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A review by tophat8855
The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola
1.0
Welcome to "Heather over-analyzes a children's book yet again!"
I got this book at the library because I thought Margaret would like it. She's in a coloring phase and thought it would go well with that.
The story started off nice enough. His parents and family are supportive of his desire to do art. When Tomie gets to kindergarten, he finds the quality of the art supplies disheartening. It was a nice reminder: it's probably better that my kids have a few good art supplies than a lot of crappy ones. I think the quality of the materials definitely affects whether or not they'll want to continue with art. Who really wants to draw with those waxy crayons from the restaurant anyway?
But then it just got crappy. Tomie wasn't allowed to use the crayons he brought to school- with no explanation. "You must all use these same crayons- and you can't wear down the points!" Oi. I hate that schools have rules just to have rules. And how are you supposed to use a crayon if you can't use the point? Then when he finally does have art class, it's about copying. The "compromise" of "you can draw what you like after you do what we say" is a slap in the face. "The most important things in school are crowd control and getting through curriculum. Actually encouraging you to want to learn and grow is something that might come later, after we regulate and put stipulations on you." Arg.
Having worked in the schools- in fact in a school district that didn't feel art was important/academic enough for elementary schools, and having seen the herding and curriculum push, this just emphasized why I don't want my kids in schools.
I think dePaola was lucky to go through all that (this was autobiographical) and still become an illustrator. I don't think he came out unscathed, though, because he doesn't seem to realize that the "happy compromise" was no compromise at all.
I got this book at the library because I thought Margaret would like it. She's in a coloring phase and thought it would go well with that.
The story started off nice enough. His parents and family are supportive of his desire to do art. When Tomie gets to kindergarten, he finds the quality of the art supplies disheartening. It was a nice reminder: it's probably better that my kids have a few good art supplies than a lot of crappy ones. I think the quality of the materials definitely affects whether or not they'll want to continue with art. Who really wants to draw with those waxy crayons from the restaurant anyway?
But then it just got crappy. Tomie wasn't allowed to use the crayons he brought to school- with no explanation. "You must all use these same crayons- and you can't wear down the points!" Oi. I hate that schools have rules just to have rules. And how are you supposed to use a crayon if you can't use the point? Then when he finally does have art class, it's about copying. The "compromise" of "you can draw what you like after you do what we say" is a slap in the face. "The most important things in school are crowd control and getting through curriculum. Actually encouraging you to want to learn and grow is something that might come later, after we regulate and put stipulations on you." Arg.
Having worked in the schools- in fact in a school district that didn't feel art was important/academic enough for elementary schools, and having seen the herding and curriculum push, this just emphasized why I don't want my kids in schools.
I think dePaola was lucky to go through all that (this was autobiographical) and still become an illustrator. I don't think he came out unscathed, though, because he doesn't seem to realize that the "happy compromise" was no compromise at all.