I Spy: Colours in Art

When it comes to the insightful selection of pictures likely to lead to observations and questions from the very young, few rival Lucy Micklethwait. This latest addition to the ‘I Spy’ series presents fourteen interesting paintings and invites children to find a particular coloured object in each one. So, for example, children search for a green elephant, a brown cow and a pair of pink socks. Michael Craig-Martin’s ‘Eye Test’ will fascinate not only because of the striking, bright colours, but also because each line of objects becomes smaller – as in an eye test chart. You have to scan the bottom line carefully to pick up the minuscule scissors, sunglasses and jug. The distorted blue eyes in Picasso’s ‘Maya with a Doll’ might startle, but young children are often surprisingly accepting of what others might imagine they would find unsettling. This book would enrich a theme on ‘Colours’ – a favourite in the early years; it also helps draw attention to numbers and shape. Above all, it introduces young children to fruitful and sometimes joyful ways of looking at art.