Art for Baby [Board book]

Various (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009 | Age Level: 0 and up

A collection of fascinating black-andwhite images created by some of the world’s leading modern artists. Each one has been specially selected to help babies begin to recognize pictures and connect with the world around them. This board book also includes a stunning frieze featuring all the images used in the book — a perfect way to bring contemporary art to your baby.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Budding Baby Warhols can fix their gaze on this oversize board book of 12 eye-stimulating patterns, credited to well-known artists. Each picture features chunky black-and-white shapes to catch a child's attention. Some pop pieces, like Takashi Murakami's deliriously happy-faced flower, resemble conventional child fare. Others are unorthodox but promising choices: Kazimir Malevich's modernist Black Cross is an enormous plus sign, and Julian Opie's stylized human portraits have smiley-face dot eyes and serious mouths. A few pages offer familiar subjects: a duck silhouette, a pear or a carrot, while the intersecting ovals of Josef Albers's Together could suggest a family or a nest, and Keith Haring's iconic Radiant Baby—a crawling figure emanating exclamation-point lines—graces the cover. Little ones unmoved by figurative work can linger on abstract compositions like conceptual artist Damien Hirst's grid of grayscale dots or '60s op artist Bridget Riley's aggressive zigzags. The images repeat on three folded friezes, tucked into the back of the book, ready for installation in art connoisseurs' play spaces or bedrooms. The high-contrast art should prove mesmerizing; no batteries required. Up to age 3. (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal

PreS—Child-development experts have long advocated the use of high-contrast images with infants due to the difficulties newborns have in changing focus from foreground to background. These bold, black-and-white selections were chosen to address this issue. The pictures range from Patrick Caufield's Duck, a silhouette, to Bridget Riley's Fragment 3, a dizzying series of zigzags. There are also several simplified portraits, e.g., Julian Opie's Natasha, whose stylized hair suggests the carved surfaces of a woodcut. The images are glossy and slightly reflective, while the white pages have a matte finish—another contrast. With a square trim size and heavy cardboard pages, the book could be enjoyed when propped on a changing table or crib or held by an adult. The last spread contains brief notes about infant vision, picture credits, and an envelope with 3 folded posters of the 12 scenes for nursery walls. Information about each artist has been placed on the back of the friezes. Libraries will want to consider whether these "consumables" are assets or deterrents, but babies won't care if they disappear. The variety of patterns offers an interesting alternative to the more traditional shapes found in Tana Hoban's classic Black and White (HarperCollins, 2007), now available in an accordion-fold format. Will young picture readers develop a greater open-mindedness toward abstract art? Time will tell.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 0 and up
  
• Board book: 12 pages
• Publisher: Templar; Brdbk edition (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763644242
• ISBN-13: 978-0763644246
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 0.7 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baby loves this book, November 5, 2009

By 

H. Commins (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art for Baby (Board book)

My husband bought this book for our 6 week old daughter and she loves to look at it. I prop her up on the boppy and she will just stare at the pictures forever, she even turns her head to see the opposite page. I would buy this book for anyone having a baby. We also have the White on Black books and she seems to like Art for Baby more since it is bigger and easier for her to see.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great mono-color book for babies with some prints for the nursery!, September 8, 2009

By 

M. Talalay "Edamommy - Mom, Reviewer, Writer,... (Lutherville, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art for Baby (Board book)

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This is just the unique board book you have been looking for. You want people to think you, the gift giver, have some class, style and appreciation for art, without being snobby. Well, here is the perfect gift for new parents who want to keep the pastels at bay and enjoy some intriguing black and white art by the likes of Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Takashi Murakami and others. Comes with a set of prints to add to the nursery decor.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First book that a 3-month old just stared at., May 21, 2010

By 

Daniel F. Lynch (Burke, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art for Baby (Board book)

I have bought many books for my granddaughter but more than any other she locked onto this one and just stared at each picture as if in a trance. Out-of-this-world beautiful!