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Making Sense of Children's Drawings

Author(s) : Angela Anning, Author(s) : Kathy Ring

Reviews and Endorsements

This book explores how young children learn to draw, and draw to learn, at home and school. It provides support for practitioners in developing a pedagogy of drawing in Art and Design and across the curriculum and provide advice for parents about how to make sense of their children's drawings.

Making Sense of Children's Drawings is enlivened with the real drawings of seven young children, collected over three years. These drawings stimulated dialogues with the children, parents and practitioners whose voices are reported in the book. The book makes a powerful argument for us to radically re-think the role of drawing in young children's construction of meaning, communication and sense of identity. It provides insights into the influence of media and consumerism, as reflected in popular visual imagery, and on gender identity formation in young children. It also offers strong messages about the overemphasis on the three Rs in early childhood education and the failure to understand fully the pedagogy of drawing in early years home and school settings.

"If you know and love young children, find a way to read this book. Here you will discover the hidden talents of young children for complexity, design, and tenacity for learning... a wonderful addition to the too-small library of quality books on young children's learning through art."
Shirley Brice Heath, Professor Emerita, Stanford University and Professor at Large, Brown University, USA

"This book is unique in giving an in-depth account of the way young children approach drawing at home and at school. It shows the cognitive value of drawing in children's intellectual and emotional development and sets out the truly extraordinary range of drawing types that are used and understood by three to six year olds.. The authors say that 'when a young child draws they are offering us a window into their own developing understanding of the world.' Their book offers the opportunity to look through this window with growing appreciation and understanding. It is an invaluable experience."
Professor Ken Baynes, Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University, UK

CONTENTS
CHAPTER One: Young children making meaning at home and school
CHAPTER Two: Young children learning to draw
CHAPTER Three: Overview of the project
CHAPTER Four: Luke's story
CHAPTER Five: Simon's story
CHAPTER Six: Holly's story
CHAPTER Seven: Lianne's story
CHAPTER Eight: Themes from the seven children's drawings
CHAPTER Nine: Implications