Children's books and activities
Art and Artists
Do you know any kids who love to draw, paint, make prints, and build things out of clay and paper? We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about art and some of the famous artists who create it.
Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as art and artists. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Print List
1 2 3: I Can Make Prints!
By: Irene Luxbacher
Age Level: 3-6 years old
1-2-3 I Can Collage!
By: Irene Luxbacher
Age Level: 3-6 years old
A brief explanation of what collage is and a list of readily available materials begins a can-do...
A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi
By: James Yang
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Stones look like birds. And birds look like stones. Imagine a day in the boyhood of Japanese...
A World of Colors: Seeing Colors in a New Way
By: Marie Houblon
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Crisp, color photographs of people and places from around the world are used to introduce and...
Animals: A First Art Book
By: Lucy Micklethwait
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Art
By: Patrick McDonnell
Age Level: 3-6 years old
A young artist named Art lives up to his name and takes the reader on a vibrant journey where...
Begin at the Beginning: A Little Artist Learns About Life
By: Amy Schwartz
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Brush of the Gods
By: Lenore Look
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Wu Daozi's brush created images that seemed to come alive. Travel to ancient China to meet Daozi...
Colores de la Vida
By: Cynthia Weill
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Concept Book
Animal sculptures on carefully composed pages with the color words provide a fine introduction...
Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse
By: Marjorie Blain Parker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Cooking Art: Easy Edible Art for Young Children
By: Mary Ann Kohl, Jean Potter
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Art is meant to be enjoyed, and sometimes even eaten! Create, then consume, the attractive,...
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapes
By: Hena Khan
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Concept Book
Handsomely illustrated, shapes both simple (square, rectangle) and complex (cone, hexagon) are...
Drawn Together
By: Mihn Lê
Age Level: 3-6 years old
A child visits his grandfather but has trouble communicating; they literally don’t speak the...
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors
By: Hena Khan
Age Level: 3-6 years old
This picture book celebrates Islam's beauty and traditions. From a red prayer rug to a blue...
Josefina
By: Jeanette Winter
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Concept Book
Count along in English and Spanish with a Mexican folk artist as she sculpts her world from clay...
Lily Brown's Paintings
By: Angela Johnson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Lily Brown loves her family and the world they share, but she also loves to paint and travel the...
Magritte's Marvelous Hat
By: D.B. Johnson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Making a Great Exhibition
By: Doro Globus
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
How does an artist make a sculpture or a painting? What tools do they use? What happens to the...
Maybe Something Beautiful
By: F. Isabel Campoy, Theresa Howell
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Mira brings color and builds community through her beautiful art which she first gives to...
Mix It Up!
By: Herve Tullet
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Are you ready to shake and mix to make new colors? “Tap the gray spot…to see what happens.”...
Monsters Love Colors
By: Mike Austin
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Painting the Wind
By: Paticia MacLachlan, Emily MacLachlan
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Summer has finally arrived to the young narrator’s island home. With it come four different...
The Dot
By: Peter Reynolds
Age Level: 3-6 years old
The Pot that Juan Built
By: Nancy Andrews-Goebel
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
A cumulative poem (in the cadence of "The House that Jack Built") chronicles the work and life...
Visiting the Art Museum
By: Laurene Krasny Brown
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Enjoy Van Gogh, Picasso, primitive and contemporary art, sculpture, and more with a boy, a girl...
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Print List
The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean
By: Dean Robbins
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Alan Bean was not the first but the fourth man to walk on the moon. However, he was the first...
A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn’t Make It Good
By: Mark Gonyea
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Concept Book
Attractive, bold and crisp visuals, and a limited text in ten short chapters introduce art and...
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin
By: Jen Bryant
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Action Jackson
By: Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Illustrations and text bring to life the work and impact of Jackson Pollack in this riveting...
An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers
By: Natasha Wing
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
As a child, "Josef Albers saw art in the simplest things…" His interest in color and the way...
Art from Her Heart
By: Kathy Whitehead, Shane Evans
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Self-taught artist Clementine Hunter used paint and canvas to record life in the rural south....
Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins
By: Michelle Meadows
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
A lyrical picture book biography of Janet Collins, the first African American principal dancer...
Building on Nature: The Life of Antoni Gaudí
By: Rachel Rodriguez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Chasing Vermeer
By: Blue Balliett
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
As mysterious things happen in and around their Chicago school, Petra and Calder use their...
Creative Crafts for Kids
By: Gill Dickinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Crisp color photographs with numbered instructions and recommended ages make this extensive...
Diego
By: Jonah Winter
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The early life of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera is presented in simple, yet revealing language...
Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall
By: Michelle Markel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Easy-to-Make Pop-Ups
By: Joan Irvine
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Edward Hopper Paints His World
By: Robert Burleigh
Age Level: 6-9 years old
In an afterword, the author asks if an artist can be a hero or an explorer. The answer is sure...
