Picture books that teach art: 10 to start your collection
A great picture book is a portable art gallery. Before a child can name a technique or hold a brush with confidence, they can pore over a page and feel what an image is doing - how colour carries a mood, how torn paper becomes a forest, how a wordless spread can tell a whole story. For teachers (especially those of us who don't see ourselves as artists), picture books are one of the easiest, richest ways to open up art in the classroom.
Here are ten favourites - Australian voices first, then a few from further afield - chosen because the art is the point, not just the decoration. Each comes with a quick idea to try.
The illustrations aren't there to support the story - in these books, they are the story.
Australian voices
Where the Forest Meets the Sea
Written & illustrated by Jeannie Baker
Baker is a master of collage, building her images from natural and found materials and photographing them in relief. The result is so textural you want to touch the page. Her wordless books Window and Belonging work beautifully alongside it. Try this: Collect leaves, bark and fabric scraps and build a collage landscape - then talk about how layering creates depth.
The Arrival
By Shaun Tan
A wordless, sepia-toned story of migration told entirely through images - a masterclass in visual storytelling and surreal, dreamlike detail. Pair it with The Lost Thing for younger groups. Try this: Project a single spread and have children narrate what is happening, then discuss how Tan builds emotion without a single word.
Big Rain Coming
Written by Katrina Germein, illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft
Bancroft, a Bundjalung artist whose work hangs in the National Gallery of Australia, fills the pages with bold colour and pattern as a remote community waits for rain. Try this: Explore how colour can carry heat, stillness and anticipation - paint the feeling of waiting for a storm.
Welcome to Country
By Aunty Joy Murphy (Wurundjeri Elder), illustrated by Lisa Kennedy (Trawlwoolway)
Kennedy's rich, layered illustrations give form to a Welcome to Country. A beautiful starting point for talking about Country, symbolism and respect - approached with appropriate protocols. Try this: Look closely at how the artist represents Country, then discuss the difference between copying symbols and understanding meaning.
The Hunt
Written & illustrated by Narelle Oliver
Oliver was a printmaker, and it shows - the pages are built from hand-coloured linocuts, dense with texture, as a tawny frogmouth hunts at twilight and its prey hide in plain sight. A lovely way into printmaking, camouflage and the art of looking closely. (CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 1996.) Try this: Look at how the linocut lines build texture and camouflage, then make a simple print (a foam-tray stamp works) of an animal hiding in its habitat.
From further afield
The Dot
Written & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
The book that launched International Dot Day. Vashti is sure she can't draw - until her teacher invites her to "just make a mark." Perfect for art-anxious children and a process-over-product mindset. Its companion, Ish, is just as good. Try this: Everyone starts with one dot, then makes it their own. No wrong answers.
Beautiful Oops!
By Barney Saltzberg
An interactive book showing how a spill, a smudge, a tear or a fold can become something wonderful. A brilliant frame for risk-taking and reframing "mistakes" as starting points. Try this: Hand out paper with a random blot or tear and challenge children to turn it into a creature or a scene.
Mix It Up!
By Herve Tullet (creator of Press Here)
Interactive colour-mixing right on the page - primary colours, blending, light and dark - with all the magic and surprise of Press Here. Try this: Predict-then-paint: guess what two colours will make before mixing them, then test it.
The Day the Crayons Quit
Written by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver
Jeffers Duncan's crayons write him letters of complaint. A playful way into colour, character and Jeffers' loose, expressive line - and a great prompt for giving materials a voice. Try this: Choose a colour and write (or draw) its letter - what would it want to say?
Katie's Picture Show
Written & illustrated by James Mayhew
Katie steps inside famous paintings on a gallery visit - the original, and still one of the best, introductions to art history for young children. The Shape Game by Anthony Browne (born from his residency at Tate Britain) is a perfect companion. Try this: "Step into" a famous artwork together and imagine what happens next - then play the shape game: one child draws a shape, another turns it into something.
Ten books, ten ways in. Build your shelf slowly - one well-loved book, returned to often, will do more than a stack you only read once. I'd love to hear the ones I've missed; reply to the newsletter or find me through my website.