Art's Supplies

July 1, 2008
Gr 1-3-Bright colors, heavy doses of humor, and puns to make readers groan fill the pages as a boy's art supplies prepare for a personality-plus party. Tougas draws upon the tools of an art studio, loading each page with double meanings, e.g., "the pastels arrived. They blended in smoothly" or "the crayons rolled in]. Those guys sure know how to think outside the box." Art's endearing, off-centered features combine with google-eyed markers, crayons, boxes, brushes, tapes, scissors, and glue. Antics of the supplies create opportunities to display the use of various media and inject a frenzied levity in the world of the supplies. Brushes of paint whiz by in long swathes of color, made grainy by thinned bristles. Childlike pencil and crayon drawings propel readers into Art's imaginary world where he dips his toes in the rinse jars alongside the animated wide eyes of soaking brushes. This lively title is sure to be a favorite of youngsters learning to appreciate both subtle humor and engaging cartoon art."Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2008
Grades K-2 Young artist Art is not in command of his supplies.They have their own agenda, starting with paper, who invites everyone to a party at her pad. The pencils arrive (though the eraser almost halts the fun); then the crayons comewith their bad puns, and the markers, who all felt great. The pastels blend in smoothly, the scissors cut some jokes, but its the glue that holds everything together.Thewild art, full of scribbles and splatters, may remind readers of David Shannons work (especiallyArt himself), and it works well with thejaunty text.Full of slapstick, hokey jokes and the not-so-subtle message that art is worth making, the book captures how much fun fooling around with different media can be. Kids will want to grab some colored pencils and get to work themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)