I scoured and searched and typed and linked and now I give. I give you the list–the GIANT list–of 103 art projects based on children’s books.
Read.
Create.
Repeat.
What is Storybook Artwork?
Storybook artwork is when you use the pictures and illustrations in children’s picture books to teach your student an art lesson.
You can set up the lessons in various ways.
You can ask your students to mimic an illustrator’s style. Examples include:
- Make a paint and paper collage like Eric Carle.
- Read a Lucy Cousins book and use oil pastels to mimic her bright colors.
- Read an Ed Emberley book and create cut paper illustrations.
You can create an artwork based on the character or subject of the story. Examples include:
- Read a book about trucks and make a shape truck.
- Read a book about cows and paint a cow.
- Read a book about a messy painter and create splatter paintings.
You simply use the book to inspire an art lesson.
Why Is It Important to Link Art to Literature?
Picture books provide an engaging way for students to think about and discuss words, stories, and pictures.
Creating an art project based on a picture book helps students to dive deeper into engagement with the book. As a teacher, you are giving your students an experience: reading the book, discussing the book, creating a project based on the book.
Connecting art to literature will help your student learn. It will anchor them with purpose and plan as they being they art projects.
Art Projects Based on Children’s Books
Here is the giant list of art lessons based on children’s books:
Read Apple and create an Apple Collage
Read Are You Blue Dog’s Friend? and paint a Blue Dog
Read Arlo Needs Glasses make Oil and Chalk Pastel Dogs
Read Babuska Baba Yaga and design a Pattern Painted Babushka
Read Beautiful Oops and Paint on Torn Newspaper
Read Big Fat Hen and chalk pastel your own Big Fat Hen
Read The Cat and the Bird and create a Klee Inspired Castle
Read The Cat and the Hat and create an Acrylic Painting
Read Chameleons Are Cool and experiment with watercolor Painted Chamelons
Read Chengdu and draw a Panda Bear with chalk pastels
Read Chicken Little and make a Chicken Little Collage
Read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows Who Type and Draw & Paint a Cow
Read Color Dance and Mix Colors
Read A Color of His Own and watercolor Rainbow Chameleons
Read D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths and craft a Viking Ship Painted Paper Collage
Read Dig, Dogs, Dig and make Truck Shape Art
Read Do You Have a Hat? and create a draw & paint a Hatted Person
Read The Dot and Design a Dot
Read The Dot and make a Paper & Paint Dot Collage
Read Elmer and create a Tissue Paper Elmer
Read Fatuma’s New Cloth and make African Kanga Compostitions
Read Fish Eyes and craft a Paper Fish
Read The Frog Prince and craft a Mixed Media Frog Prince
Read Giraffes Can’t Dance and create a Dancing Giraffe
Read The Goat in the Rug and complete a Weaving Project (helpful video)
Read The Great Wave and Paint a Wave
Read Green and paint a variety of Green Leaves
Read The Grouchy Ladybug and craft a Ladybug Mixed Media Collage
Read Harold and the Purple Crayon and design Purple Yarn Art
Read Harold and the Purple Crayon and Sketch Illustrations
Read Hickory Dickory Dock and papercraft a George Nelson Style Clock
Read Hooray for Fish and create a Fish Oil Pastel
Read Hot Air and paint colorful Hot Air Balloons
Read A House for Hermit Crab and draw & paint a Hermit Crab
Read How Loud Is a Lion and draw and paint your own Loud Lion
Read How Many Snails? and create a Snail Painting
Read I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More and create Paint Splattered Portraits
Read In the Small, Small Pond and make a Mixed Media Pond
Read If I Ran the Zoo and design a Tizzled Topped Tufted Mazurka
Read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and make a Cupcake Collage
Read I’ll Follow the Moon and sculpt clay Sea Turtles
Read I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and paint Giant Squids
Read Ish and create Crumpled Paper Art
