Book Sharing Monday ~ Art

I found these two books in the city library, in the art section and have tried a few pages with my children. The two I picked up are part of a series called "Discovering Paintings" done in association with The National Gallery of London. I found the "Myths & Legends" and the "Grisly & Gruesome", other titles in the series are "Out & About" and "Saints".

Both books are interactive, and give lots of suggestions for questions and activities related to the paintings. Each painting also provides a short story to read about it and another painting on a similar theme to compare and contrast with the first one. A great series to discover art with, while snuggling on the couch.

The "Myths & Legends" has paintings chosen mostly from Ancient Greek or Roman myths. I took photos of the pages so you could see parts of the activities. Each painting covers 2 double pages.

The "Grisly & Gruesome" book truly has some gruesome paintings in it, so it might not be best for everyone! The last 2 photos are from that book (Vanitas Still Life), I chose the mildest painting of the whole book to share with you.

The quote is from the Vanitas Still Life pages. It is the introduction to the painting:

"At first glance, this quiet still life might not seem very grisly to you. However, the skull is a clue that each object contains a secret message. They have all, in fact, been carefully chose to make viewers think about death and how quickly life goes by."