1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons [Paperback]

Freddie Levin (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: 1-2-3 Draw

Part of the 1-2-3 Draw Series--Ideal for children 6-10 years old! The world of fairy tales comes to life with the step-by-step instruction of talented art instructor Freddie Levin. With this installment in the 1-2-3 Draw series, Levin encourages children to create charming, whimsical drawings of their favorite storybook characters and settings. Levin's fun, lively drawings fuel children's imaginations while giving instructions that are easy to follow. Brief written directions accompany the steps, and arrows point out tricky spots that may require extra attention from a young artist. For added inspiration, final drawings are in full color.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grades 3-6--Levin describes basic shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, triangles, and trapezoids, and puts them together to create very simple drawings of people, animals, and castles. She admonishes readers to draw very lightly in order to make erasures and to be sure to practice, practice, practice. While showing step-by-step sketches, the author includes descriptions of medieval life and clothing and makes suggestions for what colors to use, e.g., purple, blue, red for royal garb as those dyes were expensive. Specific terms are used as well, such as the "kirtle" the princess wears; a knight's "hauberk" and "gauntlets"; the "portcullis" and "crenelations" of the castle. This book will appeal to competent readers who want to know how to draw while learning a little about life in the Middle Ages.
Cathie Reed, The Montessori School, Lutherville, MD
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. This large-format paperback teaches children how to draw 24 vehicles, including a race car, a fire truck, a school bus, a cement truck, and a limousine. Most projects are shown on a double-page spread, though some take another page or two. Levin begins by discussing the basic shapes and the tools (ruler, compass, circle template) that can be used to make the pictures. Then she shows how to draw each vehicle, beginning with a basic rectangle, then rounding shapes and adding lines and colors to finish the picture. Each step is noted in the text as well as visually. Each project is broken down into many simple steps and shown larger than in many other drawing books, so these instructions may be somewhat easier for children to follow than those in similar books. An attractive guide to drawing vehicles. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Peel (December 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939217430
• ISBN-13: 978-0939217434
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Art > Sculpture
  • #67 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Art > Fiction
  • #85 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Art > Instruction & Reference > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to drawing people and more, July 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: 1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons (Paperback)

This book is a great start to teach young artists-- 1 grader and higher-- to draw people. It teaches kids to sketch, i.e. draw lightly first. The step-by-step instruction is very clear.

Not only is it a great book for introducing drawing of knights and castles, the author apparent is also fluent in the vocabulary of this yester-year theme. My first grader and I get to know the names of different weapons, name of different parts of the castles and the names of "things" people wear. A double treat!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Older People, July 2, 2006

By 

M Park "twinsstuff" (Northern VA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons (Paperback)

I bought this book for my daughter who is 4. This book is great but would recommend for a 7 or 8 year old instead. For younger kids I would recommend the I Can Draw series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent drawing book for kids and adults, May 4, 2010

By 

Jennifer L. Rinehart (United States of America) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons (Paperback)

We've checked out a lot of drawing books and the main problem I've found is that they are not detailed enough. For example, a certain animal drawing book(which I can't remember the name of right now) had a pretty picture of a horse, drawn in just three steps! Yep, three. From a few ovals and circles, to ovals, circles and lines for the legs to a fully fleshed out horse with streaming mane and muscled haunches, ridiculous, right?

This book is fabulous. There are step-by-step illustrations and they are easy to follow and reproduce (my five year old loves this book). The other books by this author are great too and we found almost all of them at the Library, but we liked them so much that I bought a few for birthdays and christmas.

The drawing is a little bit harder than some of the Ed Emberly drawing books, but if your child is willing to concentrate and spend a few hours on artwork, then this is the book for you.