The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art

A Caldecott Honor Book

Vasya Kandinsky was a proper little boy: he studied math and history, he practiced the piano, he sat up straight and was perfectly polite. And when his family sent him to art classes, they expected him to paint pretty houses and flowers–like a proper artist.

But as Vasya opened his paint box and began mixing the reds, the yellows, the blues, he heard a strange sound–the swirling colors trilled like an orchestra tuning up for a symphony And as he grew older, he continued to hear brilliant colors singing and see vibrant sounds dancing. But was Vasya brave enough to put aside his proper still lifes and portraits and paint . . . music?

In this exuberant celebration of creativity, Barb Rosenstock and Mary GrandPr tell the fascinating story of Vasily Kandinsky, one of the very first painters of abstract art. Throughout his life, Kandinsky experienced colors as sounds, and sounds as colors–and bold, groundbreaking works burst forth from his noisy paint box.

Backmatter includes four paintings by Kandinsky, an author’s note, sources, links to websites on synesthesia and abstract art.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Rosenstock, Barb
Published: 02/11/2014
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780307978486
Pages: 40
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 11.30h x 9.00w x 0.30d