The Best Art Books For Children

“What are the best books about Art For Kids?” We looked at 167 of the top Children;s Art books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 16 titles, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Kids Art” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 150+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!

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Top 16 Best Art Books For Children

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16 .) Art & Max written by David Wiesner

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Imagination Soup

Max wants to be an artist like Arthur, but his first attempt at using a paintbrush sends the two friends on a whirlwind trip through various media, with unexpected consequences.

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15 .) Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life Of Louis Bourgeois written by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Romper

Louise Bourgeois (1911 2010) was a world-renowned modern artist noted for her sculptures made of wood, steel, stone, and cast rubber. Her most famous spider sculpture, “Maman,” stands more than 30 feet high. Just as spiders spin and repair their webs, Louise’s own mother was a weaver of tapestries. Louise spent her childhood in France as an apprentice to her mother before she became a tapestry artist herself. She worked with fabric throughout her career, and this biographical picture book shows how Bourgeois’s childhood experiences weaving with her loving, nurturing mother provided the inspiration for her most famous works.…

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14 .) Edward Hopper Paints His World written by Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor

Lists It Appears On:

• Art News
• Barnes And Noble

As a boy, Edward Hopper knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: on the cover of his pencil box, he wrote the words EDWARD HOPPER, WOULD-BE ARTIST. He traveled to New York and to Paris to hone his craft. And even though no one wanted to buy his paintings for a long time, he never stopped believing in his dream to be an artist. He was fascinated with painting light and shadow and his works explore this challenge.Edward Hopper’s story is one of courage, resilience, and determination.

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13 .) Emily’s Blue Period written by Cathleen Daly

Lists It Appears On:

• Art News
• Goodreads

After her parents get divorced, Emily finds comfort in making and learning about art.

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12 .) Imagine! written by Raúl Colón

Lists It Appears On:

• Imagination Soup
• Romper

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11 .) Katie and the Sunflowers written by James Mayhew

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• The School Run

Katie tries to pick the sunflower seeds from the Vincent Van Gogh painting, but when the vase tips over, the flowers go everywhere. Mimi, a little girl from a painting nearby, comes to help Katie, but when Mimi’s dog Zazou comes too … disaster follows!…

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10 .) My Name is Georgia written by Jeanette Winter

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• Self Sufficient Kids

Presents, in brief text and illustrations, the life of the painter who drew much of her inspiration from nature.

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9 .) The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau written by Michelle Markel

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Self Sufficient Kids

A child’s biography of French artist Henri Rousseau, who spent his life as a toll collector, but created unheralded masterpieces in his spare time.

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8 .) The Noisy Paintbox: The Colours and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art written by Barb Rosenstock

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• Self Sufficient Kids

Describes how his creative life was profoundly shaped by a neurological condition called synesthesia which caused him to experienced colors as sounds and sounds as colors.

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7 .) Uncle Andy’s: A Faabbbulous Visit With Andy Warhol written by James Warhola

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes And Noble
• Goodreads

The author describes a trip to see his uncle, the soon-to-be-famous artist Andy Warhol, and the fun that he and his family had on the visit.

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6 .) Vincent’s Colours written by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• Self Sufficient Kids

Vincent van Gogh corresponds with his younger brother, Theo, about his paintings.

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5 .) You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum written by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Imagination Soup

In this wordless story, a young girl and her grandmother view works inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the balloon she has been forced to leave outside floats around New York City causing a series of mishaps that mirror scenes in the museum’s artworks.…

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4 .) Action Jackson written by Jan Greenberg

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• My Modern Met
• Self Sufficient Kids

Imagines Jackson Pollock at work during the creation of one of his paint-swirled and splattered canvasses.

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3 .) Henri’s Scissors written by Jeanette Winter

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• My Modern Met
• Self Sufficient Kids

When Henri Matisse was a boy, he drew pictures everywhere. And when he grew up, he became a famous artist whose paintings were beloved around the world. Them late in life, a serious illness confined Henri to just his bed and a wheelchair. But amazingly, from there he created some of his finest works , the enormous and breathtaking paper cut-outs.

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2 .) Katie and the Mona Lisa written by James Mayhew

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• My Modern Met
• Self Sufficient Kids

At the art museum, while her grandmother dozes, Katie steps into the painting of the Mona Lisa and together they have adventures with the characters from four other well-known Renaissance paintings. Includes information about the artists.

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1 .) Linnea in Monet’s Garden written by Christina Björk

Lists It Appears On:

• Childhood 101
• Goodreads
• Imagination Soup

A little girl visits the home and garden of Claude Monet at Giverny, France, and learns about the artist’s paintings and his life. The illustrations include photographs of the painter and his family as well as examples of his work.

