painting

The Amazing Watercolor Fish/El Asombroso Pez Acuarela

A lonely pet fish longs to know what exists in the world beyond her bowl. “I wish I could see over there / Behind the wall, / Behind the chair.” She imagines a giant tree, a wooly goat and a purple sea. She wonders if there could be someone out there who looks like her, so she leans close to the glass and hears some fish-like cries! “Hello? Is someone there?” she hears. “Are you a bird? / Are you a bee? Or are you a fish with fins like me?” She realizes there’s another fish close by and his name is Mike! When Mike asks what her world is like, the amazing watercolor fish has a great idea. “I ll show Mike what I think could be!” Using watercolors, she paints a picture of a world with trees and swirling rainbows. Every day she paints more, “birds that swim, / ships with wings, / and books that do all sorts of things!” Then Mike uses his paint to illustrate more than just the water and the door.

The Amazing Watercolor Fish/El Asombroso Pez Acuarela has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies

Newbery-Honor winning author Joyce Sidman explores the extraordinary life and scientific discoveries of Maria Merian, who discovered the truth about metamorphosis and documented the science behind the mystery in this visual biography that features many original paintings by Maria herself.

Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner

The Noisy Paint Box

Vasya Kandinsky was a proper little boy: he studied math and history, he practiced the piano, he sat up straight and was perfectly polite. And when his family sent him to art classes, they expected him to paint pretty houses and flowers—like a proper artist.

Join the discussion of The Noisy Paint Box as well as other Caldecott honored books on our My Take/Your Take page.

Holland

Holland – a land full of surprises, strange traditions, free-spirited people and a rich history. Charlotte Dematons, known for her well-loved picture book The Yellow Balloon, grew up in France, but moved to the Netherlands to study art as so many have before her. With the eye of an outsider but a warm heart for the country that became her new home, Charlotte Dematons paints with a keen eye for the detail for everything that makes The Netherlands so Dutch.

Colorful Dreamer

An inspiring portrait of one of the world’s most loved artists. There was once a boy named Henri, whose dreams were full of color even though his hometown was dreary and gray. His parents expected him to learn a trade when he grew up, but being a law clerk bored him, and he continued to dream of a colorful, exciting life, and of being noticed. Then Henri started painting and kept painting and dreaming and working at his craft until he’d become one of the most admired and famous artists in the world. This lyrical, visually rich picture book is more than an excellent biography; at its core, this remarkable book is an encouragement to never give up on your dreams.

The Crimson Shard

During what seems like an ordinary museum visit, a tour guide lures Sunni and Blaise through a painted doorway-and they discover they’ve stepped into eighteenth-century London. When they realize their “tour guide” will do anything to get more information about what Sunni and Blaise know about magical paintings, they attempt to flee and encounter body snatchers, art thieves and forgers.

Ghost Hands

Auki, a young member of the Tehuelche tribe in Patagonia, wants to prove himself as a hunter but when he sets out on his own to face the puma, he stumbles upon a sacred cave and its guardian.

Painted Dreams

Because her Haitian family is too poor to be able to buy paints for her, eight-year-old Ti Marie finds her own way to create pictures that make the heart sing. Ti Marie dreams of being an artist. Whenever she gets some time away from watching her little sisters and helping Mama in their market stall, she finds a cement wall or a scrap of waste paper and lets her imagination soar. Using whatever she can find to make a mark–bits of red brick, charcoal, white rocks–Ti Marie makes beautiful art. If only she had real paint, brushes, and clean white canvas, what wonderful pictures she could paint then! But Mama says there is no money for such things. Still, Ti Marie finds a surprising way to make her dreams come true.