The Noisy Paint Box

The Noisy Paint Box

Picture book
You would not think the biography of a long dead painter would
have very young children paying rapt attention. Yet that was the case
when Louise read Barb Rosenstock and Mary Grandpre's The Noisy Paint
Box out loud at the start of a library messy art session. Perhaps it
had to do with a combination of lively narrative and evocative
illustrations. I also think the kids get a kick out of seeing an
artist succeed by going against convention.
Abstract art pioneer Vasily Kandinsky started out as the proper
child of a wealthy Russian family in a time when children were seen
and not heard. He was given an appropriate education. He grew up to
pursue a respectable career as a lawyer. He studied realistic art.
But he had been given a very noisy paintbox when he was quite young.
One day its influence became to great for him to ignore.
If you have a young artist, scientist, explorer, or creator with
a mind of his or her own, The Noisy Paint Box would be a perfect gift.
On a personal note, when I was a child I hated art class. My elderly
spinster art teacher felt that perfect copying of objects or pictures
she brought in was all there was to art. Very few kids did acceptable
work. The rest of us were failures. I was lucky that I had access to
enough art in museums and books that I did not accept her judgement.
As an adult I came into my own field of expression: fabric arts. I
really enjoy seeing what I can do with random yard sale, thrift shop,
and salvaged from damaged and unfinished pieces yarn. I plan soon to
design my own cross stitch pieces built around favorite quotes.
A great big shout out goes out to all, young and old, who achieve by
rebelling against convention.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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