We love books that encourage us to think outside the lines and create new artwork. So we were really excited to read the sequel to one of our favorite books about art supplies from last year. And we were not disappointed! This children’s book about art teaches an important lesson about making mistakes, through adorable characters and awesome artwork.

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When Pencil Met The Markers was written by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos, Jr. and illustrated by German Blanco. This sequel to When Pencil Met Eraser introduces readers to the Markers – a box of markers who love to color. But unlike the other markers who like to color in the lines, Purple likes to color everywhere! This causes a bit of trouble with the other markers who think Purple makes too many mistakes. But when Purple meets Pencil and Eraser, he learns that messes and mistakes can easily be turned into something new and beautiful.

There are no mistakes in life. Just embellishment opportunities. – Frank, Trading Spaces

The illustrations that are paired with the story are large and colorful, featuring lots of artwork that will inspire kids to get drawing themselves. And the important message that any mistakes can be turned into something beautiful is a great one for kids to learn in both art and in life.

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Seeing Things Differently

This is a spin on an art project that we have done in the past, that ties in with the story. My daughter drew shapes on a piece of paper in markers, and then asked me to create something out of them. I turned her zig zag line into a mountain range with a sky, and a mountain climber.

Next, she asked me to create a shape with markers. Then she used a pencil and markers to create her own picture.

It was really fun to challenge each other to create something out of something else. And it was really interesting to see how we each saw something different on the paper. You can do this activity one on one, or have a group of kids create a bunch of shapes and swap them.

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Cooperative Art

In this adorable book series, the art supplies learn to work together to create beautiful artwork. We decided to have some fun with this by laying out all kinds of art supplies and seeing what we could come up with together.

Make this a collaborative project by all creating on the same paper. Or you can each start on a different paper with a different type of art supply and switch when a timer goes off. You will be surprised what kinds of things you can create!

Talking about Mistakes

This book provides a perfect opportunity to talk to kids about making mistakes, and turning them into something else. It reminded me of my favorite quote from the show Trading Spaces. One of the designers named Frank said “There are no mistakes in life. Just embellishment opportunities.” I always loved this quote, because it makes us change our mindset on “mistakes”.

Have kids think of a time when they made a mistake. What did they do about it? What could they have done to turn it around into something good? Being able to see the positive in a situation is a huge skill for life. And it will help kids in the long run to learn how to look at situations with a different set of eyes.

What’s your favorite children’s book about art? Share in the comments below! And don’t forget to share this post with a friend!

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