The School of Art: Learn How to Make Great Art with 40 Simple Lessons

Triggs, a dean at London’s Royal College of Art, and British illustrator Frost welcome readers to an art school operated by five inquisitive professors. Each of the 40 lessons opens with a guiding question (“How does ‘perspective’ work?”), and one or more of the professors takes the lead. The Professor of the Planet, a brown-skinned, bespectacled fellow who is prone to floating, introduces concepts of shading and texture, while the Professor of Senses (his exaggerated nose and ears hint at his area of expertise) discusses the concepts of visual repetition and rhythm in art at one point, using a borrowed string of pearls from the Professor of Ideas. Part novel, part picture book, part nonfiction guide, this playful hybrid offers a wide-ranging and engaging introduction to core elements that go into the creation of art. Ages 7–up. (Aug.)