150 Children’s Art Books With Art Projects: A Huge List for Art Teachers

Are you looking for amazing children’s art books that go along with art projects?

One of my favorite ways to introduce an art lesson for grades K-2 is to pair a children’s book with the project. There are so many amazing art books and children’s story books that can easily connect to art projects. Children’s books are a great “hook” for art lessons and many have gorgeous illustrations.

This list includes OVER 150 children’s books that are great to use in the art classroom. Whether you have them available for free choice time or read aloud to the entire class, these are definitely books you’ll want to check out!

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Children’s Art Books for the Elements and Principles of Art

Lines That Wiggle – Candace Whitman (line lanterns, paper line sculptures and wire line sculptures)
Larry the Line – Cassie Stephens (line)
When a Line Bends… A Shape Begins – Rhonda Gowler Greene (shape, form) Reggie Laurent inspired shape collages
Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature – Joyce Sidman (line/shape, Snail art project)
Alfred the Ape Knows His Shapes – Cassie Stephens (shape)
The Shape of Things – Dayle Ann Dobbs (shapes)
Starring Shapes – Tania Howells (shapes/Abstract art)
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff – Dr. Seuss (silhouettes and shape)
Mouse Paint – Ellen Stoll Walsh (color, color mixing, color wheels)
Sky Color – Peter H. Reynolds (color/creativity)
The Color Tree – Denise Bennet Minnerly (color)
Every Color – Erin Eitter Kono (polar bears)
The Wonders of the Color Wheel – Charles Ghigina (easy color wheel intro)
Mixed, A Colorful Story – Arree Chung (color)
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh – Supriya Kelkar (color)
Penguins Love Color – Sarah Aspinall (color, penguin sculptures, penguin collages)
Patterns, Patterns Everywhere – Kellie Menendez (patterns)

Children’s Books about Creativity

What If… – Samantha Berger (beautiful book about imagination)
What Do You Do With an Idea? – Kobi Yamada (ideas)
The Curious Why – Angela DiTerlizzi (creativity, wonder)
Ish – Peter H. Reynolds (line, shape, creativity)
The Dot – Peter H. Reynolds (emphasis, creativity, Dot Day artworks)
Beautiful Oops! – Barney Saltzberg (turning mistakes into beautiful art)
A Little Bit of Oomph! – Barney Saltzberg (creativity & self-expression)
Not a Box – Antoinette Portis (turn a box into something else – creative thinking)
Not a Stick – Antoinette Portis (turn a stick into something else – creative thinking)
The Most Magnificent Thing – Ashley Spires (invention sculptures)
A Little Spot of Creativity – Diane Alber
A World of Your Own – Laura Carlin
Anywhere Artist – Nikki Slade Robinson (making art with found objects)
Mazie’s Amazing Machines – Sheryl Haft (perfect for makerspaces and making inventions!)
The Wonder – Faye Hanson
The Wonder Box – Sheryl Haft & Tricia Fugelstad
The Magic of Wonder – Jenna Copper, Ashley Bible, Abby Gross and Staci Lamb
Be A Maker – Katey Howes

