Art & Music Education

In her book The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaeffer argues that everyone has a talent or skill ready to be discovered and put to use for the glory of God. Often, that talent lies dormant, and the individual is frustrated by the empty spot in their life it should fill. Finding your talent should be a priority, though it's no drudgery—discovering what God has made you good at is a joyful and exciting process.

Similarly, Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell never put his running before his duty to Christ; instead, he used his talent as a sprinter to glorify God. As he expresses in the brilliant film Chariots of Fire, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." God gives us talents to use in His name, and our joy in them is really our joy in Him.

Eric Liddell's talent led him to compete internationally; the "hidden art" Schaeffer describes is a little more modest, though no less glorifying to God when pursued humbly and gratefully. For Schaeffer, one's hidden art can be something as simple as arranging flowers on the kitchen table, or as elaborate as writing a story or painting a landscape. Everyone has different strengths, and each should learn to cultivate their own.

Our goal in teaching our children art and music isn't to raise a bunch of Van Goghs and Mozarts. If your child is a creative genius that's wonderful, but even if she can barely stay in the lines when coloring, her gifts are just as valuable to the Lord, and her discovery of them is just as important for her growth and personal happiness.

There are a few books in this section designed to help kids appreciate great art of the past, to learn about composers, or to identify the work of different painters and architects. However, most of what we offer is intended to help students across the whole range of ages to acquire and develop whatever skills they may have in sketching, painting, composing, instrument-playing, sculpting, acting, etc.

It's important to remember that no one will ever do anything perfectly, and first attempts are generally met with complete or near-total failure. Failure is often seen as an enemy, or simply as a hurdle to be overcome. Real failure, however, is integral to eventual success and (more importantly) to learning and character development. If a child managed to get everything right the first time, there would be no room for improvement, no reason to work hard.

