Children's Book Monday ~ Finally!

I've been wanting to participate in Elise's Children's Book Monday for a long time, and never seem to be able to get a post up on time. This week I'm trying the scheduled post feature to see if perhaps that will do the trick. :) Elise always posts about the most delightful books, and I usually go straight from her blog to our library website to reserve them. :)

Ever since reading The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry, we've been checking out picture books from the library by illustrated by various children's book illustrators for art appreciation and inspiration. It's been neat to watch the children develop an awareness of different artistic styles through seeing the individual styles of the artists. We've discussed creativity and uniqueness as well as different art techniques and media. The children have been really stimulated then to create their own art inspired by the illustrators.

One of our favorite illustrators recently has been Lois Ehlert. Ehlert uses mixed media illustrations in her books that are just fabulous. Market Day is one we enjoyed recently...

This book is truly "a feast of folk art from around the world." You can see a preview with more detail here.

Grab a stack of Ehlert's books for double enjoyment...pore over them for the stories and illustrations, and then have some creative fun "doing art". (And for more inspiration, do a Google Image Search for Lois Ehlert...lots of neat artwork and ideas!)