The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock (9780307978486)

Description - The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock

As a child, Vasya Kandinsky was expected to be a proper Russian boy. When his parents sent him to art classes, he was expected to paint pretty landscapes and still-lifes--properly, like everyone else. But Vasya was different- He could hear bold, swirling colors. He could see vibrant sounds. And he wanted to paint music.

Kandinsky grew up to be one of the first creators of abstract art. He wrote about hearing a hissing sound while mixing colors in his paintbox as a child, and it's believed he had a condition called synesthesia. The way Kandinsky saw and heard life greatly influenced his art--and his art greatly influenced the world!

A Caldecott Honor Book

Vasya Kandinsky was a proper little boy- he studied math and history, he practiced the piano, he sat up straight and was perfectly polite. And when his family sent him to art classes, they expected him to paint pretty houses and flowers-like a proper artist.

But as Vasya opened his paint box and began mixing the reds, the yellows, the blues, he heard a strange sound-the swirling colors trilled like an orchestra tuning up for a symphony! And as he grew older, he continued to hear brilliant colors singing and see vibrant sounds dancing. But was Vasya brave enough to put aside his proper still lifes and portraits and paint . . . music?

In this exuberant celebration of creativity, Barb Rosenstock and Mary GrandPre tell the fascinating story of Vasily Kandinsky, one of the very first painters of abstract art. Throughout his life, Kandinsky experienced colors as sounds, and sounds as colors-and bold, groundbreaking works burst forth from his noisy paint box.

Backmatter includes four paintings by Kandinsky, an author's note, sources, links to websites on synesthesia and abstract art.

Buy The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.