Children’s Books about Artists

100 Pablo Picassos – Violet Lemay (Picasso faces)
Pablo – Marisa Boan (Picasso faces)
The Noisy Paint Box – Barb Rosenstock (Kandinsky, abstract art)
Through Georgia’s Eyes – Rachel Rodríguez (Georgia O’Keeffe, close-up flowers)
My Name is Georgia – Jeanette Winter (Georgia O’Keeffe inspired flowers)
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos – Monica Brown (self-portraits with animals)
Drawing with Scissors- Henri Matisse – Keesia Johnson (organic shape collages)
Henri’s Scissors – Jeanette Winter (shape, balance, inspired by Matisse)
Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity – Sarah Suzuki (dotted pumpkins)
Maybe Something Beautiful – F. Isabel Campoy (community mural inspired by real project in San Diego)
Leonardo and the Flying Boy – Laurence Anholt (flying machine/invention drawings)
African Masks: Can You Spot the Leopard? (pair with a mask lesson)
Art is Everywhere, a Book about Andy Warhol – Jeff Mack (Pop art projects)
Day of the Dead – Bob Barner (sugar skull art projects, skeletons, paper picado)
I am Jim Henson – Brad Meltzer (puppet-making)
I Wish I Didn’t have to Sleep, Keith Haring – Desiree La Valette (Keith Haring inspired art projects)
Linnea in Monet’s Garden – Christine Bjork (Monet inspired art projects)
The Garden of Monsieur Monet – Giancarlo Ascari (Claude Monet ponds)
Philippe in Monet’s Garden – Lisa Jobe Carmack (Monet ponds)
Magic Trash – JH Shapiro (about Tyree Guyton- make recycled art house collages
Scraps – Lois Ehlert (collage)
The Boy Who Drew Birds – Jacqueline Davies (John James Audubon- bird pictures)
The Cat and the Bird – Geraldine Elschner (Paul Klee) Paul Klee castles
The First Starry Night – Joan Shaddox Jsom (Van Gogh) starry night projects
Vincent, Starry Starry Night – Judith A Proffer and Yoko Matsuoka (Van Gogh – Starry Night artworks)
Katie and the Sunflowers – James Mayhew (Katie series introduces kids to art masterpieces)
The Sky Painter, Louis Fuertes Bird Artist – Margarita Engle (bird art)
Funny Bones, Posada and his Day of the Dead Calaveras – Duncan Tonatiuh (Day of the Dead, sugar skull & skeleton pictures)
Happy – Romero Britto (pop art patterned pictures)
The Year with Grandma Moses – W. Nikola-Lisa (winter landscapes)
Meet Paul Klee – Meet the Artist Series (Paul Klee castles)
Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair – Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Brigette Barrager (Mary Blair style castles)
Black Ink and Empty Space: The Bold Art of Toko Shinodo – Lynn B. Connor (Japanese brush painting)
If Picasso Went… books – Eric Gibbons

Children’s Books that Inspire Art Projects

One Little Squiggle – Jodi Adams (Turn a squiggle into something else!)
The Squiggle – Carola Lexa Schaefer (Turn a squiggle into something else!)
There’s a Map on My Lap – Dr. Seuss/Tish Rabe (community map drawing)
The Spark in You – Andrea Pippins (Mardi Gras style masks)
Only One You – Linda Kranz (rock painting inspiration/drawing fish)
Elmer – David McKee (patchwork elephants → collage/painting projects)
A Color of His Own – Leo Lionni (chameleons, color mixing)
Color Zoo – Lois Ehlert (shapes and animal collages)
Snowballs – Lois Ehlert (snow people collages)
Planting a Rainbow – Lois Ehlert (flower collage/painting)
Leaf Man – Lois Ehlert (collage with leaves/natural materials)
Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister (rainbow fish pictures)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault (letter collage trees)
The Mixed-Up Chameleon – Eric Carle (painted paper animals)
In the Tall, Tall Grass – Denise Fleming (oil pastel textures)
Never Let a Unicorn Scribble! – Diane Alber (scribble art)
I’m Not Just a Scribble… – Diane Alber (scribble art creatures)
Scribble Stones – Diane Alber (pattern rocks/painted stones)
Tar Beach – Faith Ringgold (story quilt projects)
City Shapes – Dianna Murray (urban collage cityscapes)
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! – Mo Willems (cartoon pigeon drawings with speech bubbles)
Dr. Seuss’s ABC – Dr. Seuss (alphabet art or ABC art)
Peanut Butter & Jellyfishes – Brian P. Clearly (ABC book)
Say Something! – Peter Reynolds (advocacy art – posters about causes you are passionate about.)
Dreaming Up – Pamela Stephens (building with blocks)
I Love Lunar New Year – Eva Wong Nava and Xin Li (New Year’s art projects)
If the Dinosaurs Came Back – Bernard Most (dinosaur themes)
Monsters Love Colors – Mike Austin (monster artwork)
My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil – Hanoch Piven (found object faces)
Sorry, Snail – Tracy Subisak (snails)
Snail Trail – Jo Saxton (patterns, collage, shapes, snail art)
The Shape of My Heart – Mark Sperring (Map of My Heart art project)
Tiny Little Rocket – David Fickling (rocket art project)
Too Much Glue – Jason Lefebure (glue and collages)
Your Name is a Song – Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow (name design)
Flo & Wendell – William Wegman (anthropomorphic animal collages)
Nadia’s Hands – Karen English (henna designed hands)
The Inkblot, Drip, Splat and Squish Your Way to Creativity – Margaret Peot (ink prints)
Trucks: Whizz, Zoom, Rumble! – Patricia Hubbel (design a truck art project)
Emily’s Blue Period – Cathleen Daly (personal collage, Picasso, divorced family)
The Scarecrow – Beth Ferry (fall scarecrow projects)
Walter’s Wonderful Web –Tim Hopgood (spider artworks)
Viking Pop-Ups – David Hawcock (Viking longships)
Peter O Meter – Tricia Fuglestad (robots)
Fireworks – Matthew Burgess (fireworks or a New Year’s picture)

Books about Nature that are Great for Art Projects

A Nest is Noisy – Dianne Hutts Aston (nest/bird art project)
Goodbye Summer, Hello Winter – Kenard Pak (winter art project)
Full of Fall – April Pulley Sayre (autumn art projects)
Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter – Kenard Pak (winter art)
Snow Globe Family – Jane O’Connor (snowglobes!)
Snowmen at Night – Caralyn Buehner (snowmen!)
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf – Lois Ehlert (fall trees, texture rubbings)
It’s Winter! by Renée Kurilla

For more Winter Books, check out this big list!

