Picture Book Monday - A review of Sky Color

When I was a school girl, my art teachers were very insistent that we children should paint and draw in a certain way. Grass had to be green, houses had to be square, and the sea had to be blue. I got into trouble once for insisting the the sea sometimes looked green or grey. Thankfully, art teachers these days are more open to the idea that young artists should be encouraged to try new things, and to explore new ways of looking at things.

Peter Reynolds is an author and illustrator who has created several books about the artistic process. I consider his books The Dot and Ish to be inspirational, and today I have a review of his newest book. 

Sky Color

Peter H. Reynolds

Picture book

For ages 6 and up

Candlewick Press, 2012, 978-0-7636-2345-6

   Marisol loves to draw and paint. She also loves to share her drawings and paintings with others, and uses her art to convey ideas that she cares about. Being an artist “through and through,” Marisol is thrilled when her teacher announces that they are going to paint a mural that will hang in the library.

   Eagerly the children get to work on a large piece of paper. Marisol volunteers to “paint the sky,” but then she encounters a problem; there is no blue paint. The little girl cannot imagine how she is going to paint the sky if she doesn’t have any blue paint. It is a very troubling problem.

   Being an artist not only requires that you have a love for creating art, but it is also important that you dare to think outside of the box. Of course you could paint, draw or sculpt like everyone else, but what would it be like if you tried to do something new, something different?

  In this splendid book, Peter H. Reynolds once again explores the creative process. This time he challenges his readers to see things in a new way, to experiment with their craft to create a work of art that is uniquely theirs.