Ish-a happy art story

Ish is a story about a boy loving his artwork until he is criticized for not creating art that looks like what it is supposed to look like.  This is a phenomena that happens gradually to most children as they get older.  When young, children love to create art.  But as they grow up they often get frustrated that their art doesn't look like what they see through their eyes.  Many children begin to hate art as they go through elementary school because they become so self critical.

In this story the boy finds out that his sister has been secretly saving his art work because she enjoys how it looks something like what he is trying to portray but not exactly-It doesn't look like a vase-it is vase-ish.  This concept frees the child to continue to create art without criticism. A good book for children of any age-including us grown ups who have often stopped creating art because we think we aren't good enough.

Eggbert the Slightly Cracked Egg

I simply love Eggbert and guarantee you will fall in love also. This book is a must read and must own for your home library. Eggbert has EVERY message I want my children to understand in life. Eggbert is a slightly cracked egg. He is told by all the other food in the refrigerator that he must leave because he does not fit in. Through magnificent illustrations and beautiful words Eggbert begins a journey to paint himself and change in order to "fit in" somewhere. This book is so special to me because in a simple format he realizes it is OK not to fit in and just be himself. There are so many popular children's books where the main character, gives part of themselves away to be accepted. This book is a journey of self discovery. This is my must read when I do guest talks in classrooms. The message is subtle, but extraordinary.