I Spy Colors in Art

            “I Spy Colors in Art” is a very fascinating and initiative book.  The book takes the reader though different famous art work and says a simple statement, “I spy with my little eye…”.  The stamen goes on to explain a color and corresponding object in the picture.  The only other text on the page is a caption proclaiming the painters name and title of the art piece.  I instantly liked this book because it was having very young readers look critically at famous works of art.

            This is a series of books that was created because the author liked to show her children famous paintings.  Micklethwait quickly realized that her children learned a great deal just by looking at the pictures.  Sometimes they would even point out things in the picture that she did not notice.  She loved categorizing art work with his children by categories such as happy or sad pictures.  After realizing the joy her children received from this simple game, she wanted to share their experience with the world. 

            This would be a great way to start a unit on art of any grade.  My roommate, who is an art teacher, explained to me that the first thing learned in art criticism class is to actually look at the art.  He said one of the assignments he gives his students is to write down every detail in a piece of art as if you were describing it to a person who could not see.  This book reinforce this appreciation of art to younger readers.  If this book sounds interesting and fun, Micklethwit has also written three other books exploring shapes, numbers, and the alphabet in different famous works of art.