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Julie of Ms. Julie’s Place has honored Art Smarts 4 Kids with a blog award!
“This award acknowledges the efforts that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.”
I’m flattered that Julie thought of me when choosing recipients and I’m so pleased that people are reading, enjoying, and finding value in this blog. Thank you, Julie!
I’m supposed to pass the award along to 15 other bloggers now. Those bloggers should post the award to their sites and choose 15 bloggers that they find deserving of the award. There are certainly 15 bloggers that I would like to pass the award on to, but some of them aren’t as kid-friendly as I like to keep things around here. So I’m going to award 7 Wonderful Blogger Awards, though I agree with Julie’s choices. I read and enjoy all of her art-related honorees, too. Make sure you click through.
The blogs listed below are all wonderful and deserving. Some of them I just discovered, some I’ve been lurking at for quite awhile, and some of them are old favorites that you’ve heard about before. Please, go check them out.
Modern Art 4 Kids
Wonders Never Cease
Peter’s Paris Art Projects for Kids
Jenny Wren’s Nest
Teach Kids Art
SMMART Ideas
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In the upcoming weeks I will be posting about several winners of the Caldecott Medal, as well as a few runners-up, also known as Caldecott Honor books. In many libraries you’ll see Caldecott Medal winners displayed along the tops of the shelves or in their own table displays. They each carry a medal on their covers. But what exactly does it mean to be a Caldecott Medal winner or Caldecott Honor book? Who decides which books should receive the award? And how did this all start, anyway?
Well, it all started with an illustrator named Randolph Caldecott. Throughout his life, he created artwork for magazines. He illustrated novels and drew cartoons. He sculpted and painted. He even illustrated his letters, drawing pictures around the edges of the pages.
In 1887, Caldecott was asked to illustrate two children’s books which were to be published for Christmas. The books were huge hits. Caldecott illustrated two picture books each year for Christmas for the next eight years (until his death). He wrote some of these books himself, but he always added something with his illustrations. The pictures in Caldecott’s books help to tell some of the story that the words do not. Below is one of his illustrations. It is from The Diverting History of John Gilpin. It should remind you of the picture on the Caldecott Medal pictured above.
In 1938, the Association for Library Service to Children awarded the first Caldecott Medal. The award was named in honor of Randolph Caldecott and the winner had to contribute to children’s literature the way Caldecott had. The illustrations had to be original artwork and they had to help tell the story.
Recently, there have been winners of the Caldecott Medal that do not include words at all. David Wiesner, who I’ll post about soon, has won three Caldecott Medals and two Caldecott Honors. He tells his stories all in pictures. He has definitely continued Randolph Caldecott’s tradition!
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Yesterday you read about some of Lois Ehlert’s picture books. Today, make your own illustration in the style of Lois Ehlert. This project came out so well that I couldn’t wait until Friday to share it with you. So this will be a full week all about illustrators!
Supplies Needed:
Construction Paper/ Textured Paper
Cardboard
White Glue
Glue Stick
Scissors
Pencil
Hole Punch (optional)
Paint
I’m going to walk you through the steps to create this bird, but keep in mind that you can make any animal like this. If you have been studying butterflies for example, you might want to make a butterfly.
Cover your workspace and gather your supplies.
Begin by cutting out the shapes for your bird. Look at the shapes shown below and try and draw, then cut out, similar shapes. I cut little triangles out of the tops of the wings to show the separate feathers. Lois Ehlert folds her wings like accordions instead. You choose which you’d rather. Don’t forget to make the eyes. I used a hole punch to create the black part of the eye but you can use scissors to make the eye if you want.
Next, prepare the cardboard. This will become your tree. Peel the back off of the cardboard so you’re left will ridges. Squeeze some brown paint onto a palette or plastic lid. Cut another small strip of cardboard and dip the edge in the paint. Dab off some of the paint and then stamp the edge onto the large piece of cardboard several times. You’re just trying to make the cardboard look more like a tree. Work until you’re happy with the look of your tree, then set it aside to dry. It will dry quickly.
If you chose to show the separate feathers with cuts instead of folds, you’ll want to add some paint to your wings and tail, too. Squeeze some black paint onto your palette. Cut a new strip of cardboard, dip it into the black paint, and pull it across the wing. You’ll want lines that begin at the bottom of each triangle you cut. Then fill in the rest until you are pleased with the look. Do the same to the tail. Let everything dry.
Now, cut some simple leaves from green construction paper. You will need about ten leaves. Cut a third strip of cardboard and use it to paint green lines on your leaves.
Tear some short green strips for grass.
Your bird should be pretty much dry by now. Use your glue stick to glue it together.
Finally, cut off a strip of your painted cardboard to use as branches.
You have now prepared everything you need to make your illustration. Begin arranging your pieces on a sheet of colored paper. I chose to use blue for the sky.
Glue down your tree first. Use white glue anytime you work with cardboard. It needs a stronger hold than a glue stick gives. Cut off any cardboard that hangs over the edges of the paper.
Next, glue down the leaves and grass. Use white glue when gluing to cardboard (because of the ridges) and a glue stick when gluing to the background page.
Finally, glue your bird to the tree.
Remember to sign your name somewhere on your masterpiece!
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Lois Ehlert is the author and illustrator of many lovely books for young children. You may remember reading about Leaf Man last fall. Perhaps you even made your own Leaf Man. In that book, Ehlert created the illustrations using different types of fall leaves. In her other books, she uses materials such as textured paper, cardboard, and cotton fluff.
What I really love about Ehlert’s picture books is that they are related to subjects that kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders learn about in school. At this age, you are learning about the changing leaves, weather, animals, and the life cycle of butterflies. Ehlert has written books on all of these subjects and more.
Waiting for Wings is the story of a group of caterpillars who disappear into chrysalises and emerge as beautiful butterflies. Ehlert’s simple, rhyming story walks you through the life cycle of the butterfly. Her cut paper illustrations feature colorful flowers and several types of butterflies. At the end of the book there is a guide to the types of flowers and the types of butterflies shown throughout the book.
Pie in the Sky is one of my favorites because it features so many different types of birds. Ehlert’s birds are gorgeous and tomorrow I’ll show you how to make your own. Pie in the Sky is the story of a pie tree. Have you ever seen pies growing on a tree? No? Neither had the speaker in this story. But the child soon finds that the tree grows a cherry feast for all the birds, a raccoon, and eventually for the family. And you’ll learn to make a cherry pie right along with the child in the story.
In honor of the snow day that many of us on the east coast are enjoying, check out Snowballs. The snow people and snow dog in this story are anything but ordinary.
Ehlert has written many more books worth reading. These are just a few of my favorites.
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Happy birthday to the good doctor, Dr. Seuss. Make sure you check out all the Dr. Seuss posts throughout this website: Dr. Seuss, The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss book review, Create Your Own Cat in the Hat Summary Hat, and Create Your Own Seussian Birthday Adventure.Schools are closed here for weather, sadly, so I won't get to do any fun Dr. Seuss activities with the kids today. I hope you get to, though!And finally, Happy Birthday, Julie! Head over to her site and wish her a happy birthday!Return to main page.
