cover image Outside Art

Outside Art

Madeline Kloepper. Tundra, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7352-6419-9

Pine Marten loves “watching Human in its log nest in the woods” but is perplexed when she sees the pale-skinned creator “putting colors on a board using a furry stick.” Chickadee explains that “it is very busy ‘Making Art’!” triggering lively conversation among the forest creatures: What is art? After the animals weigh in based on their experiences, and Grouse declares, “THERE IS NO MEANING!” Cat (who lives with Human and has been “studying The Artist’s work for years”) launches into a hilariously elevated disquisition on Human’s work. As the animals make their own marks in the snow, they arrive at the truth: art can be many things, and making it holds its own meaning. This outside-in approach to an enduringly thorny question is enlivened by gouache and pencil illustrations of a stylized woodland populated by wide-eyed creatures and one wild-haired Human, all busy making their marks on the world. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)