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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201 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Hardcover
13 Buildings Children Should Know
by Annette Roeder
from Prestel Verlag
for 3rd-6th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Aida
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Barry Bart
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Alice in Orchestralia
by Ernest LaPrade
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
All About the Symphony Orchestra and What it Plays
All About Books #39
by Dorothy Berliner Commins, illustrated by Warren Chappell
from Random House
for 3rd-8th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Alphabet of Music
by Robert W. Surplus, illustrated by George Overlie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Amazing Buildings
by Philip Wilkinson
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-7th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings
by Paul Williamson
from Her Majesty's Stationery Office
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Antonin Dvorak
Julian Messner Shelf of Biographies
by Clair Lee Purdy, illustrated by Edgard Cirlin
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Roman History Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Art for Children: Renaissance
Art for Children
by Lillo Canto
from Chelsea House Publishing
Art Appreciation for 4th-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$20.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
At Home with Beatrix Potter
by Susan Denyer
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bach's Goldberg Variations
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories
by Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
from Barefoot Books
for 2nd-8th grade
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
Bartered Bride
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Howard Arnold
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beat of the Drum
by Robert W. Surplus, illustrated by George Overlie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Beethoven
by David Jacobs
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Best Book of Ballet
First Edition from Kingfisher
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
Boris Godunoff
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Boyhoods of Great Composers
Young Readers Guides to Music
by Catherine Gough, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
1961 Reprint from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Bravo! Brava!
by Anne Siberell
from Oxford University
for 3rd-8th grade
in Opera & Choral Music (Location: ELE-MUSOP)
$24.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Brooklyn Bridge
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 3rd-6th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Buildings of Ancient Greece
by Helen & Richard Leacroft
from William R. Scott Inc.
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Built to Last
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$24.99
Calligraphy
First Steps Series
by Don Marsh
from North Light Books
for 6th-Adult
in Calligraphy (Location: HAN-CALLIG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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 (illustrator), with 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)
Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to the Orchestra
by Robert Levine
First Revised Edition from Black Dog & Leventhal
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$19.99
Chopin
by George Ruttkay
from Hyperion Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Cities Then and Now
by Jim Antoniou
from Macmillan
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Create Your Own Artist's Journal
from North Light Books
for 6th-Adult
in Art & Drawing Reference (Location: ELE-ARTREF)
$12.50 (1 in stock)
Creating with Fimo Acrylic Clay
by Libby Nicholson & Yvonne Lau
from Kids Can Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Crafts & Hobbies (Location: SS-CRA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
for 6th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Dance
DK Eyewitness Series
by Michael Tambini
1st edition from DK Publishing
history reference for 4th-8th grade
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Film
DK Eyewitness Series
by Richard Platt
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Story of Architecture
by Jonathan Glancey, Sir Norman Foster
1st edition from DK Publishing
for 4th-10th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Drawn from New England: Tasha Tudor
by Bethany Tudor, with photographs and drawings by Tasha Tudor
from Philomel Books
for 5th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Edison
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
Faust
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
First Starry Night
by Joan Shaddox Isom
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Folk Instruments
by Lee Gilmore, illustrated by George Overlie
Ninth printing, 1972 from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Follow the Leader
by Robert W. Surplus, illustrated by George Overlie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Francis Scott Key
by David Collins
from Mott Media
for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.99
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)
Great Composers
by Piero Ventura
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-8th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Great Painters
by Piero Ventura
First edition. from Putnam Juvenile
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Haensel and Gretel
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Mildred Boyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Handel at the Court of Kings
by Opal Wheeler, illustrated by Mary Greenwalt
1958 Seventh Printing from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Haydn's Farewell Symphony
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
He Heard America Sing
by Clair Lee Purdy
from Julian Messner
for 4-6
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Heart of the Orchestra
by Jean Craig, illustrated by George Overlie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
History of France through Art
by Jillian Powell
from Wayland
for 3rd-6th grade
in France (Location: HISMC-FRA)
Holiday Song Book
by Robert Quackenbush, arrangements by Harry Buch
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
How Artists See Feelings
by Colleen Carroll
1st Library Ed from Abbeville Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How Artists See the Elements
by Colleen Carroll
from Abbeville Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
How They Were Built
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-6th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
I Can Draw on the Farm
I Can Draw
by Terry Longhurst
from Parragon Publishing
for 2nd-6th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
1994 Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (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 Art
Usborne Internet-Linked
from Usborne
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
First Edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
2008 Caldecott Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$29.99
Jenny Lind's America
by Frances Cavanah
from Chilton Book Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jesus of Nazareth
by William Barclay
from Collins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
John James Audubon
Landmark #48
by John & Margaret Kieran, illustrated by Christine Price
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Kate Greenaway
by Rodney K. Engen
from Harmony
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Keyboard Instruments
by Lionel & Edith Davis, illustrated by George Overlie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
King of Song
by Ruth & Paul Hume, illustrated by Irene Murray
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Learn to Draw: Insects
by Diana Fisher
from Walter Foster
for 1st-6th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Emily Hahn, illustrated by Mimi Korach
from Random House
for 6th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Jay Williams
from Horizon Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Ernest Raboff
for 3rd-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Liberty
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 4th-6th grade
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lighthouses
by Arthur Smith
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lion of Poland
by Ruth & Paul Hume, illustrated by Lili Réthi
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lives of the Artists
by M. B. Goffstein
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lohengrin
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Magic Flute
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Paul Kinnear
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Master Builders of the Middle Ages
by David Jacobs
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Masters of Art: Chagall
by Gianni Pozzi, illustrated by Claudia Saraceni & L. R. Galante
1st edition from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Giotto and Medieval Art
by Lucia Corrain, illustrated by Sergio, with the assistance of Andrea Ricciardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Goya
by Mariarosa Schiaffino, illustrated by Claudia Saraceni & Thomas Trojer
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Leonardo da Vinci
Masters of Art Series
by Francesca Romei, illustrated by Sergio and Andrea Ricciardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Michaelangelo
Masters of Art
by Gabriella di Cagno, illustrated by Simone Boni & L. R. Galante
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Masters of Art: Picasso
by Loria Stefano, illustrated by Simone Boni & L. R. Galante
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Rembrandt and Seventeenth-Century Holland
Masters of Art
by Claudio Pescio, illustrated by Sergio
1st edition from Peter Bedrick Books
for 5th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Masters of Art: The Art of the Renaissance
by Lucia Corrain, illustrated by L. R. Galante & Simone Boni
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: The Impressionists
by Francesco Salvi, illustrated by L. R. Galante & Andrea Ricciardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: The Story of Architecture
by Francesco Milo, illustrated by Lorenzo Cecchi, Studio Galante, and Andrea Ricciardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: The Story of Sculpture
by Francesca Romei, illustrated by Giacinto Gaudenzi
1st edition from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Masters of Art: Van Gogh
by Enrica Crispino, illustrated by Simone Boni, Francesca D'Ottavi, L. R. Galante & Ivan Stalio
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
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