Faith Ringgold
By: Mike Venezia
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos
By: Monica Brown
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Featuring charming visuals and lively, often lyrical prose, this picture book introduces Mexican...
Gugu's House
By: Catherine Stock
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Set in Zimbabwe, Kukamba leaves the city to visit her grandmother, Gugu, in her small village....
Hand Art
By: Rachel Tandy
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Create bugs, birds, and more, starting with a pattern of your hand. Easy directions provide...
Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community
By: Susan Verde
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
There is a wall in Ángel’s neighborhood. Around it, the community bustles with life: music,...
How Artists See The Weather
By: Colleen Carroll
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
See how Vincent van Gogh used bright patches of paint to show the hot sun rising over a field;...
I Spy Colors in Art
By: Lucy Micklethwait
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
A familiar game focuses the reader's eye on fine art, ranging from Picasso to Velaszquez — with...
In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage
By: Alan Schroeder
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Augusta Savage was a born artist, making clay figures even as a child. She pursued her passion,...
It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw
By: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Jacob Lawrence
By: Mike Venezia
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Let's Make It Pop-Up
By: David Carter, James Diaz
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Look! Body Language in Art
By: Gillian Wolfe
Age Level: 6-9 years old
How does classical art relate to contemporary children? By recognizing that there are universal...
Magical Life of Mr. Renny
By: Leo Timmers
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
With the help of a little bit of magic, Mr. Renny's paintings come to life, literally. But when...
Masterpiece Mix
By: Roxie Munro
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
As an artist lays out tools needed to paint, she seeks inspiration from the masters. Along the...
Museum Trip
By: Barbara Lehman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
My Name is Georgia: A Portrait
By: Jeannette Winter
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
"When I was twelve years old, I knew what I wanted — to be an artist." So begins this lovely...
My Pen
By: Christopher Myers
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
A boy in a fedora uses his pen to travel, grow, “make giants of old men/who have seen better...
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci
By: Gene Baretta
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Even though Leonardo da Vinci lived a long time ago (born in 15th century Florence), his ideas...
Piñata Maker/el piñatero
By: George Ancona
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
By: Javaka Steptoe
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist born of a Haitian father and a Brooklyn born mother of...
Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book
By: Ralph Masiello
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Sandy's Circus: A Story about Alexander Calder
By: Tanya Lee Stone
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Alexander Calder — Sandy — had a vivid imagination and a fascination with the circus; his...
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
By: Susan Hood
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
This book of poems introduces fourteen revolutionary young women—each paired with a noteworthy...
Shaped By Her Hands: Potter Maria Martinez
By: Anna Harber Freeman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The most renowned Native American Indian potter of her time, Maria Povika Martinez learned...
Sister Corita’s Words and Shapes
By: Jeanette Winter
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
A picture book biography of Sister Corita, a nun, educator, and activist who became a celebrated...
Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee!
By: Andrea J. Loney
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
James VanDerZee (1886–1983) was a prolific photographer who used his camera to capture the...
The Bluest of Blues: Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs
By: Fiona Robinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Born in England in the early 19th century, Anna was encouraged by her father to observe, study,...
The Book of Mistakes
By: Corinna Luyken
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A mistake: a splat of ink. In fact, “it started with one mistake.” That mistake became a...
The Colors of Us
By: Karen Katz
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her...
The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons
By: Natashcha Biebow
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
You may not have heard of Edwin Binney but chances are you’ve used his invention: Crayola...
The East-West House: Noguchi's Childhood in Japan
By: Christy Hale
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
A biography of Isamu Noguchi, Japanese American artist, sculptor, and landscape architect,...
The First Drawing
By: Mordicai Gerstein
Age Level: 6-9 years old
An illustration of a contemporary boy with pencil in hand stands in front of a blank piece of...
The Great Art Caper
By: Victoria Jamieson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
GW, the hamster enjoys his evenings with his animal friends and is even beginning to like the...
The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane
By: C.M. Millen
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Brother Theophane is unlike the other monks in the mountains of Mourne (Ireland). While most...
The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art
By: Irene Luxbacher
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Full-color illustrations combine with clear instructions organized into four sections drawn from...
The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art
By: Barb Rosenstock
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux
By: Emily Arnold McCully
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
While looking for gold, four French boys accidentally discovered what was to be considered the...
The Sound of Colors
By: Jimmy Liao
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Vincent Can't Sleep: Van Gogh Paints the Night Sky
By: Barb Rosenstock
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Vincent Van Gogh often had trouble sleeping. As a child, his parents fussed but Vincent...
Viva Frida
By: Yuyi Morales
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Wanda Gag, the Girl Who Lived to Draw
By: Deborah Ray
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The author/illustrator of much-loved picture books is introduced here from her Minnesota...