SEL Books for Kids

Abracadabra! The Magic of Trying – Maria Loretta Giraldo (growth mindset, owl art project)
All Are Welcome – Alexandra Penfold (community) (pair with self-portraits)
An Awesome Book of Thanks – Dallas Clayton (goes with a Thanksgiving/gratitude project)
Exactly You – Sarah Krajewski (self-esteem/self-acceptance)
Glad Monster, Sad Monster – Ed Emberley (monster art/emotions)
I am Enough – Grace Byers (self-portraits)
My Name – Supriya Kelkar (name designs)
The Kindness Quilt – Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (kindness quilt)
Be Kind – Pat Zietlow Miller
Good People Everywhere – Lynea Gillen
What Does it Mean to Be Kind? – Rana Diorio
What if Everybody Did That? – Ellen Javernick
When Sophie’s Feelings are Really, Really Hurt – Molly Bang
Beautiful Hands – Kathryn Otoshi (painted or colorful designed hands)
The Peace Book – Todd Parr (peace sign art)
The Kindness Book – Todd Parr
It’s Okay to Be Different – Todd Parr (self-portraits or unique portraits)
The Color Monster – Anna Llenas (monster pictures)
I am Me- A Book of Authenticity – Susan Verde (self-portraits)

General Art Books for Kids

Art is… – Bob Raczka (what is art?)
How to Spot an Artist – Danielle Krysa
I am an Art Superhero – Desiree DiGerolamo (first week of school, superhero art project)
No One Saw – Bob Raczka
Pencils on Strike – Jennifer Jones (taking care of supplies)
Studio: A Place for Art to Start – Emily Arrow (great for beginning of the year)
The Art Lesson – Tomie de Paola
The Art Box – Gail Gibbons (about art supplies)
The Goat in the Rug – Charles L. Blood (weaving)
The Line Sophie Drew – Peter and Susan Barrett (turning a line into something else)
Mousterworks – Angela C. Hawkins (art history)
An ABC of What Art Can Be – Meher McArthur (art ABC book)
Regina’s Big Mistake – Marissa Moss (being afraid to make a mistake)
Art & Joy, Best Friends Forever – Danielle Krysa
The Day the Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt (crayon art project)
M is for Masterpiece – David Domeniconi
Cat Nap – Brian Lies (art history book about cats in a famous artworks)
A Gallery of Cats – Ruth Brown (art history book about cats in a famous artworks)

Art Books Great to Leave for a Sub

If I Built a House – Chris Van Dusen (design a house)
If I Built a School – Chris Van Dusen (design a school)
If I Built a Car – Chris Van Dusen (design a car)
Perfect Square – Michael Hall (make a collage from one piece of square paper)
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (draw your own wild thing)
How the Zebras Lost their Stripes – Janet R. Adams (zebra drawings)
Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson (imaginative monochromatic line drawings)
The Big Orange Splot – Daniel Manus Pinkwater (creative house design)
Snippets: A Story About Paper Shapes – Diane Alber (collage with scraps)
A Rainbow of My Own – Don Freeman (draw yourself with a rainbow)
Oh, the Places You’ll Go – Dr. Seuss (draw a place you’d like to go)

The books on this blog post are all children’s read-aloud books. If you are looking for How-to-Draw books, I have some suggestions on this How to Draw book list.

Although I made this huge list of art books for kids, I don’t think you should run out and spend tons of money on books right now. What I recommend doing is taking a look at some of the books and requesting them from your local public library. That way, you can see if these are books you want in your collection. Many of these books can also be found on YouTube as read-alouds. Garage sales are another place I have picked up many books.

I know there are hundreds more awesome children’s books out there that I have probably not included. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have a book you’d like me to check out, please leave a comment on this post.

Here are some other book lists you might like:

• Books for the First Day of School
• 19 Winter Books for Kids
• Halloween Books
• Art Projects that Go Along with Children’s Books