Book Review: “We Are in an ART-ivity Book!” by Mo Willems

In We Are in an ART-ivity Book, you will be guided by Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie along with their friend Art Vaark to draw, cut, and paste to create your very own art exhibit inspired by the Masters. The book’s cover and back page each feature a pocket into which you can tuck your artistic endeavors.

The humor of Elephant & Piggie appealed to my 8-year-old son. He was especially amused with their punny use of collage — congratulating the reader on being a “collage graduate” after completing those art projects.

The book features a few dozen projects — lots of coloring & drawing, some puzzles, cut & paste and mazes — and I had to stop my little dude after we explored the book for an hour. I think he would happily just sat down and worked through each project until he had completed the book. And while he loves to cut, draw and paste, he isn’t usually that interested in doing guided projects.

The early pages included basic sketching activities including an invitation to do a self-portrait and simple instructions on drawing the main characters Elephant and Piggie but it was page 29 that really caught the attention of my little dude. We carefully but quite easily pulled out the pages along their perforated edge and then followed the simple directions to create the paper sculpture reminiscent of Rodin’s “The Thinker.”

I really appreciate the index that listed the various masterpieces that inspired the book’s various crafts. It lists the work, the year it was created, the artist and where you can find it currently displayed. You’ll find activities inspired by Munch’s “The Scream,” Georgia O’Keefe’s “The White Flower,” Van Gogh’s “Shoes,” da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and

many

more. The activities while simple enough for young children can serve as a launching point for discussion of the Masters with them and allows you to bring older children into the fun as well.

We Are in an ART-ivity Book!  is now available from Disney-Hyperion.

Rebekah Moseley
Rebekah grew up frequently going to Disneyland and met her husband there as annual passholders. Together they co-founded LaughingPlace.com to share their love and fun experiencing all things Disney with other fans. Rebekah's favorite Disney princess is Cinderella and if she could snap her fingers and be anywhere within the created Disney worlds, it's Typhoon Lagoon's lazy river which she considers Imagineering perfection.