Customer Reviews

Touch the Art: Make Van Gogh's Bed

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has it all. Three of the five senses anyway are engaged - sight, sound, and touch.

What do we see?

Art - great art. Masterpieces of Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, and, of course Van Gogh. Each spread introduces a famous canvas. Each one is a feast for young eyes. And older ones too...

What do we feel?

Each reproduction has a tactile area that all will want to touch. Scratchy sandpaper in Cassatt's Children on the Beach. Silky peach fuzz in Still Life with Peaches and Cherries by Cezanne. And of course a frilly tutu in L'Etoile by Edgar Degas.

What do we hear?

Rhythmic rhymes alongside each painting take us through a day at the beach.

It begins with Van Gogh's bedroom at Arles -

Wake up!
Good morning sleepy head.
It's time to make your messy bed.

It ends with The Starry Night, also by Van Gogh.

It's dark outside.
Stars are shining bright.
Pull up your covers
and say good night!

Courtlynn, age 14 months, gives it a strong endorsement.

This is a great touch and feel book! It includes:
Van Goghs Bedroom at Arles- Vincent van Gogh
Still life with Cherries and Peaches- Paul Cezanne
Still life with Three Puppies- Paul Gaughin
L'etoile (the Star)- Edgar Degas
A Girl with a Watering Can- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Children on the Beach- Mary Cassatt
The Water Lily Pond: Green Harmony- Claude Monet
The Cradle- Berth Morisot
The Starry Night- Vincent van Gogh

We love this whole series of books! The authors include a short paragraph at the end of the book about each work of art and the artist who created it. While the prose in this book isn't stellar, the art is truly the star, and makes the book fun to read for us grownups.
Both my 18 month old and my 3 yr old enjoy these books! And so do I, the mommy!

My mother will tell you her favorite way to wear out a pair of shoes is at the Met. My favorite game as a kid? Why, Masterpiece, of course.

So when these fat little volumes landed in my lap, I was pretty happy. Kids' books on great art are a trend these days. Whether it's a biography or a famous painting or a museum trip, publishers seem eager to serve up extra helpings of the stuff. Not sure why, except perhaps it's appealing to the same parents who are snatching up all those Baby Mozart CDs.

You scoff. Maybe you don't think my daughter will be able to discern Van Gogh from Vermeer by the time she potty trains, but it won't be for my lack of trying. Familiarity breeds, uh, well, more familiarity.

These four sturdy board books are organized by genre: Great Masters, Impressionists, Modern Art and Pop Art, and add ribbons, bits of lace or texture for kids to touch, spindle or mutilate. Product testing in our state-of-the-art laboratory reveals the books hold up well under extreme conditions, such as stomping, gnawing and being dropped from bunk beds.

Each masterpiece gets its own little verse. Here's this for one of Degas' dancers:

Twirling tutus, 1,2,3!
The girls are waiting by the sea.

The verses are adorable bits of whimsy, or they encourage the kids to play with what they see. Biographical tidbits and explainers are in the back, labeled "artifacts".

These books have given me an easy and enjoyable way to introduce my niece and nephews to the world of art.

The combination of visual, verbal and tactile offerings provided by these books greatly increases the quality of my niece and nephews interaction with, as well as their interest in, these great works of art.

They love them. I love them.

Highly recommended.

These books are fabulous! The creativity and imagination that went into them is bar none the best for children out there in this genre. I especially love this title because I have seen most of these works in real life. My son (2 yo) loved looking at the pictures with me. I loved exposing him to art in a format that he can enjoy and touch!

I recently gave it as a gift and my friends keep telling me how much their kids love to touch the art. This is one book they don't mind reading over and over. The "Artifacts" in the back are kid and parent friendly. Art History 101. Great stuff.

My daughter received this book as a gift and she absolutely loves it! We now have the whole collection and she loves them all. Its a great intro to art for all kids. Kids get hooked because it draws them into each picture by inviting them to touch the art.

My 20-month old loves this book - the "interactive" parts are just big enough for her little hands, but not too big as to obscure the painting. She likes the book so much, she'll even sit and listen to the snippets from the back about each painting. Our goal is to take her to see each painting in the book.

This is a GREAT way to introduce babies to art! Each page has a tactile element that will engage children, while there is a short verse with every painting that slowly builds the story. The reproductions of the paintings translate well to this board book. A welcome addition to any very young child's library.

My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter adores this book! She selects it over and over, again. Because of "Making Van Gogh's Bed" she can identify works by these artists in other books or on posters.