How Artists See the Elements: Earth Air Fire and Water

Abbeville Kids expands its award-winning series of interactive, inquiry-based books designed to teach children about the world by looking at art, and about art by looking at the world. In How Artists See the Elements children can see how Red Grooms created clumps of earth out of dabs and lines of paint; how Arthur Dove captured the beauty and destructiveness of fire at the same time; how N. C. Wyeth made air "visible"; and how Katsushika Hokusai suggested the immense power of the oceans waves by using strong, curving lines. Each volume in the How Artists See series presents sixteen diverse works of art, all devoted to a subject that every child already knows from personal experience. Author Colleen Carroll's engaging, conversational text is filled with thought-provoking questions and imaginative activities that spark children's natural curiosity both about the subject of the artwork they are looking at and about the way it was created. This direct, interactive approach to art--and to the world--promotes self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-expression. As it introduces basic artistic concepts, styles, and techniques, it also provides loads of fun. For children who want to know more about the artists whose works appear in the book, biographies are provided at the end, along with suggestions for further reading and an international list of museums where each artists works can be seen. As they begin to understand the multitude of ways that artists see, children will deepen their appreciation of art, the world around them, and, most importantly, their own unique visions.