The Noisy Paint Box

This book was beautiful in how it captured Kandinsky's discovery of painting in such a magical way! Illustrations and storytelling are fantastic, plus the author provides some great background info at the very end.

An awesome Caldecott Honor picture book about Russian artist Vasya Kandinsky and the importance of freedom of expression. The illustrations are delightful and full of color, the story is interesting and offers me a window into an artist's mind. This would be a fun book to read to youngsters, but also a care-free read for adults, too.

An impressive portrait of a young Kandinsky. When his aunt gives him his first paint box, it comes alive. Sounds burst out from the colors within. Experiencing sounds as colors and colors as sounds influences Kandinsky's groundbreaking work, becoming the first recognized in abstract art. This book is just lovely.

3

I have returned this book weeks ago after my class

Visually stunning work describing a simplified version of the life of artist Vasya Kandinsky.

I love the classic approach of this picture book, and how it is able to balance factual information with beautiful illustrations. At the end of the book, it's clear that Kandinsky had a special outlook on art and creating paintings. Strong senses of curiosity, exploration, and novel thinking are weaved throughout the book, making it much more than a book about Kandinsky: it's a book about perseverance, individuality, and following your heart.

This is the story of the life of the abstract artist Vasily Kandinsky. It begins when he was a boy living in an upper class Russian home. He has to learn all of the typical things expected of a proper gentleman. It isn't until his aunt gives him his first paint box that a new world is opened to him. He hears the colors and paints them as he hears them (he has a condition called synesthesia in which he hears colors). No one understands his art though. He goes on to become a lawyer, but later comes back to art. He quits his job to become an artist. He tries painting what everyone else does, but it does not make him happy. So he stays with painting colors as he hears them.

This story was told in a simple enough manner than children could understand Kandinsky's life and a bit about his art. The illustrations were done with paint and collage so they were interesting and different as well as colorful.

I highly recommend this story for learning more about art or abstract art, especially for teachers to use in the classroom.