Artists Use Tools

Full STEAM ahead with Artists Use Tools. Colourful, diverse, and informative, Artists Use Tools and other books in the “Full STEAM Ahead!” series are engaging examples of the connections between Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math.

Packed into the 24 pages of information are examples of painters, musicians, fabric artists, potters, glassblowers, photographers, puppeteers, dancers, and actors of all ages and ethnic origins. The photographs show the artists using tools to make art.

The format of the book is very visually appealing with colourful photographs supporting limited text. The captions and labels on the photos introduce specific language, such as “costumes” and “pointe shoes”.

Words in bold throughout the book are defined in “Words to Know” at the end of the book. Each word in the list is also identified as a noun or a verb or an adjective. An explanation of the parts of speech is included on the same page. A brief Index is also included. Unfortunately, the Crabtree Plus digital link to the Student Discovery Lab at www.crabtreeplus.com/fullsteamahead
does not seem to be working yet so I’m not able to include this feature in my review.

Each book includes “STEAM Notes for Educators” on the last page of the book. The notes outline one activity intended to guide teachers and parents/caregivers to extend the ideas in the book. The activity in “Artists Use Tools” helps readers create an art tool. Although the task of creating an art tool that is different from any of the ones in the book or discussed in class is beyond my limited adult brain, it is entirely possible that a group of primary age students will create an endless number of art tools.

Artists Use Tools is part of a subgroup of books, “Arts in Action”, in the “Full STEAM Ahead” series. The other three titles in “Arts in Action” are Creating Colors, How Do Artists Tell Stories?, and Making Art from Anything.

All of the books in the series are well-suited to primary students, but some are better than others in creating connections with the other STEAM discipline areas.