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The 150+ Additional Best Kids Art Books

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#	Books	Authors	Lists
17	100 Pable Picassos	Violet Lemay	Childhood 101
18	13 Art Movements Children Should Know		Art News
19	13 Artists Children Should Know		Self Sufficient Kids
20	3D Art Adventures	Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw	The School Run
21	A Child’s Book of Art: Great Pictures First Words	Lucy Micklethwait	Goodreads
22	A Child’s Calendar	John Updike	Goodreads
23	A Color of His Own	Leo Lionni	Goodreads
24	A Day with No Crayons	Elizabeth Rusch	Goodreads
25	A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams	Jen Bryant	Goodreads
26	A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin	Jen Bryant	Goodreads
27	About Two Squares		Art News
28	All I See	Cynthia Rylant	Goodreads
29	An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers	Natasha Wing	Goodreads
30	Anholt’s Artists Activity Book		Imagination Soup
31	Animalia	Graeme Base	Romper
32	Anna at the Art Museum		Imagination Soup
33	Anna’s Art Adventure		Self Sufficient Kids
34	Art: A World of Words		Art News
35	Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about Their Art	Eric Carle	Goodreads
36	Artists and Their Pets: True Stories of Famous Artists and Their Animal Friends		My Modern Met
37	Augustine	Mélanie Watt	Goodreads
38	Babar’s Museum of Art	Laurent de Brunhoff	Goodreads
39	Bear’s Picture	Daniel Pinkwater	Goodreads
40	Beautiful Oops!	Barney Saltzberg	Goodreads
41	Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: And Other Poems	Jack Prelutsky	Goodreads
42	Blue & Other Colors		Self Sufficient Kids
43	Bridget’s Beret	Tom Lichtenheld	Goodreads
44	Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story about Vincent van Gogh	Laurence Anholt	Goodreads
45	Can You Find It Inside?: Search and Discover for Young Art Lovers	Jessica Schulte	Goodreads
46	Chasing Degas	Eva Montanari	Goodreads
47	Children’s Book of Art		The School Run
48	Colors	Ken Nordine	Goodreads
49	Come Look With Me: Animals in Art (Come Look With Me Art Books)	Gladys S. Blizzard	Goodreads
50	Come Look with Me: Enjoying Art with Children	Gladys S. Blizzard	Goodreads
51	Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art with Children (Come Look With Me Art Books)	Gladys S. Blizzard	Goodreads
52	Concepts of Colors for Kids	James McDonald	Goodreads
53	Dear Mili	Maurice Sendak (and Wilhelm Grimm)	Romper
54	Do You Know Colors?	Katherine Howard	Goodreads
55	Draw Paint Print Like the Great Artists		The School Run
56	Draw!	Raúl Colón	Goodreads
57	Drawn Together	Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat	Romper
58	Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall	Michelle Markel	Goodreads
59	Dreaming Pictures: Paul Klee	Jürgen von Schemm	Goodreads
60	Elemenopeo	Harriet Ziefert	Goodreads
61	Emily’s Art	Peter Catalanotto	Goodreads
62	Emma and Muse		Imagination Soup
63	Extra Yarn	Mac Barnett	Goodreads
64	Found.	Jeff Newman and Larry Day	Romper
65	Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos		My Modern Met
66	Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World	Laurence Anholt	The School Run
67	Frida Kahlo: The Artist Who Painted Herself	Margaret Frith	Childhood 101
68	Georgia Rises: A Day in the Life of Georgia O’Keeffe	Kathryn Lasky	Goodreads
69	Get Colouring with Katie		The School Run
70	Grandpa Green	Lane Smith	Romper
71	Harold and the Purple Crayon	Crockett Johnson	Goodreads
72	How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird	Jacques Prévert	Goodreads
73	Hugo and Miles In I’ve Painted Everything	Scott Magoon	Goodreads
74	I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!	Karen Beaumont	Goodreads
75	If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur	Amy Newbold	Goodreads
76	If Picasso Painted a Snowman	Amy Newbold	Goodreads
77	In Mary’s Garden	Tina Kugler	Goodreads
78	Ish	Peter H. Reynolds	Goodreads
79	Just Line Around	Kinsy McVay	Goodreads
80	Kaleidoscope: Hands-On Explorations in Colour (and Color!)		Childhood 101
81	Katie and the Waterlily Pond: A Magical Journey Through Five Monet Masterpieces	James Mayhew	Goodreads
82	Katie’s Sunday Afternoon	James Mayhew	Goodreads
83	Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing		My Modern Met
84	Kid Artists: True Tales of Childhood from Creative Legends		My Modern Met
85	Little Blue and Little Yellow	Leo Lionni	Goodreads
86	Looking At Pictures	Joy Richardson	Goodreads
87	Louise Loves Art	Kelly Light	Goodreads
88	Magritte’s Marvelous Hat	D.B. Johnson	Goodreads
89	Matisse’s Garden		Art News
90	Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood		Imagination Soup
91	Me, Frida		Self Sufficient Kids
92	Meet Matisse		Art News
93	Mini Masters Box Set		Self Sufficient Kids
94	Monet Paints a Day		Self Sufficient Kids
95	Morris the Artist	Lore Segal	Goodreads