Read Ish and draw & paint a Page of Ish Ideas
Read Jack and the Beanstalk and craft a Mixed Media Artwork
Read Jeremy Draws a Monster and make Organic Shape Monsters
Read The Kissing Hand and draw and paint Racoons
Read The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush and paint Sunset Scenes
Read Lentil and draw Shadows and Facial Expressions
Read Lines that Wiggle and marker a page of bright Wiggly Lines
Read Little Blue and Little Yellow and Color Mix Playdoh
Read The Little Engine That Could and draw a Chalk Pastel Train
Read Little Green and make an Abstract Crayon Artwork
Read Little Red Riding Hood and oil pastel The Path to Grandma’s House
Read Lots of Dots and Paint with Dots
Read Madeline and Draw with Chalk Pastels
Read Matthew’s Dream and use markers to draw The Shapes and Colors of Joy
Read Max’s Words and draw Art Words
Read Mister Seahorse and create a Mixed Media Seashorse Scene
Read Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli and design a Monsters Multimedia Project
Read Monsters Love School and have fun with Pick and Draw Monsters
Read any Monster book The Emberleys and craft Paper Collage Monsters
Read Mouse Paint and create Three Torn Mice
Read Mouse Paint and sculpt a Mouse on a Paint Palette
Read My Blue Boat and draw a Chalk Pastel Scene
Read My Many Colored Days and crayon a Watercolor Resist Project
Read Old Bear and create a Bear Collage
Read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and paint a Bright Fish
Read Once Upon a Northern Night and create a Winter Tree Scene
Read A Pair of Socks and craft a pair of Symmetry Socks
Read Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and draw & paint Pete the Cat
Read Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and draw Pete the Cat in Chalk Pastel
Read Pete’s a Pizza and make Paper Pizza Art
Read Pezzettino and design a Square Creature
Read Planting a Rainbow and create Bright Painted Paper Flowers
Read The Princess and the Pea and watercolor the Sleeping Princess
Read The Rainbow Book and create Kandinsky Circles
Read The Rainbow Fish and draw, glue, and glitter a Rainbow Fish
Read A Rainbow of My Own and create a Rainbow Puzzle Collage
Read Raptors, Fossils, Fins, and Fangs and draw your own Prehistoric Creature
Read Red Sings from Treetops and Draw with Chalk Pastels
Read Scarecrow and draw & paint a Scarecrow
Read Ship Shapes and create a City Waterfront Collage
Read Skippyjon Jones and make your own Skippyjon Jones
Read Sky Color and make a Falling Through the Sky Artwork
Read Snowballs and design a Bird and Birch Tree Collage
Read The Snowy Day and make your own Snowy Day Illustration
Read Stellaluna and Draw a Bat
Read Swimmy and create a Fish Print Fish
Read Sylvie and design a Patterned Flamingo
Read Tar Beach and create Citiscapes
Read There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and create an Imaginary Creature
Read Time of Wonder and draw & paint Simple Sailboats
Read Too Much Glue and make Gluey Masterpieces
Read A Tree is Nice and sketch Trees
Read Trucks and create an amazing Truck Collage
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and watercolor a Hungry Caterpillar
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and craft Clay Caterpillars on Watercolor Leaves
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Draw with Chalk Pastels
Read Where the Wild Things Are and do some Wild Thing Printmaking
Read Where the Wild Things Are and paint a Watercolor Monster
Read Where the Wild Things Are and paint some Wild Things
Read The Z Was Zapped and crayon a Watercolor Resist Alphabet
As I find more art projects for picture books, I will pin them to my Story Art Pinterest Board.
If you have any picture book art activities for me to add to this list, please drop me a comment.
Happy Creating!
[…] The art and literature connection can be taken even further by creating pieces of art inspired by books. You simply read a book and create! Picture books are great for this and kids can come up with things you’ll definitely want to keep. For some ideas, check out this Giant List of Story Art Projects. […]