All kinds of good things are POPping up here at the DMA with the opening of the new exhibition International Pop. The Barrel Vault is filled with bright colors, oversized paintings, familiar faces, and works of art that will make you smile. Why not hop on Pop at home too? I’ve rounded up some of my favorite children’s books to introduce our youngest visitors to the art and artists who POP!
Toddlers
Two beautiful and fun concept books perfect for the toddler crew are Pop Warhol’s Top by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo and Counting with Wayne Thiebaud by Susan Goldman Rubin. Pop Warhol’s Top mixes together the best of touch & feel books with works by famous Pop artists. Tots can pretend to pull the lettuce off a Claes Oldenburg soft sculpture, touch the eyelashes on one of Andy Warhol’s famous Marilyn Monroe pieces, or tap the beat for an exuberant Keith Haring painting. Rubin’s Counting with Wayne Thiebaud will have little ones asking for “more, please!” as they use Thibeaud’s luscious dessert paintings to count from one to ten.
Preschool
Pre-readers will POP till they drop as they work their way through the alphabet in Rachel Isadora’s ABC POP! Isadora takes inspiration from Pop artists to depict everyday objects in a Pop art sensibility. A is for airplane and Z is for zoom, and everything in between is illustrated with comic strip word bubbles, close-ups, boldly drawn lines, and lots of dots. Uncle Andy’s Cats by James Warhola introduces emerging readers to Andy Warhol through the eyes of his nephew James and tells the true story of the 20+ kittens Warhol had running through his New York townhouse, all with the name of Sam! Children will love trying to find all the kittens on each page, and also see glimpses of some of Warhol’s most famous works tucked away in the illustrations.
Elementary
Susan Goldman Rubin highlights some of the most famous American Pop artists–Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Wayne Thiebaud–in three beautifully illustrated biographies for young readers. Wham!: The Art & Life of Roy Lichtenstein introduces readers to Roy as a boy who loved to draw and invent machines who grew up to be an artist that found inspiration in comic books. Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter traces Andy’s journey from a commercial artist to a world-wide sensation who made his name by painting one of his favorite meals as a child–soup! Delicious: The Art & Life of Wayne Thiebaud weaves together the artist’s memories from childhood and mouth-watering reproductions of Thiebaud’s dessert paintings to create a balanced view of the artist’s varied career. All three volumes give readers a peek “behind the canvas” to gain a better understanding of these men as real people.
After you’ve made your way through these POPular books, we hope you’ll POP in and see the International Pop exhibit for yourself!
Leah Hanson
Manager of Early Learning Programs