13 | November | 2007 | Shelf Elf: read, write, rave.

I’m sure it’s obvious by now that I am kids’ book crazy. Within this larger addiction, one particular love of mine is art books – books about artists, art theft, making art, teaching art. I love them all.

For any art book afficiando, Joyce Raimondo’s series of books that focuses on different artistic schools/periods is impossible to resist. These books form a tidy little collection full of gems for teachers (and parents) who want to give kids an accessible and fun entry point to some of art’s biggest thinkers. Voila:

I’ve tried a bunch of Raimondo’s lessons and they are kid friendly and inspiring. Most recently, I modified an idea from the Surrealism book and my students created Surreal rooms. It became clear pretty fast that 9 year olds “get” surrealism because many of them already see the crazy in the world around them without having to look for it.

Visit Joyce Raimondo‘s website and the MoMa’s Art Safari site (Raimondo’s project), for more to inspire. Raimondo’s books are published by Watson-Guptill.