Looking at the fun, exuberantly coloured monster on the front cover of The Artist, it’s easy to recall countless children concentrating intently on their artwork. That fearless, limitless creativity which can be witnessed in classrooms around the world certainly must have inspired Ed Vere to write his wonderful book!

The book is written about ‘an artist’ and how artists can see the world differently from other people because they take time to really ‘look’. As the story continues, it unpicks how artists work with different materials and media, using their imagination to take them to faraway places or bring them closer to the ones they love.

The artist in this book paints a blank canvas of a town but makes a mistake and loses some of the bravery and creativity it has had; taking advice from a young child to get it back.

As a text to share to support children in regaining some of their bravery around art, it’s a brilliant resource. It also works well as a book for younger readers who are looking at how to use different materials creatively. The illustrations are amazing and would be a brilliant inspiration for class or whole school art projects which focus on creativity and imagination.