Exercising one's creativity is essential. Humans were created in God's image, which means in part that we are creative beings, and whenever we're creative in ways that honor God, we're imitating Him. To the extent we can train our kids to do this, we should. Encourage them to do the best they can, because in the end they're doing it for God, and He expects nothing less.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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125 Items found Print
Active Filters: Adult, Hardcover
102 Favorite Paintings By Norman Rockwell
by Norman Rockwell
from Crown Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
60 Minutes to Better Painting
by Craig Nelson
from North Light Books
for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Abide With Me
by John H. Parker, Paul Seawright
from New Leaf Press
for 7th-Adult
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
Aida
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Barry Bart
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
All Shook Up
Pivotal Moments in American History
by Glenn C. Altschuler
from Oxford University
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Artists of Russia
by Richard Hare
from Methuen
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Art of Illuminated Letters
by Patricia Seligman, calligraphy by Timothy Noad
from Past Times
for 9th-Adult
in Calligraphy (Location: HAN-CALLIG)
Art: Over 2,500 Works from Cave to Contemporary
from DK Publishing
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bartered Bride
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Howard Arnold
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beatles vs The Rolling Stones
by Jim Derogatis and Greg Kot
from Voyageur Press
for 9th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Best Known Gilbert & Sullivan Operas and Bab Ballads
by William Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
from Halcyon House
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Boris Godunoff
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Built to Last
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Calligraphy School
by Gaynor Goffe and Anna Ravenscroft
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in Calligraphy (Location: HAN-CALLIG)
Carl Larsson's A Family
by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Carl Larsson's A Farm
by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Carl Larsson's A Home
by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Carmen
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Chapels and Meeting Houses
by Kenneth Lindley
from John Baker
for 8th-Adult
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas Carols
by Compiled by Frank Edwin Peat, Illustrated by Fern Bisel Peat
from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Clothing for Women
Lippincott's Home Manuals
by Laura I. Baldt
1922 Printing from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Creative Calligraphy
by Malcolm Couch
from Todtri Productions Limited
for 9th-Adult
in Calligraphy (Location: HAN-CALLIG)
Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
for 6th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Drawing with Pen and Ink
by Arthur L. Guptill, edited and revised by Henry C. Pitz
1968 Printing, Revised Edition from Reinhold Book Corp.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Eye of the Artist
by Jack Clifton
from Watson-Guptill Publications
for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Faust
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Frederic Chopin
by Victor Seroff
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Glory and Honor
Leaders in Action Series
by Gregory Wilbur
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
Golden Encyclopedia of Music
by Norman Lloyd
from Western Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gondoliers, or, The King of Barataria
by Gilbert & Sullivan, adapted by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Great Artists - Great Composers: Portraits
from Amadeus Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Haensel and Gretel
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Mildred Boyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Heritage of Music
by Katherine B. Shippen & Anca Seidlova, illustrated by Otto Van Eersel
from Viking Press
for 7th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
History Sings
by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella
from University Publishing Company
American Music History for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Holiday Song Book
by Robert Quackenbush, arrangements by Harry Buch
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Howard Pyle
by Henry C. Pitz, with illustrations by Howard Pyle
from Bramhall House
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Illuminated Page
by Janet Backhouse
from University of Toronto Press
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes
by William Wordsworth, Edited by Peter Bicknell
from Congdon & Weed Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
In Search of Norman Rockwell's America
by Photography by Kevin Rivoli, Artwork by Norman Rockwell
from Howard Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Introduction to Drawing Animals
by Kay Gallwey
from Chartwell Books
for 6th-Adult
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Italian Opera
by Francis Toye
from Max Parrish & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Kate Greenaway
by Rodney K. Engen
from Harmony
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Learn to Play the Guitar
by Nick Freeth
from Parragon Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Guitar & Bass Instruction (Location: ELE-MUS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
LEGO Architect
by Tom Alphin
from No Starch Press
for 8th-Adult
in LEGO Sets (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Richard McLanathan
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life of Picasso Volume II
Book 2 of 4
by John Richardson with Marilyn McCully
First Edition 2nd Printing from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Lifetime of Wisdom
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Autobiographies & Memoirs for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Lohengrin
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lord of the Rings The Two Towers Visual Companion
by Jude Fisher, introduction by Viggo Mortensen
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
Lust for Life: A Novel of Vincent Van Gogh
by Irving Stone
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Magic Flute
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Magic Flute - Book with 2 CDs
Black Dog Opera Library
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, text by David Foil
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 8th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Masters of Music: Debussy
by Percy M. Young, Illustrated by Richard Shirley Smith
from David White
for 8th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mikado
by Gilbert & Sullivan, adapted by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Minute Sketches of Great Composers
by Eva v B. Hansl, Helen L. Kaufmann, illustrated by Samuel Nisenson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biographical sketches for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Modelling for Amateurs
How to Do It #20
by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis
from The Studio Publications, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Moon and Sixpence
Modern Library
by W. Somerset Maugham
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Mozart: A Bicentennial Tribute
by Wendy Thompson
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Music Hour Elementary Teacher's Book
3rd edition from Silver Burdett Press
for Adult
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Music to Remember
by Lillian Baldwin
from Silver Burdett Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
My Favorite Songs
by Maria Trapp
from Veritas Press
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.00
N.C. Wyeth
by N. C. Wyeth, introduction by Kate F. Jennings
from Crescent Books
for 4th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Nanook of the North
by Robert Flaherty, edited from the film by Robert Kraus
First Printing from Windmill Books
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Natural Way to Draw
by Kimon Nicolaides
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell Illustrator
by Arthur L. Guptill
from Watson-Guptill Publications
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell's America
by Christopher Finch, Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Reader's Digest
for 3rd-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oil Painting with the Masters
by Cindy Salaski
from North Light Books
Oil Painting Instruction for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light
by Elizabeth Kincaid
from North Light Books
for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
Painted Ponies
from Zon International
for Adult
in Crafts & Hobbies (Location: SS-CRA)
Peer Gynt
by E. H. Grieg, illustrated by Yoshiharu Suzuki, adapted by Makoto Oishi, translated by Ann Brannen
from Silver Burdett Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Pencil Broadsides
1961 Second Printing from Reinhold Book Corp.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Petrouchka
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
by Christopher Tolkien (editor and text), illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien
2021 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$35.00
Practical Problems of the Portrait Painter
by Janet Robertson
from Darton, Longman & Todd
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
R. v. R.: The Life of Rembrandt Van Rijn
by Hendrik Van Loon
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Randolph Caldecott
by Leonard S. Marcus
from Frances Foster Books
for 7th-Adult
Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind, and His Music
by Robert W. Gutman
from Time-Life Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Robert Bateman: An Artist in Nature
by Robert Bateman, text by Rick Archbold
from Random House
for 9th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Robert Wade's Watercolor Workshop Handbook
by Robert Wade
from International Artist
Watercolor Painting Instruction for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
by Dmitri Merejcovski
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Romantic Oil Painting Made Easy
by Robert Hagan
Oil Painting Instruction for Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Royal Book of Ballet
by Shirley Goulden, illustrated by Maraja
from Follett
for 3rd-Adult
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman
from Harper & Row
for 4th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Sentinel of the Seas
by Dennis M. Powers
1st edition from Citadel Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Silent Clowns
by Walter Kerr
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces
by Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Step By Step Art School: Drawing
by Jenny Rodwell
from Exeter Books
for Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Art
by E. H. Gombrich
from Phaidon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Painting
by Sister Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$48.00
Story-Lives of Great Composers
by Katherine Little Bakeless
3rd edition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Sun the Moon and the Stars
by Richard Whelan, designed by Arnold Skolnik
from First Glance Books
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sunburnt Africa
by Kent Cottrell
Second Printing from Theda & Emerson Hall
for 6th-Adult
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
The Builders
by Gilbert M. Grosvenor
1st edition from National Geographic
for 9th-Adult
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Three-Cornered Hat
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan
by William Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
from Simon and Schuster
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Grand Opera
by Henry W. Simon, illustrated by Fred Banbery
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
Van Gogh: Great Art of the Ages
by Meyer Schapiro
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Verdi
by Joseph Wechsberg
1st edition from Putnam Juvenile
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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