Natalie, my six-year-old, has always been somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to art (and life in general!). When she was a toddler, she wanted to watch people draw and color, but not do it herself. When she was four, many of her drawings were crumpled and thrown away because they didn’t turn out like she had envisioned. Luckily, she is much more confident in her abilities now, and more willing to try and make mistakes. How-to-draw books have become one of her favorite things, although it did take some trial-and-error to find drawing books that were not too difficult. Here are our favorites right now, just right for the age 4+ crowd:
Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals
The girls are using my old and very-well-loved copy of this classic drawing book. I like how he shows you variations on the basic animal to make different poses, change the expression, or add clothing. I would recommend any of his many drawing books.
Usborne Playtime I Can Draw Animals
We love the simple, crayon step-by-step instructions in these two books. My four-year-old has success with these books, too!
How to Draw a Sailing Cat and 99 Other Adventurous Things
What a treasure this book is! My mom found this sweet book at the bookstore, and Natalie has been in love with it since. Simple drawing lessons woven into a story about a cat and his sailing adventures. It is adorable! You can visit the author’s website as well and find some sample drawing lessons and info about all her drawing books.
Have any how-to-draw resources to share? We’re always on the look-out for more!
Happy playing!
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Nonfiction Books for Young Kids
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for those book ideas! My daughter is only 3, and just now starting to draw representational pictures. But I’m excited to put these books on her wishlist for the future! Thanks again!
I really want these for Josh! They are “on the list”! http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Write-Now-Book-1-8/dp/0963930796/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=IW5ITDVYUDI4W&colid=1TC7DB9S501ZJ
We have the Usborne …animals and LOVE it! The Joy Sikorski books look adorable too! I will have to add it to the list…
We love the Ed Emberley and Usborne books as well. I’ll have to check out that last one, too. I just did a post on our thumbprint drawings–we used Emberley’s Great Thumbprint Drawing book for them.
Those Ed Emberley books take me back! I recently ran across the Draw Write Now series at a homeschool convention and several people came over and told me how great they were. It incorporates writing, but also has many step-by-step drawing guides. I haven’t used it yet myself, but they just might end up on my curriculum list this fall.
oh wow … this post took me back !! i had that ed emberley drawing book !! i wonder if my mom still has it ? i’m going to check …
It seems like everything you post is something that would be perfect for my daughters (5 and 2). I have thought about getting “how-to-draw” books for my five year old, and now I have some great suggestions. Thanks!
Such great book ideas! And your daughter is a fantastic artist! I really don’t think I ever drew anything that nice when I was a kid!
Oh my! My mom used to use that Ed Emberley book to draw pictures on my brown paper lunch bags. how neat to see remember that book – thanks for the post!
Oh, what memories you’ve triggered! I had that first drawing book when I was a little girl. I loved it! I bet my kids will, too.
Yay!! I am an Usborne Book Consultant and I love seeing people enjoying these books with their kids! My little girls love the Make and Do series, although the Monster Things to Make and Do is currently their favorite!
I remember drawing all of the animals in the Ed Emberley book when I was a kid; our kids love it now too. I’ll have to check out the other books.