Susan Striker

This book is awesome! As someone who feels "artistically" challenged, this book makes me feel a lot more confident introducing art and art materials to my 14 month old. Yes, my 14 month old! If I hadn't read this book I probably would have waited a LOT longer to introduce art materials to him, but Striker argues that babies as young as 6 months can be introduced to crayons and paints. She gives loose guidelines for what to expect at what ages, which is really helpful for someone who has no idea what to expect.

Above all, she argues that a parents role is to hand the child the materials and then GO AWAY. Okay, not go away, but she argues fervently against "teaching" in anyway; doing so, she argues, can diminish a child's creative spirit. She is adamantly against coloring books or other "clever" art projects for children, arguing that they are too constrictive. Children need access to art materials to explore however they want. Realistic about cleanliness, she offers suggestions to how to contain the chaos as best as possible; however, as a parent, I have found it most freeing to read that "it's really ok if all your baby does is eat the crayon for a while. It's part of the process, really." Because, he does eat the crayons. But then he's also started scribbling, which is so cool.

If you are a parent of a kid under age 4 (or plan to have kids someday) read this book! It's changed how I think about art and children.… (mere)