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Books to Help Make Arts Part of Literacy Development
Check out these children's books that make arts an exciting part of literacy development. The books are broken down into age groups:
Books for Infants and Toddlers
Blue Hat
Angie Sage
Firefly Books, 1998
For a while it looks like all is lost when a blue hat lands in the blue ocean.
Color Farm
Lois Ehlert
HarperCollins, 1997
Geometric shapes hide in the animals' faces.
Color Fun: Snap Shot Tab Books
Deni Bown
Dorling Kindersley, 1995
Children can explore these colorful objects and shapes.
Color Zoo
Lois Ehlert
HarperCollins, 1997
Basic shapes transform into animals.
I Love Colors
Margaret Miller
Little Simon, 1999
Almost life-size portraits of babies wearing party-colored outfits.
Junior's Colors
Phil Vischer
Veggiecational Books, 1999
Junior asparagus introduces children to his box of crayons.
Little Spot of Color
William Joyce
Disney Press, 2001
Rolie Polie Olie and his pals teach toddlers about colors.
Pat the Bunny
Dorothy Kunhardt
Golden Books, 1940
This original "feely" book introduces babies to the concept of texture. Later books in the series by Edith Kunhardt are Pat the Puppy and Pat the Cat (1990).
What Color?/¿Qué Color?
Alan Benjamin
Little Simon, 1992
This Spanish/English book introduces children to all the colors of the rainbow.
White Rabbit's Color Book
Alan Baker
Kingfisher Books, 1994
Rabbit explores the magic of primary and secondary colors.
Books for Preschool and Elementary School Children
Alvin Ailey
Andrea Davis Pickney
Hyperion, 1995
This book tells the life story of the modern dancer.
The Bat Boy and His Violin
Gavin Curtis
Simon & Schuster, 1998
Reginald would rather play the violin than be a bat boy for the baseball team his father manages in the Negro National League.
Bearobics
Vic Parker
Viking, 1996
A bear starts to boogie to music and all the other animals join in.
Ben's Trumpet
Rachel Isadora
Mulberry Books, 1979
This Caldecott Award-winning book pays homage to jazz.
Camille and the Sunflowers
Laurance Anholt
Barrons Juveniles, 1994
The true story of a small boy who befriends the artist. Other picture books by Anholt about artists include Degas and the Little Dancer, Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail, Leonardo and the Flying Boy, and Suzette and the Puppy.
David's Drawings
Cathryn Falwell
Lee & Low Books, 2001
David's love of drawing brings him new friends.
Famous Children Series
Ann Rachlin and Tony Hart
Barron's Juveniles, 1992
This series profiles 10 musicians and three artists: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Handel, Haydn, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Mozart, Picasso, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky.
Franny and the Music Girl
Emily Hearn
Second Story Press, 1989
Wheelchair-bound Franny embraces life and music.
Gabriella's Song
Candace Fleming
Orchard Books, 1995
The sounds of Venice make Gabriela sing.
Harriet's Recital
Nancy Carlson
First Avenue Editions, 1997
Harriet the bear overcomes her stage fright to dance at her ballet recital.
How Is A Crayon Made?
Charles Oz
Scholastic, 1988
Photos demonstrate how a crayon factory operates. (Also available in Spanish, titled ¿Cómo se hace un crayon?)
How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children
Wade and Cheryl Hudson
Scholastic, 1995
Paintings by Floyd Cooper accompany the spirituals, gospel songs, and jazz in this book.
Maddie Wants Music
Louise Leblanc
Formac Publishing Company, 1995
Maddie wants a Walkman but lacks the money.
Max Finds Two Sticks
Brian Pickney
Aladdin Paperbacks, 1994
Max uses sticks and other found objects to imitate the sounds and rhythms of the city.
Music, Music for Everyone
Vera B. Williams
Mulberry Books, 1984
Rose and her friends form a band.
Mouse Paint
Ellen Stoll Walsh
Harcourt Brace, 1995
Three mice jump into jars of primary-colored paint.
Nathaniel's Violin
Alison Lohans
Orca Book Publishers, 1996
Literature and music are combined in this lyrical storybook about the healing power of music.
The Piano
William Miller
Lee & Low, 2000
Music brings together a young girl and an elderly woman of different races during the early 1900s.
Satchmo's Blues
Alan Schroeder
Bantam Doubleday Dell Book for Young Readers, 1996
This books tells the story of Louis Armstrong's love of music.
Song and Dance Man
Karen Ackerman
Scholastic, 1988
Grandpa performs his old vaudeville act in the attic for the children.
Willie
Virginia Kroll
Charlesbridge Publishing, 1990
Grandpa thinks Willie's tapping sounds like the music of an African woodpecker.
Books for Middle School Children
Famous Artists Series
Anthony Mason, Andrew Hughes, and Jen Green
Barron's Juveniles, 1994
Eight art appreciation books compose this series: Cezanne, Leonardo DA Vinci, Matisse, Michaelangelo, Miro, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh.
Great Artists Series
Barron's Juveniles, 1998
Each of these 10 magazine-formatted books focuses on a famous artist in Western art—Cezanne, Degas: The Invisible Eye; Gauguin, Manet: A New Realism; Michaelangelo and the Renaissance; Monet and Impressionism; Picasso: Breaking the Rules of Art; Rembrandt and Dutch Portraiture; Renoir; and Van Gogh: Art and Emotions.
The Great Origami Book
Zulal Ayture-Scheele
Sterling Publications, 2000
The exactness of origami is presented in easy-to-follow steps.
How to Draw Funny People
Bob McKay
Troll, 1997
This "how to" book is part of Troll's How to Draw Set. Other titles include How to Draw Cars and Trucks and How to Draw Dinosaurs.
Masters of Music Series
Barron's Juveniles, 1998
This series explores eight musical genres and famous composers who represent those genres: Bach and Baroque Music; Beethoven and the Classical Age; Chopin and Romantic Music; The History of Rock Music; Jazz and Its History; Mozart and Classical Music; Music of the World; and Opera.
The Mozart Season
Virginia Euwer Wolff
Scholastic Trade, 2000
In this ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a young violinist discovers herself as she prepares for a concert.
The Music of Dolphins
Karen Hesse
Apple, 1998
This story of a girl lost at sea has music at its core.
The Paint Brush Kid
Clyde Robert Bulla
Random House, 1998
Children help their neighbor save his house by painting a mural on it.
The Piano Lesson
August Wilson
Plume, 1990
Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of a family torn between its love of an antique piano and the desire to sell it to buy land.
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