to ask all sorts of interesting questions of their own. These experiences inspired me to write this book and the other volumes in the How Artists See series.

How Artists See is designed to teach children about the world by looking at art, and about art by looking at the world through the eyes of great artists. The books encourage children to look critically, answer—and ask—thought-provoking questions, and form an appreciation and understanding of an artist's vision. Each book is devoted to a single subject so that children can see how different artists have approached and treated the same theme and begin to understand the importance of individual style.

Because I believe that children learn most successfully in an atmosphere of exploration and discovery, I've included questions that encourage them to formulate ideas and responses for themselves. And because people's reactions to art are based on their own personal aesthetic, most of the questions are open-ended and have more than one answer. If you're reading aloud to your children or students, give them ample time to look at each work and form their own opinions; it certainly is not necessary to read thewhole book in one sitting. Like a good book or movie, art can be enjoyed over and over again, each time with the possibility of revealing something that wasn't seen before.

You may notice that dates and other historical information are not included in the main text. I purposely omitted this information in order to focus on the art and those aspects of the world it illustrates. For children who want to learn more about the artists whose works appear in the book, short biographies are provided at the end, along with suggestions for further reading and a list of museums where you can see additional works by each artist.

After reading How Artists See, children can do a wide variety of related activities to extend and reinforce all that they've learned. In addition to the simple activities I've suggested throughout the main text, they can visit a local zoo or wildlife sanctuary to further their appreciation of animals, or create stories about their own pets or favorite animals in the book. Since the examples shown here are just a tiny fraction of the great works of art that feature animals as their subject, children can go on a scavenger hunt through museums and the many wonderful art books in your local library to find other images of animals.

I hope that you and your children or students will enjoy reading and rereading this book and, by looking at many styles of art, discover how artists share with us their unique ways of seeing and depicting our world.

Table of Contents

Note to Parents and Teachers

Artists' Biographies

Suggestions for Further Reading

Where to See the Artists' Work

Credits

Editorial Reviews

Carroll's prose is simple but lively: engaging, questioning, sometimes humorous, often invoking sensory responses... This book would provide an excellent jumping-off point for a teacher or parent to encourage children to engage with art, to spark creativity, and to build visual-literacy skills.

From the Publisher

2019-08-12
In this revised edition of one book in a series entitled How Artists See, Carroll has selected an eclectic collection of 23 paintings, sculptures, and artifacts by artists ancient and modern from many different cultures.

Each artwork is depicted on one page or a double-page spread, frequently alongside a detail from the larger work. The book presents depictions of animals by varied artists: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Albrecht Dürer, Kishi Ganku, Robert Bateman, Henri Matisse, Roy Liechtenstein, Alexander Calder, Frank Gehry, John James Audubon, Tamás Galambos, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ana Maria Pacheco, Simon Stålenhag, Audrey Weber, Crisp, Georges De Groot, and Marie Sybilla Merian as well as art from cave paintings in France, a mosaic from Pompeii, an ancient Greek coin, a Chiriquí frog pendant, and a Kuba carved wood crocodile. Carroll's prose is simple but lively: engaging, questioning, sometimes humorous, often invoking sensory responses. As she remarks in a closing note, "The questions…are open-ended, with no right or wrong answers—they are meant to encourage children to look critically and ask thought-provoking questions of their own." This book would provide an excellent jumping-off point for a teacher or parent to encourage children to engage with art, to spark creativity, and to build visual-literacy skills. Biographical notes and resources for each artist appear in the backmatter. Companion title How Artists See Families publishes simultaneously.

A great addition to the visual-literacy library for young children. (Informational picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews