TOS Review: Gryphon House

Gryphon House, an award-winning publisher, distributes high quality Early Childhood educational books for educators and parents.  They have published approximately 200 titles and are continuing to add titles each year.

This upcoming school year, the girls and I are traveling around the world to discover and learn more about different people and cultures.  At the beginning of the summer, I was spending numerous hours researching projects for various countries.  Thankfully, I was offered to review Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World.

 

Recommended Age:  Pre-K through Grade 5

Price:  $16.95

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What's included in Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World? 

• The softcover book consists of 189 pages of fun, easy-to-do art activities that encourage children to learn and appreciate people and cultures from around the world.  There are 138 art ideas that incorporate customs, celebrations, discoveries, and inventions from around the world. 

• I really appreciate how well the book is organized and it's simplicity.  At the beginning of the book, there is a page explaining the use of icons, which are found throughout the book, at the top corner of each project page.  I was able to quickly determine the level of difficulty, the primary art medium, and the amount of planning and preparation before even looking at the directions!   

 

Global Art, Use Of Icons

 

• The book is organized into 7 chapters, each focusing on a particular part of the world.  

• Each chapter contains it's own table of contents, which lists the countries and projects, a paragraph about the area and suggested biographies to read that represent each country represented.

• The following pages within the chapter are the easy-to-do art activities.  Each project page consists of a clearly labeled art activity from a particular country, which is marked on a globe.  In addition, there is a small informative paragraph about the country.  The materials needed and detailed directions are clearly organized.  I really enjoyed having the icons at the top of each page as a quick reference and a picture representing the desired project too!  

 

Global Art, Project Page

 

• At the back of the book, there are neatly organized indexes for quick reference.  The indexes include Art Medium (collage, construction, drawing, painting, printing, and sculpture), Experience Level (beginner, some experience, and experienced), and Preparation (1 being household items, 2 representing materials that may need to be purchased, and 3 being more unfamiliar items). 

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The girls and I had an amazing time creating projects from around the world during our review period!  It was hard to save some projects for the upcoming school year! 

Chapter 1:  Africa 

There are 22 different activities included for the 14 countries and/or areas represented.  The counties and/or areas that are represented include:

Cameroon

Central Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Egypt

Ghana

Ivory Coast

Malawi

Mali 

Nigeria 

South Africa 

Sudan

Traditional Africa

West Africa

Zambia

Izzie, 6 years old, and Mac, 4 years old, created "Colorful Baskets" from Zambia.

Art Medium: Sculpture
Experience Level: Some Experience
Preparation:  2

They really enjoyed creating soup bowls from fabric! 

Global Art, Colorful Baskets from Zambia

Global Art, Colorful Baskets from Zambia

Chapter 2:  Antarctica

There are 8 activities to explore for Antarctica.

"Crystal Watercolor Snowflake"

Art Medium: Painting
Experience Level: Beginner
Preparation: 1

Global Art, Antarctica, Crystal Watercolor Snowflake

Chapter 3:  Asia 

There are 22 activities suggested for the 12 countries represented from Asia.  The countries are: 

 Cambodia 

China 

India 

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel 

Japan

Korea

Laos

Thailand

Vietnam

We created these awesome "Eraser Signatures" from China.  

Art Medium: Printing
Experience Level: Some Experience
Preparation: 1 

Global Art, Eraser Signatures from China 

The girls loved being able to stamp their initials onto their completed artwork!

Global Art, Eraser Signatures from China 

Chapter 4:  Europe

There are a total of 34 activities for the following 17 countries. 

Austria

Czechoslovakia

England 

France

Germany 

Greece

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Netherlands

Norway 

Poland 

Russia

Scotland 

Spain 

Sweden 

Switzerland

I have been wanting to create "Profile Silhouettes" of the girls.  This was the perfect opportunity to represent France.

Art Medium: Drawing
Experience Level: Beginner 
Preparation: 1

Global Art, Profile Silhouette from France

 Chapter 5:  North America 

 There are 24 different projects for the countries of North America.  

All Countries 

Canada

Caribbean 

Greenland 

Mexico

United States

 Izzie really enjoyed making the fabric basket, so she was thrilled to represent the United States by creating an "Early American Quilt Design."

Art Medium: Collage
Experience Level: Some Experience
Preparation: 1

Global Art, Early American Quilt Design

Chapter 6:  Oceania 

There are 10 total projects for the following 6 countries.

 Australia
Fiji
Guam
Hawaii
Samoa
Tahiti

 The girls enjoyed creating a "Soft Coral Watercolor" to represent Fiji.
 
Art Medium: Painting
Experience Level: Experienced
Preparation: 1

Global Art, Soft Coral Watercolor representing Fiji

Chapter 7:  South and Central America

There are a total of 18 projects included for the following counties/areas.

All Countries
Argentina
Boilvia
Brazil
Central America
Ecuador
Guatemala
Panama
Paraguay
Peru

Izzie and Mac were beyond excited to make a "Drinking Straw Flute" from Brazil.

Art Medium: Construction
Experience Level: Some Experience
Preparation: 1

Global Art, Drinking Straw Flute from Brazil

Global Art, Drinking Straw Flute from Brazil

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What I liked:

• The open-ended activities encouraged my girls to explore and create a variety of art from around the world.  The projects were simple enough for them to complete by themselves; it's never fun watching mama complete the projects!   

• The goal of Global Art is to have each young artist focus and learn through the process, rather than the finished product.  I love this philosophy! 

•  The variety of art mediums used throughout the book.  My girls never bored of doing the same thing over and over again. 

• It is very well organized.  I really liked the reference icons and the step-by-step directions for each project.  I felt very prepared before starting the project and it never ended with me scratching my head. 

•  Each activity is accompanied by a geographic and culture background. This makes it an easy way to incorporate geography into the art project!

• It was a fun and easy way to incorporate art and geography in our school day! 

• My girls begged to do more projects!  I would catch Izzie flipping through the book, selecting which art projects she wanted to do next! 

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 In conclusion, I would highly recommend Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World.

Recommended Age:  Pre-K through Grade 5

Price:  $16.95

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Sail over to read what other Crew Mates had to say about their experience with Gryphon House.