What Books to Buy?

Updated on August 24, 2009
A.F. asks from Albert Lea, MN
10 answers

My toddler won a drawing at our local library and we were asked to choose any book(s) from amazon.com up to $15. I am having trouble choosing! We visit the library each week and have our own extensive library so I want to choose something Art related. What is a great art/activity book that my 2 year old and 5 year old can enjoy? Any suggestions, even not art related are welcome!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions! I am still trying to choose but have much better options thanks to you ladies!

More Answers

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J.O.

answers from Wausau on

I know this is probably a little on the strange side and not what you are expecting, but what immediately comes to mind is a picture book of Salvador Dali's work. His stuff is kind of mind-boggling to look at. I remember being fascinated by any of his paintings when I was a child.

There are tons of activities you could make up to go with these paintings- though for the younger ages, you'd want to start with "can you find?" games Can you find the melted clock? Can you find the flying dog? etc. Can you find the color blue on this page? What color is the sky in this painting? What is hiding under the table? For the 5 year old- doing a "What's Wrong With This Picture?" or "That's Silly" game would be fun. Have him point out how many silly things he can find in the paintings.

This would be a book your kids could grow into also, making up stories about the paintings content, or building a real-life sculpture of the painting using normal objects to represent the objects on the page. As they get even older, for a school project, suggest researching the time and events happening when Dali painted certain pictures and relate what they learn to the content of the paintings.

My sister and I did variations on a lot of these activities. We had books with Dali, and Monet, Picasso, and Georgia O-Keefe. (And others that I can't recall at the moment). My sister became a good painter herself.

Anyhow, that's my suggestion in the arts catagory. Any book with photos of Dali's paintings will do- we had the adult books with lots of commentary, history, etc included, but you can also get books that are more just the paintings too.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Green Bay on

Hi Anne-Marie,
Mike V (sorry don't know the rest) makes fun books about artists.
S.
mamasource business owner

1 mom found this helpful
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S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I love MousePaint - it's all about colors and color mixing. Otherwise, Olivia is a cute book. She tours a museum. Or the book Ish is good - a little old for your 2 year old, but would be ok in another year. It's all about how art isn't perfect - you just try your best. Have fun!

1 mom found this helpful
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L.P.

answers from Omaha on

My name is L. and I have 5 children.There is one book that pops into memorythat is absolutely perfect for a 2yr.old and a 5yr.old alike and that is The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle!!!We have so many memories from this one!!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

I teach preschool, and here are some classic, terrific books for young children:

any of the Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Mo Willems
Knuffle Bunny, Willems
Owl Babies, Martin Waddell
Farmer Duck, Waddell
Grumpy Bird, Jeremy Tankard
Swimmy, Leo Leonni
Hug, Jez Alborough
No, David!, David Shannon
Go Away Big Green Monster, Emberley

1 mom found this helpful
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B.

answers from Minneapolis on

Jennifer Lipsey has written a number of great art books for kids. The series is: "I love to draw/paint/fingerpaint/.. ". Our favorite is "I love to finger paint." They were $9.99 on Amazon at Christmas time. Enjoy!

1 mom found this helpful
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D.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

Not necessarily art related, but there is a cool web site called Klubkadaddle.com that has independent books (many which are bilingual). Most of these books are also available on Amazon.com. For your younger child, I like the On the Grow books. You can buy those on Amazon too. Titles are Mommy & Daddy Help Me Grow and Have you Ever?

1 mom found this helpful
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L.

answers from Minneapolis on

my kids love the MUSEUM ABC and MUSEUM 123 by the NY Metropolitian Museum of Art. It is almost like a search and find with fantastic art--finding apples on the A page or finding 10 queens on the #10 page! We have got them both through Amazon. There is the "look inside" feature so you can see what the books are all about.

enjoy!
L.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

There's a great new Dr. Seuss book (with Roy McKie) called My Book About Me. It looks and reads like a traditional Dr. Seuss book, but it asks kids to draw and write things about themselves inside. It's super-creative, and the kids love it because it looks like a "real" book (as opposed to a scrapbook). Here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Book-About-Dr-Seuss/dp/039480093...

1 mom found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I would pick a book about crafts and activities to do with toddlers. It would be very helpful, even though not specifially for your toddler to play with or look at. Just an idea!

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