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Art Adventures in Narnia
C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books are so rich in visual imagery and fascinating characters, it seems completely natural to incorporate art and crafts to bring subjects to life. Thanks to Sharon Jeffus, you can easily do this, whether you're studying the books in school or just reading them for pleasure. In 56 pages, Sharon offers a variety of ways students can apply their own creativity to the subjects of Narnia, whether it be through pencil and paper, paint, clay, cardboard, or a craft project. Subjects examined are lions, heraldry, knights, armor, weapons, crowns, thrones, portraits, printing, rabbits, beavers, gargoyles, fauns, stags, trees, castles, birds, ancient writing, dragons, unicorns, and maps. Along the way, Sharon mixes in art concepts, including perspective, shading, using a grid, scale, and positive and negative space. Because the topics are chosen from the Narnia books, this is not a cohesive art program; rather, it's set up as a book you can wander through as you read through the Narnia books, choosing topics that suit your fancy. Topical lessons vary quite a bit in content, and may include a craft project, a drawing challenge, thought-provoking questions, creative challenges, a website to look up works of art, examining a given picture, learning an art principle, etc. The suggested activities are very open-ended, and would be easy to tailor to children of different ages. Occasionally, several different activity options are offered for a topic; some will appeal more to older children, and some to younger children. The instructions for an activity are very simple, and freeform (more like suggestions), allowing as much adaptation as you want. As with their other very practical art books, you won't need any special art equipment for the lessons, just pencils, drawing paper, construction paper, glue, yarn, markers, crayons, and anything else you'd like to use. If you're anxious to explore Narnia with all of your senses and sharpen your artistic skills at the same time, you'll enjoy using this book as an art companion. Also available is a CD-ROM which contains the entire text of the book in electronic form.
