Talking With Artists volume.3

This book is pretty interesting. It is about artists who share what they like to draw and about their lives. They are asked questions such as, "Do you have any kids or pets?" The illustrators show some of pictures that they drew when they were children. They also show how the children illustrators got their inspiration to draw.

I liked this book because it was neat to see how good some of the kids are at drawing and then to see them draw as they are older. Also that was cool it showed how to draw pictures in the back of the book. I recommend this book to people who are just stating to draw and people that want to read an interesting book.

I got this book at the library for my children, but I think I enjoyed it as much as they did! (I plan to buy a copy of my own!) Instead of a cool, impersonal presentation of artists and their work, this book provides a refreshingly personal view. The artists talk about their childhoods, how they spend their days (the answers are fun & honest!), their families, and best of all, they give us peeks inside their studios. I don't know about you, but I love seeing inside of an artist's private workspace! It's like a glimpse inside his/her mind.
The styles of the artists are very diverse and they use many different techniques that kids and adults alike would like to try out. I highly recommend this book!

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. First, the boring history information was presented in an enjoyable manner. Second, I felt like I got to know who Sam Houston was as a person, not just what he did for Texas. Third, I was happy to find out that the information that was presented was well researched and not just from speculation. Of course, it is not Shakespeare, but it made Texas history a bit more bearable.

I did not like the message implied in this book ...that it is ok for a small child (or indeed anyone in a family) to say "I don't like this, so I'll simply stop participating in family stuff - count me out". People in a family should work together to resolve their issues, not drop in or out as they feel like it. I should think that a small child being read this book would feel that Kristina's Mom did not love her very much.

Christina Katerina books are about a child who realizes the power she has over her own life and the consequences of weilding that power. All this is done in a gentle and low stress environment. Christina's mother let her realize the down side of being "on her own" while still being safe. She left the door open for Christina to re-enter the family and Christina finally learned that family is good too. Her mother did not desert her, she simply let the child find her own way back.

I can't believe it's in the children's section. I didn't mind the references to Hell and the Devil, but an infant abandoned in the desert to be taken in my a child abusing "sneaky old woman" who makes her living cheating people with violent illustrations was too much. It's not a book I would want to have read to any child.

This was the first book in 4 years reading to my daughter that I had to stop reading on page 2. I wanted to finish it myself to see where it was going and when I did was then convinced that it had no redeeming qualities. It's okay for the college bookshelf as a psych study of a twisted mind but it's definitely not a children's book.