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A review by jason_pym
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
1.0
I've picked this up several times, thinking it was that picture book about 'taking a line for a walk', which I dimly remember and have never found again. It does have a line about 'Just make a mark and see where it takes you.'
But it's not that book. It's awful.
So a child is feeling frustration in art class because she thinks she can't draw. She stabs the paper with a pencil. The teacher asks her to sign it as her artwork, and then hangs it on the wall in a gold frame. This encourages her to make a better dot, and then she paints loads of dot variations in different colours and sizes, and eventually has an exhibition of her work. Which inspires another boy to make his own 'line' art works.
If this was my student, I'd want to talk to them, guide them with simple drawing exercises, encourage their progress, then as they improved slowly teach them how to draw.
I would not reward their aggressive outburst, and then be happy when they went on to do dot pictures. Good abstract art is difficult, it has lots of thought behind it, and I cannot think of an abstract artist of worth who was not classically trained first. Coloured dots are just meaningless by themselves, maybe they could be pleasant to look at, but so is wallpaper.
This story teaches children that the minimum of effort and skill can have great reward. I found it intensely irritating.
The illustrations are nice though.
But it's not that book. It's awful.
So a child is feeling frustration in art class because she thinks she can't draw. She stabs the paper with a pencil. The teacher asks her to sign it as her artwork, and then hangs it on the wall in a gold frame. This encourages her to make a better dot, and then she paints loads of dot variations in different colours and sizes, and eventually has an exhibition of her work. Which inspires another boy to make his own 'line' art works.
If this was my student, I'd want to talk to them, guide them with simple drawing exercises, encourage their progress, then as they improved slowly teach them how to draw.
I would not reward their aggressive outburst, and then be happy when they went on to do dot pictures. Good abstract art is difficult, it has lots of thought behind it, and I cannot think of an abstract artist of worth who was not classically trained first. Coloured dots are just meaningless by themselves, maybe they could be pleasant to look at, but so is wallpaper.
This story teaches children that the minimum of effort and skill can have great reward. I found it intensely irritating.
The illustrations are nice though.