The various ‘lock-downs’ that we have had over the last year or so, has meant that many exhibitions have not taken place and there has been no opportunity to go to galleries in order to lift the spirits. Thankfully so many museums and art galleries have taken up the challenge and have provided a wealth of material online. There have also been a range of books that look at the world of art and hopefully these will encourage young readers to explore the creative world and to produce their own work in the future. These are just some of the books that I have seen in the last year and they have greatly enhanced my appreciation of the talent that is there for us to admire, as well as to try and emulate.
Mention the War, 9781911255673
“Flying High in the Sunlit Silence: the aviation art of Jack Berry. I came across the book when it featured on a programme on the TV and just had to get a copy for myself. The author is a young autistic boy called jack and he was 13 years old when the book was published. I was attracted to the book because it features aircraft, but it also has articles by a variety of aviation veterans, as well as the beautiful poem “Say Something Nice” by A.F.Harrold
Kingfisher, 9780753444542
“Who’s in the Picture?” by Susie Brooks is a delightful look at 20 famous paintings and the images within them. It is aimed at possibly KS1 children and encourages them to ask lots of questions. It is a great introduction to the huge range of what we call ‘Art’.
Scallywag Press, 9781912650170
“A gallery of Cats” by Ruth Brown is a delightful and quirky look at art, as a young boy called Tom wanders through an Art Gallery. Instead of the artists we see the works through they eyes of cats which have been placed in the paintings. It gives a really fresh and original take on the images that we see.
Book Island, 9781911496151
“The bird within me” by Sara Lundberg is a remarkable look at the early life of the Swedish artist Berta Hansson. It has been shortlisted for the 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal, which of course looks at the illustration in the nominated titles. The publisher is the wonderful small company Book Island Books which is based in Bristol and specialized in picture books in translation; they are a favourite of mine.
Phaidon, 9781838660802
“Yayoi Kusama covered everything in dots and wasn’t sorry” by Fausto Gilberti is something of a surprise for me. I could not believe that I had not come across the artist’s name before, even though she has been creating her work for most of my life. It is amazing what someone can create using just one basic shape, but this artist brings colour, shape and design together to amaze us with her work.
“Bob goes POP!” by Marion Deuchars is the third in the series about the small black bird called Bob. This time he is trying his hand at POP art and finds himself in competition with another artist called Roy. How they overcome their differences and produce some very positive results makes for a delightful take on the modern art scene.
Laurence King, 9781786277718
“Lets make great ART: Colours” by Marion Deuchars is part of a series by this author in which she looks at different aspects of art. Other works in the series include ‘Pattern’ and ‘Animals’. They are all aimed at the youngest of readers, as they gain confidence with drawing tools and the art of ‘Mark Making’. The get the imagination flowing.
Usborne, 9781409598893
“How Art works” by Sarah Hull is aimed at the teenage and adult reader, who want to understand more about the world of art. It has to be said that for many this is a very difficult area to get to grips with, but this book asks the sort of questions that we all want to ask.
“Why do we need Art ?” by Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young asks us some of the major questions about Art. It does not look at individual works of art in depth but does examine
Wayland, 9781526312587
where the concept of art comes from, what it means to us now and why do we need art in our lives. It is very up to date, in that it looks at the impact of ‘Black Lives matter’ as well as the experiences of those who have been been outside of mainstream art; this includes poets, artists, sculptors and writers.
Thames and Hudson, 9780500652206
“Modern Art Explorer” by Alice Harman and Serge Bloch allows the reader to dip into some of the great artists of the 20th and 21st century. The book include artists, sculptors, textile artists, and those who create large scale installations. Some of the artists are household names, such as Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo but others are know to more specialized audiences. This makes this book a good choice to dip into as a way of discovering new works. The text is quite chatty in style and would be suitable for maybe young people over the age of 10 years.
was lucky enough to hear this author/poet speak at a conference earlier this year, so I was excited to see what this story would be like. Well, it was just as hysterically funny as you might imagine with a very determined heroine Greta Zargo, who really wants to be an investigative reporter. There is the case of the missing cakes and the competition to win a reporting prize but in the background and moving ever closer to Earth is a Death Robot; can Greta find the culprit and save the planet at the same time. You will have to read it to see.
novels. He has given us a mystery with two main central characters. Their stories start individually but gradually things begin to merge until eventually we understand how they are linked together. Chipper is a dog that has been kept in a scientific research facility since he was young. He knows that the ‘white coats’ have done things to him, but his increased abilities allow him to escape and go on the hunt for someone (unknown) that he just has to find. On the other side of the State lives Jeff, who has gone to live with his aunt after the tragic deaths of his parents. How these two come together and what their connection is makes for a thrilling and very addictive story. The next in the series should be a real roller-coaster I suspect. One for years 6 and 7.
“You can’t make me go to Witch School” by Em Lynas. Daisy Wart just wants to become a great Shakespearean actress but her grandmother insists that she is a witch and sends her off to witch school. Despite her protests she finds that she can do magic and she and her new friends are called upon to save Toadspit Towers (her school) from an ancient curse. can she do this and also achieve her acting ambitions? This is a funny and exciting story about finding yourself and also about friendship. It is great for the lower end of KS2 and those who just want a light and very enjoyable story.
perhaps I am showing my age to some extent. It is a fantasy with rabbits as the main characters, so there is also a nod to Richard Adams and ‘Watership Down’. They are anthropomorphized, so that we are taken to a somewhat medieval landscape with warring tribes and three young rabbits who are fleeing from a terrifying enemy and who have to save an ancient treasure. It is a thrilling story for ‘middle grade’ children and could well be a favourite for many years to come.
“The Starman and me” by Sharon Cohen (NG) reminded me somewhat of ‘Stig of the Dump‘by Clive King, ‘Nation‘ by Terry Pratchett and another new book by Adam Stower called ‘King Coo’. When Kofi sees an unusual small and very scruffy person on a roundabout he is in for the most amazing adventure of his life so far. The character finally 
makes contact, but is he from our world and if so, how did he get to England? this is one of those books that gradually hooks you and then reels you in. A really great read.