Crockett Johnson

Artist or Art Form	Crockett Johnson
Project Type	Art in children's literature - simple line drawings with crayon
Name	Lauryn Fried
Grade	Kindergarten
Teacher/School	Mrs. Frawley/GFS
Date of Presentation	Fall 2004
Resources Used	*Books: "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson Other*: Crockett Johnson's Homepage: www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/purple/
Project Description	*Description: The children were asked to create one part of an adventure for Harold. The children decided that Harold would take a trip to NYC. Each child created a simple sentence for their page and then illustrated their idea. They used purple crayon on bristol board, and each child was given a cut-out of Harold that they could glue on or trace or not use at all. These pages were then arranged by the ArtSmarts team into a book of Harold's adventure from Westport to NYC and home again. A smaller copy of each book was then given to each child. Materials: bristol board, cut-out of Harold, glue, crayons, pencils Presentation Time*: 20 mins.
Presentation Content	Through our theme of art in children's literature we showed the children how the art helped to tell the story. We showed them that even though there were only a few words on each page that it was the art work that provided details and sparked our imaginations. We talked about illustrators and their artwork. We wanted each child to become story tellers through their own art and words. Examples of simple line drawings by various artists were presented, and how important this style is as a basic building block in art. ""Harold and the Purple Crayon"" was read to the class.
Comments	I believe that the overall theme of all three projects worked very well in kindergarten. Picture books with their beautiful illustrations are a form of art that they have all experienced. We chose books with three different styles of art that would not overwhelm a 5 year old (e.g. collage, mixed media and simple line drawing). All three projects were compiled into books for the kids and their classroom. I think the children were proud of their projects. I know we were proud of them.