Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals (Paperback)

~ (Author, Illustrator) "BROWN ANT WEARING GREEN SWEATER..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A Caldecott medalist demonstrates how to draw a whole zooful of different animals, from ladybugs and frogs to gorillas and elephants, using simple shapes and easy techniques. Reprint. AB.

About the Author

Ed Emberley is the Caldecott Award-winning author of the popular Drawing Book series, as well as the best-selling Go Away, Big Green Monster! He lives in Ipswich, MA.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: LB Kids (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316234753
• ISBN-13: 978-0316234757
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #78,224 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible, November 27, 2000

By	Blake Watson "===Blake===" (Winnetka, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I was in first grade, I had an art teacher who tried to show us how to draw using circles, lines, perspective, and so on, and I remember distinctly the experience of knowing that I could draw circles (and to an extent, straight lines) but there was no way I could put them together in a way that would look anything like the teacher's work.

This book was my salvation. Within these pages you'll find instructions on how to draw all kinds of creatures, from the lowly ant to an elaborate dragon, all by adding easy shapes (traingles, circles, linnes) one-at-a-time.

There is considerable truth in this book (and the author's others, which I unfortunately didn't discover until recently). How simplicity can communicate. How you can tackle something big by working in small steps. How you can make something you imagine come to like.

To this day I can take pleasure in drawing pictures, even though they're simple and I've never taken an art class since first grade, and I attribute a lot of that joy to this book. And nothing compares to giving a frustrated five-year-old an Emberly book and watching his face light up as he realizes that maybe he can make his drawings more than just scribbles.

This book (and the others) cannot be recommend too highly.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!! The best 'get you started' book!, January 29, 2006

By	C. J. Carter (Sierra Madre, California, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a fantastic gift for a child - or, indeed, anyone who struggles to get started on the road to drawing animals. Emberley takes elementary shapes and shows you how to put them together, step by step, to create stylised but character-filled drawings of animals. His selection is eclectic and the little drawings are great: giraffes, porcupines, raccoons, wolves, dogs, cats, lions, tigers...!

It'll kick-start a budding artist, break the 'I can't draw anything' mood everyone sometimes finds themseleves in, and is a valuable tool to get kids over the initial inability to draw things that 'look good'.

I love it. I use it every now and then when I need to 'get the gist' of an animal I am trying to capture on paper. It's beautifully simple and effective.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, classic children's instruction book., July 29, 2003

By	Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As a kid, I loved to draw, and I loved this book! The author provides simple, step-by-step pictorial guidelines easy enough for young children to follow: if they can read the instructions, they can draw the animals in the book. At each step, there is a basic instruction such as "make a green triangle" or "add two squiggly lines." The instructions are accompanied by both a drawing of whatever it is to be added and a drawing of the animal-in-progress as a whole. Not only is this book fun for children, it's great for book reports and other school projects. Even adults will appreciate the ease at which this book helps them to produce realistic-looking animals while also enjoying the author's humorous style. This favorite book of childhood has become a cherished adult possession.