Pick of the Week: Children's Book Review

As I was browsing the internet for ideas about how to become an illustrator one of the websites I looked at suggested keeping track of the publishers that publish the books you like. Because I am always into children's books with my kids, and getting new selections all the time from the library I get to view a lot of children's books. Also, I noticed that I have been picking out details and ways that other illustrators have created a certain looks or feel that I don't want to forget. I am going to start posting my pick of the week for children's books. Things I want to include in my review (subject to change later): Title, Author, Illustrator, Publisher, Web Links, Summary, Story Likes, Story Dislikes, Lessons Taught Through the Story, Illustration Likes, Illustration Dislikes. So here goes...

Pick of the Week

Title: A Balloon for Isabel
Author: Deborah Underwood
Illustrator: Laura Rankin
Publisher: Harper Collins
Web Links: A Balloon for Isabel, Harper Collins Children's

Summary:Isabel wants a balloon but she and the other porcupines are not allowed to have them at class graduation due to porcupine quills popping balloons. Isabel and her friend Walter go to great lengths to find a solution so they will be allowed to have balloons at there class graduation. They don't want to be stuck with boring bookmarks again!  

Story Likes: Almost every kid can relate to wanting a balloon! The details hit on what kids LOVE about balloons, and what Isabel and Walter felt they were missing out on most. Characters had to "try, try again" to find a solution. Loved that the teacher wants to be "pop-proofed" in the end too!

Story Dislikes: Walter's dad owning a candy shop wasn't as clear in the beginning as I thought it should be. Also, when Walter and Isabel are eating at the cook out, the transition from talking about all of the candy at Walter's house to talking about the color of balloons they wanted could have transitioned a little smoother. It does show a random switch of topic so typical of children's conversations though.

Lessons Taught Through the Story: Problem Solving, Perseverance

Illustration Likes: The bright colors are very cheerful and full of energy. Characters have great emotion, not only in the great facial expressions but also the characters whole body. I also like how the pages all varied from one picture across two pages to several pictures on one page, keeps visual interest higher. I also thought it was clever how the conversation between Isabel and her teacher was portrayed. There is one little picture next to each idea spoken. The picture shows the emotion of the speaker as they are speaking, which was fun to see.

Illustration Dislikes: The eyes on the raccoons looked a little strange to me on some of the pages. I don't know how to describe it exactly, almost expressionless in the eyes when the mouth was trying to convey happy... all the other characters seemed pretty good though.

Kids Art Projects

Art Projects



In my daughter's class today they did a fun art project with water colors and oil pastels. They first drew with the oil pastels a sun and rays that all went to the edge of the paper. Then they water colored over the top, different colors in the different rays. The oil pastels repelled the water color which had a fun effect.

The class also did fabric mosaics earlier in the day, as part of their fabrics unit. They have been using fabrics to learn about textures and observing details. One activity they did with this was shoe boxes with holes cut in them, with lots of fabrics with different textures. The kids got to feel the different textures without seeing them. For this activity each child was given a black square of paper (probably about a 6"x6"). They were then given fabric squares about 1"x1" up to 3"x3" in size, of all different textures and colors. They used Elmer's glue and covered the papers with fabric until no paper showed. The kids  

Cat and the Fiddle

Cat and the Fiddle

November 2013

 

 

Water Color, Black Archival Ink Pen on Sketch Paper

 

This painting was exploring how to do shading by layering the water color. I think the character was kind of fun. The stripe on the pants added a lot visually to the cat's appearance, it surprised me the difference it made when I put it on.  The shading on the pants and shirt I thought turned out well. I didn't care for how the background or stars turned out.  



On the Farm

On the Farm

November 2013

 

Water Color (Transparent), Black Archival Ink Pen,

Colored Pencil (Prismacolor) on Sketch Paper

 

 

This piece is my first water color piece in a really, really long time. I used a regular pencil to sketch it out first, then inked it with pen, painted, then inked and used color pencil to redo some outlines and put in some extra shading. I didn't like how the colored pencil looked on top of the paint creating the shading, maybe I needed to match colors better. I like my ducks, they are very simple in design. I love him looking up expectantly at the cow, just for fun. I like the texture and coloring created by mixing the green and yellow watercolor for the grass. I don't like the cows proportions. They are not right at all in its front legs... but that's learning for you. I'm going to start looking more into drawing books to help me learn proportions and perspectives better.  

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear

November 2013

 

Colored Pencil (Prismacolor) on Sketch Paper

 

On this drawing I was trying out the concept of using colors opposite each other in the color wheel to neutralize each other and create shading. Over all I like what it did. I'm proud of my bear... It's probably my best colored pencil piece that I've done. I used multiple shades of brown, over a green in the darkest areas. I think I might have used a little too much green because the bear looks shaded a slight green, but over all I think the effect was pretty cool.