Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/just-sing!-celebrating-art-in-childrens-books/5023250/
In 1989, the prolific and wonderful Tomie -dePaola wrote about his first revelatory -experience with art education in one of my all-time favorites, The Art Lesson. Wildly excited about going off to a real school with his box of 64 Crayola crayons and meeting a real art teacher, he was heartbroken when he learned that not only was he expected to copy, he was given inferior tools with which to work and only one piece of paper to draw on. What a devastating discovery for a budding artist — who wants to paint with tempera paint that falls right off the paper? Fortunately, a supportive family and an understanding teacher gave him the freedom to be the artist he was meant to be — and he still is, 250 or so books later.
We all remember those catchy, upbeat tunes from Sesame Street. Illustrator Tom Lichtenheld brings us Joe Raposo’s Sing in a sweet story about a bird who can’t sing and a boy who shares his own song. “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear — just sing!” We all have a song in our heart or a picture in our head that belongs to us and no one else. ...