96	Mouse Paint	Ellen Stoll Walsh	Goodreads
97	Mr. Flux	Kyo Maclear	Goodreads
98	Mr. Owliver’s Magic at the Museum		Imagination Soup
99	Museum 123, Museum ABC and Museum Shapes	The NY Metropolitan Museum of Art	Childhood 101
100	My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey	Jeanne Walker Harvey and Elizabeth Zunon	Barnes And Noble
101	My Museum		My Modern Met
102	My Pen	Christopher Myers	Goodreads
103	Nature art		The School Run
104	Ocean Meets Sky	the Terry Fan and Eric Fan	Romper
105	Old Man Sea	R.M. Hedgcoth	Goodreads
106	Old Masters Rock		The School Run
107	Olivia	Ian Falconer	Goodreads
108	On A Magical Do Nothing Day	Beatrice Alemagna	Romper
109	Panda Bear’s Paintbox	Michaela Muntean	Goodreads
110	Paper Moon	R.M. Hedgcoth	Goodreads
111	Perfect Square	Michael Hall	Goodreads
112	Pezzettino	Leo Lionni	Goodreads
113	Rainbow Bird: An Aboriginal Folktale From Northern Australia	Eric Maddern	Goodreads
114	Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors	Joyce Sidman	Goodreads
115	Regina’s Big Mistake	Marissa Moss	Goodreads
116	Roy’s House	Susan Goldman Rubin and Roy Lichtenstein	Barnes And Noble
117	Seen Art?	Jon Scieszka	Goodreads
118	Sky Color	Peter H. Reynolds	Goodreads
119	Sophie’s Animal Parade	Amy Dixon	Goodreads
120	Splat! The Most Exciting Artists of All Time	Mary Richards	The School Run
121	Stained Glass Summer	Mindy Hardwick	Goodreads
122	Tell Me a Picture	Quentin Blake	The School Run
123	The Art Book for Children		The School Run
124	The Art Collector		Imagination Soup
125	The Art Lesson	Tomie dePaola	Goodreads
126	The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse	Eric Carle	Goodreads
127	The Big Orange Splot	Daniel Pinkwater	Goodreads
128	The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon	Jacqueline Davies	Goodreads
129	The Bunny Book		Art News
130	The Cat and the Bird: A Children’s Book Inspired by Paul Klee	Geraldine Elschner	Childhood 101
131	The Children’s Book of Art: Internet Linked	Rosie Dickins	Goodreads
132	The Day the Crayons Quit	Drew Daywalt	Goodreads
133	The Dot	Peter H. Reynolds	Goodreads
134	The Frame-Up		Imagination Soup
135	The Great Big Art History Colouring Book		My Modern Met
136	The Great Paper Caper	Oliver Jeffers	Romper
137	The Imaginary Garden	Andrew Larsen	Goodreads
138	The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse	Patricia MacLachlan	Goodreads
139	The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush	Tomie dePaola	Goodreads
140	The Magic Paintbrush	Julia Donaldson	Goodreads
141	The Magical Garden of Claude Monet	Laurence Anholt	Goodreads
142	The Pencil	Allan Ahlberg	Goodreads
143	The Power of the Pencil	Guy Field	The School Run
144	The Red Chalk	Iris van der Heide	Goodreads
145	The Shape Game	Anthony Browne	Goodreads
146	The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	Romper
147	The Stories of the Mona Lisa: An Imaginary Museum Tale about the History of Modern Art		Imagination Soup
148	The Stuff Of Stars	Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Ekua Holmes	Romper
149	Through Georgia’s Eyes	Rachel Victoria Rodriguez and Julie Paschkis	Barnes And Noble
150	Touch the Art: Pop Warhol’s Top	Julie Appel	Childhood 101
151	Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars	Joan Holub	Goodreads
152	Vincent’s Colors	Vincent van Gogh	Goodreads
153	Vincent’s Starry Night and Other Stories		The School Run
154	Viva Frida	Yuyi Morales	Goodreads
155	Wabi Sabi	Mark Reibstein	Goodreads
156	Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw	Deborah Kogan Ray	Goodreads
157	When Emily Carr Met Woo	Monica Kulling	Goodreads
158	When Pigasso Met Mootisse	Nina Laden	Goodreads
159	White Rabbit’s Colors	Alan Baker	Goodreads
160	Why Am I Me?	Paige Britt, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko	Romper
161	Why is art full of naked people?		The School Run
162	Why is Blue Dog Blue?: A Tale of Colors	George Rodrigue	Goodreads
163	Willow (Willow, #1)	Denise Brennan-Nelson	Goodreads
164	Willy’s Pictures	Anthony Browne	Goodreads
165	Wonder Bear	Tao Nyeu	Goodreads
166	Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity!		My Modern Met
167	Yellow Kayak	Nina Laden, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon	Romper

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9 Best Children’s Books About Art Sources/Lists

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Source	Article
Art News	9 Awesome New Art Books for Kids
Barnes And Noble	5 Picture Books That Introduce Kids to Great Artists
Childhood 101	Art History for Kids: Children’s Books About Great Artists
Goodreads	Children Books About Art
Imagination Soup	Inspiring Children’s Books for Art Loving Kids
My Modern Met	10 Inspiring Children’s Books for Budding Little Artists
Romper	12 Picture Books That Are Legit Works Of Art
Self Sufficient Kids	13 Children’s Books About Famous Artists Kids Will Love to Read
The School Run	Best art books for children