These twelve picture books about artists are amazing resources for parents, teachers, and caregivers. When you read about these artists to your kids, not only will you be implementing literary growth, but you also will be introducing art techniques and qualities.
Plus, I’ve included some amazing activities to go along with the stories! Kindergartners through fifth graders will get the most out of the stories and toddlers and preschoolers will love the process art activities. (For toddlers and preschoolers, I focused more on pointing out the illustrations and artwork rather than reading them every word, but trust me, they still can get a lot out of these books about artists!)
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Picture Books About Artists
Sandy’s Circus by Tanya Lee Stone
ALEXANDER CALDER
Alexander Calder (known as Sandy to his friends and family) created art in the form of sculptures and mobiles. This story is about his beginning as an artist, starting with his childhood. It then focuses on his famous sculpture of a circus made completely out of materials he found and recycled, such as wire. This American artist invented the mobile that now hangs over countless baby cribs. What a cool guy to introduce to your kids!
Bug and Buggy have an amazing post on how to make a weather mobile with your toddlers and preschoolers. You could print out pictures of a circus tent, a trapeze artist, etc. for your kids to color/paint and then put on the mobile. (All you need is a small branch, string, scissors, tape, and whatever you’d like to hang from your mobile!) Older kids will like this too!
Where is the Frog? by Géraldine Elschner
CLAUDE MONET
Find the frog on these beautiful pages taken from Claude Monet’s paintings. Your kids will not even realize they’re drinking in such iconic artwork!
You can try the Monet’s Water Lily Painting for Kids project, where you can paint with real flowers. Or you can try Toddlers Finger Paint Water Lilies with Claude Monet, where your kids can finger paint their way to a beautiful bridge scene, just like the cover of Where is Frog? *Thanks so much to Playful Learning for this wonderful idea!
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh
DIEGO RIVERA
Tonatiuh uses his well-known illustration style to encompass Diego Rivera’s snapshots of the past. The words of the story are simple and easy to understand and tell readers that it’s up to us to capture the present and future into artwork.
Me and Uncle Romie by Claire Hartfield
ROMERE BEARDEN
Your kids can learn about Romere Bearden right along with Bearden’s nephew James. James takes in everything about New York City, and he hopes his uncle can relate to his emotions.
I have this craft in my lineup of projects coming up: I’m going to give the kids pre-cut images from magazines and have them glue the pictures down onto cardstock. I’m then going to have them trace the outline of a guitar over top their collage. Then, we’ll cut around the guitar outline and they’ll have a guitar collage, just like Bearden!
Different Like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews
COCO CHANEL
Yes, Coco Chanel is an artist! I love her story, and this book does a great job of making it kid-friendly and fun. Plus, the illustrations are GORGEOUS!
Look at these adorable fabric boards from What Can We Do With Paper and Glue! The kids will get some great fine motor practice with the gluing and practice recognizing colors with the fabric. And you will get a beautiful art piece to display in your home. (Choose fabrics in your home’s colors, and it’ll be even better!)
Matisse’s Garden by Samantha Friedman
HENRI MATISSE
My favorite part of this book is the fold-outs. The pages fold-out to show Matisse’s pieces in a larger format. (Many of his pieces were wall-sized and this demonstrates that!) I didn’t read the words to my toddlers and preschoolers, but kindergarteners and elementary students will enjoy the story.
We did these cute shapes collages: Henri Matisse Shapes Collage: Cutting with Toddlers and Preschoolers. My kids did not want to stop cutting and gluing! They loved it! *Mentor Public Library did this craft with older kids. Thanks for sharing the great idea!
Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter
HENRI MATISSE
Once again, I summarized while showing the illustrations to my toddlers and preschoolers. But the illustrations are beautiful, and older kids will love the story. It’s not too wordy at all.
Introduction to Cutting with Henry Matisse is a simple project that we did on canvas boards. The kids love to cut and glue! And it’s so good for their fine motor skills and kindergarten readiness skills.
Edward Hopper: Painter of Light and Shadow by Susan Goldman Rubin
EDWARD HOPPER
This book starts with Hopper’s young life and goes through his career. It’s informational yet captivating. In the beginning, the book talks about a pencil box that Hopper had as a child. He kept his art tools in there. It’s a sweet story and inspired the project I did with my toddlers and preschoolers.
Edward Hopper Pencil Cases and Stickers are super fun and super easy. I bought these pencil boxes and used up a bunch of our leftover stickers. The kids LOVE stickers, and they loved decorating their very own pencil boxes. And what a useful project for parents!
When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden
PABLO PICASSO AND HENRI MATISSE
I love this book! And kids will be able to relate to the animal renditions of these artists, while parents will appreciate the puns. It’s an entertaining story that’s more about two animals than about the lives of the artists. (But don’t worry, they’ll pick up on Picasso and Matisse facts without even realizing it!
Pablo Picasso Portraits for Toddlers and Preschoolers is a fun project that focuses on Picasso’s well-known face art. Thank you to Meri Cherry for the project idea! One of my favorite parts about this project is how economical it is. All I used was construction paper, popsicle sticks, and old magazines. You can also try this Matisse project.
Through Georgia’s Eyes by Rachel Rodriguez
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
This picture book biography of Georgia’s eyes encompasses her journey. The text is brief and the illustrations are gorgeous.
Georgia is known for the beautiful, giant flowers she painted. So, when I did a Georgia O’Keeffe class, I was sure to include flowers everywhere: giant flowers, 4-D flowers, colorful flowers, white flowers, etc. Check out the program here for group art and individual art ideas! *Thank you to Art Bar Blog for the idea for the flower bouquet craft!
Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg
JACKSON POLLOCK
This book was too wordy for my toddlers and preschoolers but it’s a great elementary read. They’ll love the background information on Pollock.
Jackson Pollock Inspired Yarn Painting for Kids is an awesome process art activity. Grab some yarn, paint, and card stock and you’re good to go! Thank you to Buggy and Buddy for the fun yarn painting craft!
Uncle Andy’s by James Warhola
ANDY WARHOL
What a fun book! When James was a child, his family would bring junk from their junkyard to Uncle Andy’s. There, they would see garbage turned into art by the incredible Andy Warhol. It’s too wordy for toddlers but elementary students will get a lot of this amazing book, written from a child’s perspective of his artist uncle.
This fun, two-part art project from Art History Kids will not only introduce your children to Andy Warhol but also to a unique paintbrush. This time – a pepper! Here is the amazing art idea!