It’s my stop on the blog tour for Be a Super Awesome Artist by Henry Carroll and Rose Blake. This fabulous book is packed full of arty facts and tips, along with twenty art challenges inspired by the masters.
From “Stay in line like Picasso” to “Lay it on thick like Vincent van Gogh”, this quirky art guide covers a huge range of art styles. As you explore each master artist, you find out what makes them unique and also get a related art challenge.
At the back of the book is a really great section on the history of art. My daughter really liked this part of the book and she also made connections between the artworks she’d come across in other picture books. She particularly loves Balloon Dog which she remembered from Marion Deuchars’ Bob Goes Pop and Luna Loves Art by Joseph Coelho & Fiona Lumbers.
Interspersed between the fascinating artist profiles, are “Niffty know-how” pages, that are a must-read for any budding artist. My three-year-old is learning pencil control at pre-school, and she loved these niffty little guides and was teaching me how to hold the pencil!
As you know from our Recommended Halloween Reads, my three-year-old is a HUGE fan of pumpkins. She was fascinated to read about Yayoi Kusama and her love of pumpkins. The art challenge was to draw something you love with exaggerated features. When I asked my daughter, I knew what she was going to say… pumpkins!
Be a Super Awesome Artist is inspiring, informative and inventive. I would recommend it for age 4+. This is a book children can dip in and out of and come back to over and over again, trying out a new style with each read. There is also scope to combine art challenges together – the artistic possibilities are endless!
Published 12 December 2020, Laurence King Publishing
It’s Giveaway Time!!
If you can’t wait to get your hands on this awesome book, and you’d also like a chance to win some Be a Super Awesome pencils, head over to Twitter now to enter our giveaway! For a bonus entry, leave a comment to this post and tell me which artist you or your little one loves most.
I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. This voluntary review contains my honest opinion.
Picture Book Perfect 