I am a Domestic Goddess: Art Books for Children

We love books in our home. We have them everywhere! On shelves, chairs, tables, in baskets, on ottomans, in our house a book is always within easy reach. I love the way they contribute to the clutter in my home that I like to refer to as my "organized chaos". Books are our favorite gifts too, both to give and receive.

My last post got me thinking about how I could decorate my girls room using the hundreds of books they have accumulated through the years, not only by incorporating them into the decoration but having the books play the key focal point in the design of the space.

This library that Kelly Wearstler created for her sons is particularly inspiring.

At last count, the children's books we owned were a just a few shy of 500 titles. Ours is a very varied selection with all the requisite series for little girls - Madeleine, Eloise, Olivia and Fancy Nancy to name a few. But amongst all the titles we have amassed over the years, I particularly enjoyed putting together a small collection of art books for children and to date, we have 60 books that fit under this category.

Many friends always call me for ideas on what to purchase for their children or as gifts for a special child in their life and I find that books or stories with reference to art or a particular artist are always greatly appreciated.

Here are my top picks for art books for children:

We also have "I Spy Animals in Art" which is a great book as well.

This book will forever remind me of my two little girls. They each adored this book and it is a very special read for mothers and daughters. So appropriate are the Mary Cassatt pictures.

We also have the Museum 123 version of this book and the companion nesting alphabet blocks, a great introduction to letters or numbers, wouldn't you say?

I have this book in French but it is also available in English. I bought it at the Musee Picasso in Paris but have seen it in bookstores outside of France as well. And with Amazon, all is C'est possible!

Who doesn't love Babar? and Celeste? and their children? Had to have this one to complete our Babar collection!

This is a fun book below, Seen Art? (just in case you can't make out the title) published I believe right after the Moma in NYC reopened after it had been remodeled 5 or so years ago.

I grew up going to this Museum and for many reasons, it will always be a special place for me. No trip to NYC would be complete for me without stepping into the MET . I love that I can share this book and this museum with my children.

This book is published by the MET and is a story of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova with the art of Edgar Degas as a background to the story. A great gift for any little ballerina!

Inspiring and enlightening prose by Maya Angelou set to the artwork by Jean Michel Basquiat.

A compendium of art for children. It's and excellent reference for me as well!

Wouldn't you just buy this book on the title alone? It's so playful and the illustrations are very colorful. Will be a favorite with preschoolers and early graders for sure!

James Mayhew has authored several books in his Katie series. We have them all but Katie and the Mona Lisa is the one we read over and over again.

Another great series for an older girl (8 and above). Also available are Charlotte in Paris and Charlotte in London , which are equally as wonderful.

We have two titles that refer to the same story of Edgar Degas and his dancers, this one and another book, Marie in Fifth Position. Two other great books by the same author, Laurence Anholt are Camille and the Sunflowers, a story about Van Gogh , and Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail.