Art Is Every Day Doesn’t Make the Grade
Art Is Every Day: Activities for the Home, Park, Museum, and City by Eileen S. Prince, is not a book I would recommend for home use. This book better represents the academic and educational world of art than that of families.
I found the first 27 pages difficult to get through. The information was lengthy and did not engage an average reader. It more closely followed art theories for coursework guidelines. The average mom looking for engaging projects to occupy her kids is not going to glance twice at this book. In the academic world, I would think teachers ar’e already familiar with art techniques and theories and would find this information “filler.
As an art instructor myself, I expected a book with this title to take a project-a-day type of approach, listing out ideas recipe-style to make projects quick, fun and engaging. Instead, much of it seems like a refresher college course and lacks enthusiasm toward the actual projects.
When considering lesson plans, I choose projects based on relatable kid themes with materials that are easy to pull together and organize. I also want projects to draw a child in by appearing fun and engaging. This book lacked clear and direct instructions and complimentary images for the reader to gauge if the projects had these elements..
The At Home, Section III of the book lists the books’ projects along with some illustrations. Of the 23 projects listed, I may try only five, including the photo design quilt, printmaking with styrofoam plates, paper houses, paper weaving (focusing on the distortion), and using line to create the illusion of form.
Overall, I was disappointed and under enthusiastic about this book. I do not believe I would use any other sections of this book and would not refer back to it often. I showed the book to some other moms to get their reactions, and most admitted they would have never grabbed it off the shelves. I have to admit, I would not have either. It does not pass the “flip test.” You can’t pick it up in a bookstore with screaming children at your heels, flip through it, find it engaging enough to take to the checkout and feel like you’re really going to benefit from it. As a teacher, I would rather put the $16.95 toward supplies.
Art Is Every Day: Activities for the Home, Park, Museum, and City
By Eileen S. Price
Zephyr Press, 2012
$16.95
| Easy to Read | 2 |
| Quality of Illustrations | 2 |
| Appealed to Both Boys and Girls | 3 |
| I Would Purchase This For My Family | no |
| I would Purchase This As A Gift | no |
| I Found Information in The Book Helpful | 2 |
| Overall Rating | 2 |
All ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being
the highest.
Meet The Reviewer!
Leah Eiden is a former Interior Designer turned stay-at-home mom. She enjoys volunteering in the classrooms of her two children, ages 10 and 6. In her free time, she enjoys contributing to her blog Lizardraerambles.blogspot.com and teaches art and science classes to children at local recreational centers.