What Can You Do With a Paper Bag?
By: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Age Level: 6-9 years old
With a paper bag and a few other supplies, kids can make history come to life, travel to far-off...
Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art
By: Belinda Rochelle
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poetry
African-American poetry and art take wing and soar in this collection compiled by Belinda...
World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum
By: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poetry
What does a piece of art make you feel? This is what the poet/editor, Lee Bennett Hopkins, asked...
Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West
By: Lita Judge
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Tom Moran dreamed of seeing the western United States, painting places that were unknown to most...
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Print List
Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop
By: Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Andy Warhol became well-known as an artist whose impact on pop culture continues to be felt....
Black Artists Shaping the World
By: Sharna Jackson
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Dedicated to the work of contemporary Black artists from around the world, this engaging book...
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Through the Gates and Beyond
By: Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Orange fabric created The Gates which unfurled in New York’s Central Park to temporarily...
Firebird
By: Misty Copeland
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Misty Copeland, the African American Ballet Theater soloist, has an encouraging conversation...
Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
By: Roxanne Orgill
Age Level: 9-12 years old
In 1958, photographer Art Kane gathered up a who’s who of jazz musicians on a New York City...
Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought)
By: Kathleen Krull
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Short, clever, sometimes irreverent snapshots introduce a range of artists and their...
Meet Matisse
By: Jean-Vincent Senac
Age Level: 9-12 years old
An unnamed narrator dreams he has visited the studio of artist Henri Matisse where he meets the...
Murals: Walls That Sing
By: George Ancona
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Stone Giant: Michelangelo’s David and How He Came to Be
By: Jane Sutcliffe
Age Level: 9-12 years old
The Inker’s Shadow
By: Allen Say
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
The author/illustrator’s look back at his early years started in...
The Secret World of Walter Anderson
By: Hester Bass
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Walter Anderson "may be the most famous American artist you've never heard of." But he and his...
You Call That Art?!
By: David Carter
Age Level: 9-12 years old
In an attractive, sturdy package, readers are invited to learn about the history of sculpture...
Hands-on Activities
Build on what you’re learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.
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Artful Activities for Early Learners
Museum of Modern Art -
City at Night Inspired by Van Gogh
Deep Space Sparkle -
Create a Yup’ik Dance Fan
PBS Parents -
Design an Album Cover
Start with a Book -
Design Your Own Stamp Template
Smithsonian Postal Museum -
DIY Sidewalk Chalk
PBS Parents -
Draw to Music
Start with a Book -
Ebru: Turkish Marbling Art
PBS Parents -
Explore Modern Artists: Print Like Ellsworth Kelly
Tinkerlab -
Family Poetry Book: Who I Am
Studio Pause -
How to Make a Collagasaurus
Smithsonian -
Islamic ornament in architecture
Start with a Book -
Matisse Inspired Tree Paper Collage
Deep Space Sparkle -
Mexican-Inspired Yarn Picture
Education.com -
Mini Art Gallery
National Museum of Asian Art -
Mural Guidebook
Chicago Children's Museum -
Nature Art
PBS Parents -
Origami Samurai Helmet
Asian Art Museum -
Paper Cut Molas
Deep Space Sparkle -
Paper Making
Tinkerlab -
Plaster of Paris Petroglyphs
Pink Stripey Socks -
Printing with Stencils
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art -
Roman Mosaic
BBC Hands on History -
Rule of Thirds
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum -
Sandpaper Petroglyphs
Start with a Book -
Science of Fresco Painting
Science Buddies -
Scratchboard Art
PBS Parents -
Suminagashi Paper Marbling
Inner Child Fun -
Tissue Paper Collage Inspired by Eric Carle
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art -
Watercolor Georgia O’Keeffe Flowers
Art Bar
Summer Writing
Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.
Great Websites for Kids
Dive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites.
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Art Bar
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Art Concepts
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ArtQuest: Naming Colors In Nature (PBS)
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Artsonia Children's Art Museum
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Artville: Styles of Visual Art (PBS)
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Asian Brush Painting
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Brain Pop: Arts and Music
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Creating Pop-Up Books with Robert Sabuda
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Destination Modern Art (MOMA)
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Draw Together
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Getty Museum Games
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Google Arts and Culture
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Kennedy Center: A Parents’ Field Guide to Museums
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Kennedy Center: Arts Resources for Educators
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KQED Art School
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MetKids
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MetKids Time Machine
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National Gallery of Art Kids Zone
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Outdoor Installation (PBS)
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The Artist’s Toolkit
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Tinker Lab
Great Podcasts for Kids
Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids. These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher — or from Listen Notes, a podcast search engine.
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Colorful Wows
Wow in the World (NPR)
Educational Apps
Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.
More Themed Resources
Growing Readers Tip Sheets
Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.
