The Noisy Paint Box
by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary GrandPré
“The Noisy Paint Box” by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary GrandPré. Published by Random House. A fascinating story of Russian artist Vasily Kandinsky who was one of the very first painters of abstract art.
The book begins with Vasya Kandinsky as a little boy. He was made to study books of maths, science and history like proper Russian boys. He had to learn to play the piano. Everything was trim and proper in his well off life until the day his aunt gifted him a small wooden paint box which would end up changing his life forever. Appreciation of art was of course a desirable trait to be acquired by a proper Russian boy was what his aunt told him.
Vasya was fascinated by the colours that emerged when he mixed the paints. They evoked not just his sight but also appeared to make sounds which only he could hear, much to his dismay. Everyone dismissed his claims of the paint box being noisy. The colours just wouldn’t go quiet until he painted their sounds and captured them on his canvas. Folks at his home were not happy with the abstract paintings that he came up with and wanted him to join a proper art class so that he could draw houses and flowers like everyone else. Well, what else can one expect from a trim and proper well to do family who were stuck in the conventions of their times! Read the beautiful journey of Vasya going on to pursue his passion and painting the sounds of music which the colours played for him.
My eight year old has loved reading the book for almost a year now. He enjoyed getting to know about Vasily Kandinsky and his life given his love for true stories. Vasya’s passion, determination, creativity, perseverance and courage to follow his dreams were well appreciated. We had already read about Mehlli Gobhai, one of India’s foremost abstraction artists in “The Secret World of Mehlli Gobhai - The Man Who Found Art Everywhere” and seen his work in books such as “The Legend of the Orange Princess” and “Lakshmi, the Water Buffalo Who Wouldn’t”. So he was familiar with what abstract art was.
The last couple of pages talk about facts from Kandinsky’s life and have photographs of some of his paintings. Maybe he will get to see some of them in a museum in person some day! Some of Kandinsky’s fabulous quotes are also present towards the end of the book such as the following one. “I could hear the hiss of the colours as they mingled”. The illustrations in the book are gorgeous and bring the story alive in front of our eyes. The book has won the Caldecott Honor Silver Medal. There are similar books on other renowned artists like Monet, Van Gogh and Chagall by the same author and illustrator duo. We have read the one on Monet and enjoyed it as well.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 5/6 and above.
Reasons to Read
The book talks about pursuing one’s dreams and passion through the example of one of the first painters of abstract art.
The book exposes children to a prominent form of art.