Plossville: Books

Abstracts 2: more minimalist scribblings 2007

Skip's Books for Kids
	What kind of fish would Picasso be if he were to wake up one morning as one? What about other artists like Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollack or John Singer Sargent? This book exposes young artists (it has been used in kindergarten through second grade) to the notion that not only do we not have to look all alike but we don't have to see the same things the same way either. The Backstory or, Skip explains himself: In the school where I work, we have a terrific art program run by three fabulous teachers. As a special education instructional aide I get to attend these classes with my "clients" when the schedule allows. It was after one such class watching 1st graders creating Mondrian and Picasso pieces that the concept of this book popped into my head. Kids do get art. They may not understand the motivations and turmoil that is, at time inherent in the creation of art, but they do get the techniques and possibilities. "Fabulous!" I will definitely want to purchase this book for my kindergarten students! This book will be a great assest to my classroom because we do not have an art teacher at my school!" "Don't miss this one...!" I was lucky enough to have "If Picasso Were A Fish" arrive in the mail today and I must say, I am impressed. As an Early Childhood Educator, I think this book will prove to be a class favorite, and might even teach the little ones a thing or two about artistic expression in all of it's unlimited forms. The rhymes are clever, and the pictures, each representing the way a fish might have been painted by one of the great artists, are a joy to behold. Well done!" "Truly brilliant work!" I will be getting this one for my own children. I could not think of a better way to set a child's imagination into flight! A brilliant piece.
	If I Had a Gift is about a child who wants to give his friend everything he can think of for his friend's birthday only to discover that the best gift, and the only one he can afford, is the gift of friendship. Based on birthday sheets given out in classrooms in the school where the author worked, If I had a Gift is about what is truly important. Skip explains: It was during my first full-time year at the school that I was exposed to birthday sheets. These are used in several classrooms in various grades throughout the building. On the event of a child's birthday, his classmates are each given a page with a box for a picture and several lines underneath for text. The beginning of the text is, "If I had a gift to give..." I started doing the sheets along with the classes and I was struck by the children's joy of giving, generosity and total lack of monetary constraint. On one occaission I drew, for a second grader named Grace, The Splendid Purple Cod of Cairo and the rest, as they say, is history. "A Positive Message in a Funny Package" I recently read this story to my daycare class and found the children to be quite responsive to both the artwork and the message hidden within. A nice idea well executed! "This is a book children are sure to love . . ." Great ideas and fantastic artwork--a combination you can't beat in a children's book. The message that friendship is always better than 'things' will make this book a winner."
	In his latest book, author/illustrator Skip Ploss shows children of all ages that you don't always have to draw a whole picture for the audience to get the picture. The text is an abstraction itself as a semi-repeating form of Haiiku. This book was chosen by the Austin Museum of Art to support thier exhibiltion of art by Sol LeWitt entitled "LeWitt x 2". "Abstracts: Minimalist Scribblings shows children of all ages how simple lines can illustrate intriguing ideas. What a gem of a book!” Anna Kichorowsky Manager of Family & Community Programs Austin Museum of Art-Downtown "you know they don't teach this in school, so buy the book" I love the idea behind this book. Each page is an abstracted version of a common object (nonessential lines are taken away), followed by an almost equally abstract (but apt) definition. This book not only encourages thinking and visualizing in untraditional ways, but also allows pre-readers to interact with each page by figuring out what the object is. As an author and illustrator, I'm impressed with the simple creativity of it. As the parent of a two year old, I'm buying it. This is one of the few books I've found that is in and of itself completely interactive with kids of that age group.
	In this, his fourth book for children of all ages, author and illustrator Skip Ploss offers another batch of abstract picture and haiiku pairs for young folks to explore. Skip explains how these came to be: During the summer of 2006 I was invited to visit a school for inner-city kids. During my two days there, we talked about how characters were created. As part of that discussion I had said that when you are creating a character, there is a base amount of information that you need to present. For example, if you are creating a dog, what are the base elements that need to be part of your illustration so that it believable as a dog? That led to this. I drew the first bit on the whiteboard and asked, "what is this?" Most of the class said a rabbit but some said it could be scissors. I told them you need more informsation and drew number two above. We kept going until we arrived at three where it was unanimous. I had so much fun with the kids that I wanted to let them know. I created Abstracts as a one-off for them. Since then it has become one of my more popular titles.
	In this, his fifth book for children, author/illustrator Skip Ploss takes us to sea off Malaga Spain. Mack is a Mackerel with something that sets him aside as different than the other denizens of his little part of the ocean. When he is called something he takes as an insult we begin a lesson in misunderstandings, hurt feelings and unforseen consequences.