Oxford First Book of Art [Hardcover]

Gillian Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

This introduction to the joys of art, for young children, represents a varied collection of images - paintings, drawings, sculpture and textiles - from all around the world and down through the ages. Pictures are grouped by themes beginning with subjects close to home, such as "Mother and Child" and "Faces", and developing to more abstract ideas such as "Light", "Patterns" and "Shapes". Reproductions and text encourage children to get involved with the pictures, to look closely and to give their own reactions. For every theme there is an "Art Activity", to show how to apply the ideas they have been looking at in their own art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The books strengths include the quality and range of the reproductions utilized."--Arts & Activities - January 2001

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Gillian Wolfe is the Head of Education at Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. Her publications have won the prestigious Gulbenkian Award for Best Museum Publication in 1997. She is a passionate and experienced communicator of the joys of art to children and young adults.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Childrens (September 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199105618
• ISBN-13: 978-0199105618
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,497,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Intoduction to Art for Children, February 8, 2003

By 

Maximillian Ben Hanan (Sacramento, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oxford First Book of Art (Library Binding)

Sometimes it seems as if there is never enough time for enrichment activities at school like art. I checked this book out from my local library hoping to find some inspiration for making some new art projects and later purchased it for my classroom. Since my elementary classroom has students with very disparate levels of English language ability, I needed a book that was written clearly enough to not discourage my ESL (English as a Second Language) students and yet not so simple that my more advanced English speakers would think of it as a "baby book."

This book was exactly what I needed with clear concise language and an abundance of beautiful color paintings and illustrations. There were also "look closer" sections for each topic, which gave useful prompts and questions to encourage further exploration by students. Suggested activities were also tremendously useful in translating learning about art into projects that my students could enjoy. Difficult words were also printed in bold so as to make vocabulary review easier for students. We ended up making a Van Gogh "The Starry Night" project and learned about foreground and background as well as color and light. The children loved it and that says a lot for often-difficult-to-please sixth graders.

I highly recommend this book as an introduction to art for third through sixth graders.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, March 15, 2010

By 

M. Osburn "Archangel" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oxford First Book of Art (Paperback)

We are using the Oxford book as the backbone of our children's art lessons. Fabulous book! We supplement activities and ideas from another book as well, but we use this book's history and suggestions for follow-up activities as our primary guide.