ABOUT THE ‘SMART READS for Kids’ BOOK SERIES“
Love Art, Love Learning”
Welcome to the ‘SMART READS for Kids’ book series. Designed to expand and inspire young minds; this is a range of short educational books for children aged seven and over. These books do much more than just teach children about Art and Artists. They also act as a gateway to a much broader general knowledge base. Although one Artist’s life and major works are always the central theme, wider learning is encouraged in the following ways:
•Geography. When locations relevant to the Artist’s life are mentioned they are always accompanied by a colourful, child-friendly map so that the opportunity to learn some world geography does not pass the young reader by.
•History. If the Artist’s actions or inspirations were based on the current affairs of the day then a snippet of history is explained in simple terms than can be easily understood by children.
•Vocabulary. In general the vocabulary is uncomplicated. However, a manageable number of longer words are intentionally introduced and then reused in each book. These are always demarked by bright bold colours and are accompanied by a clear definition and pronunciation. There is also a Glossary at the end.
•Maths. At least one maths sentence, for example a calculation of the Artist’s age or how many years ago they were born, is included in each book. A column subtraction sum to accompany the statement is always laid out somewhere nearby.
•Concentration. Each book is written in the friendly first person and a trail of footprints running through it always leads to a cute cartoon animal at the end. The author sometimes asks questions of the young reader (and the final section is always a quiz). These features both keep children engaged in the book and encourage them to form their own opinions. There is intentionally a high ratio of images to text.
•Other Artists. No artist lives in isolation; they are invariably influenced by their peers and those that have come before them. Therefore each book introduces a select few new artist’s names. In this way the child’s knowledge horizon of Art History is gently expanded.

ABOUT BOOK NO. 1: JUNIOR VINCENT VAN GOGH
Geographical Locations Referenced: The Netherlands, The Dutch Brabant, Belgium, Antwerp, France, Paris and Arles.
Paintings: 17 in total including: Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Wheat Field with Cypresses, The Church at Auvers, Irises, Noon Rest From Work, The Yellow House, The Night Café, The Potato Eaters and two self-portraits.
Vocabulary Defined: Inspired, Passionate, Mental illness, Expressionism, Dutch, Peasants, Romantic, Sympathy, Realism, Professional, Palette, Complementary, Succession and Ironic.
New Artists Introduced: Rembrandt and Paul Gauguin.
Broader topics addressed: Mental illness and poverty.
Number of Words: 2200.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE ‘SMART READS for kids’ SERIES:
‘Junior Leonardo da Vinci’
‘SMART READS for Kids’ adventure story “What do you do in a Drawing Room?”’ [Kindle only]’
Learn 20 French Words with Junior Claude Monet’ [Kindle only]
‘Junior Edgar Degas’ [Kindle only]