Art & Max is a delightful picture book for young children about the creative process. Art is a painter, and Max wants to learn to be an artist. Art makes him promise not to get in the way, but when he can’t figure out what to paint and decides to paint Art (literally), chaos ensues. When Art becomes a line drawing that unravels into a pile of spaghetti-like strands, Max must put his artistic ability to the test.
The Girl (age 10) was very excited when we unexpectedly received a copy of Art & Max. While she’s older than the target audience, she loves art and was intrigued by the book when we saw its display at Book Expo America 2010. We both enjoyed David Wiesner’s story about friendship and creativity and loved his vivid illustrations, with lizards in a variety of colors and the juxtaposition of full color illustrations and simple line drawings.
Children will be entertained by Max’s attempts to recreate Art and will want to paint or draw their own creations afterward. Wiesner does a good job showing children that anyone can create a work of art, and painting doesn’t only mean a canvas and an easel.
Wiesner uses words sparingly in Art & Max, focusing more on the visual. This is a book that children will want to hold themselves and just stare at the many illustrations that, in fact, do much of the storytelling. Wiesner compels children to use their imaginations, to go out and create, which is an important message in an age when computers, video games, and television take up too much of our time.
Disclosure: We received a copy of Art & Max from Clarion Books for review purposes. I am an Amazon associate.
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
The cover is delightful, so I can just imagine the rest of the book is as well. This might be a great gift for our great-nephew.
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I was thinking about it for my nephew, too…or the little “niece” that’s on the way!
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It looks lovely, and I do like books for children with pretty pics, cos I wanted that as a kid
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The illustrations definitely will catch the eyes of children!
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Oh my gosh! I adore the cover … worth the price of admission all on it’s own!
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You should see the illustrations inside the book!
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I’ve seen this one in some of my library journals…I want to read it!!
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It’s very cute! You could read it in a matter of minutes, but it’s the staring and the pondering that make it an experience.
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I totally want this for my classroom! I can’t agree more with the concept of too much technology- tv, computers, movies, video games etc… it is no wonder why so many children don’t know how to create! This sounds like a super way to introduce art & literature to any child, especially those who haven’t had exposure to creativity.
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I’d love to hear what your students think about it!
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Sounds like a nice surprise for the girl
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She was thrilled! With how much she loves illustrations, I bet we’ll be reading picture books for a long time to come. I enjoy them still myself. 😉
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I love David Wiesner! I have no idea how this one got past me – thanks for reviewing it!
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My pleasure! This was the first Wiesner book I’ve read.
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